# Free Boarding



## KYHorse (Aug 9, 2014)

Hi, I would like some opinions from horse boarders. I just bought a piece of property that I want to use for free boarding. The property has excellent pastures and is in a good location it is within 30 min from 3 colleges. It has a barn with stalls that is in good condition. I am going to put electric and water in the barn also. I am getting it ready for boarding. I will need to fence the property as it had barbwire that I have been taking down. Does anyone know what the safest fence is on a budget? I want to keep the cost as low as I can so I dont have to charge. Also does anyone know of any good ideas of how to keep drama borders out. I want this to be a fun place where people can enjoy their horses and get away from the stress of the world. I would like to offer it to students first as I know a lot of them are on a budget. I also might put up an outdoor arena but not an indoor due to costs as I dont want to charge. I am only going to take 3 or 4 borders as I want to keep it a small operation. Any input would be helpful. Thanks


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

KYHorse said:


> Hi, I would like some opinions from horse boarders. I just bought a piece of property that I want to use for free boarding. The property has excellent pastures and is in a good location it is within 30 min from 3 colleges. It has a barn with stalls that is in good condition. I am going to put electric and water in the barn also. I am getting it ready for boarding. I will need to fence the property as it had barbwire that I have been taking down. Does anyone know what the safest fence is on a budget? I want to keep the cost as low as I can so I dont have to charge. Also does anyone know of any good ideas of how to keep drama borders out. I want this to be a fun place where people can enjoy their horses and get away from the stress of the world. I would like to offer it to students first as I know a lot of them are on a budget. I also might put up an outdoor arena but not an indoor due to costs as I dont want to charge. I am only going to take 3 or 4 borders as I want to keep it a small operation. Any input would be helpful. Thanks


Unless you have really deep pockets, you can't not charge. The liability insurance will eat you alive, not to mention the costs for upkeep and just normal supplies like shavings for the barn stalls. I can see keeping it really low but I promise you, if you don't charge all you will get is drama and headaches. For inexpensive fencing to start, I like electrobraid.


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## Elsa (Jun 20, 2014)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> Unless you have really deep pockets, you can't not charge. The liability insurance will eat you alive, not to mention the costs for upkeep and just normal supplies like shavings for the barn stalls.


I agree with this. You'll want equine professional liability and care custody and control insurance no matter how small you intend to keep it as no matter how many waivers you have them sign it will not cover you if you're found negligent. These don't JUST protect you in the event you are found negligent but also protect you from paying attorney fees even if you are ultimately not found liable for an incident. Get a quote from somewhere like Blue Bridle, Markel, or somewhere else that offers equine specific coverage. If you want to keep it low priced make it self care, co-op, or partial care (they supply bedding/hay/feed you do the work). It's also good to encourage boarders to maintain their own liability insurance this protects the owner should their horse injure a person on or off the property. 

I'd add up your cost of running the place (insurance, water, electric, manure disposal, yearly fence repair and maintenance costs, hay/bedding/feed cost) and divide it by the number of stalls, that would be your bare minimum operating cost per stall and what you need to charge to recoup your operating cost. 

I like the coated HT wire for a low cost safe solution. For cheap arena fence look at Batten Tape or fence strapping. You'd need a hot strand on it to turnout in it though as it's basically a seat belt like strap. You can easily replace the batten tape with wood or vinyl rail when you have the money.


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## 4horses (Nov 26, 2012)

You should charge at least $200 per month as that is what feed costs. I would take a deposit as well if the horses damage the property. Also make sure you have something in place for emergency veterinary costs. Nothing is worse than having a horse that has coliced and being unable to do anything. The vets will not treat if you are not the owner. They will not put a horse down without permission from the owner. 

I would ask for a $500 refundable deposit and get in writing that you can use that for emergency vet costs and make sure you get written permission to euthanize in case of catastrophic injury. I was horse sitting and had a horse that needed to be put down. We had to wait 3 hours to get a hold of the owners to get permission to euthanize. Meanwhile the horse was in agony and bumping into walls and nearly ran the vet over.

Free boarding is a horrible idea. You must charge something to cover your liability risk. There is a risk people will dump their unwanted horse and refuse to pay. If you don't cover feed for that horse you will get charged with neglect. So it will be up to you to cover expenses and get the horse declared abandoned.


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## DuckDodgers (May 28, 2013)

Agreed with everyone else. Even if you keep your expenses as low as humanly possible, you'll need to at least break even. Maintaining pastures, fencing, and other aspects of the facilities costs money. You'll want insurance or you can find yourself paying a lot in case of an accident. Keeping board cheap is one thing, but horse people need to at least expect to cover their horses' expenses.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

asking for a deposit.. never heard of such a thing. I would never pay a deposit for boarding.
The property Owner is responsible for all repairs on the property regardless if someones horse damages it. 
You are boarding.. you will always have drama. 
you could do a work for board or charge 50 bucks a horse, they pay for all hay, grain,and have them divided the liability ins. You will get tired of watering, throwing out hay, having people run out of hay , paying late even for small amounts, not cleaning . and teh dram especially for college kids.


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## DancingArabian (Jul 15, 2011)

KYHorse said:


> Hi, I would like some opinions from horse boarders. I just bought a piece of property that I want to use for free boarding. The property has excellent pastures and is in a good location it is within 30 min from 3 colleges. It has a barn with stalls that is in good condition. I am going to put electric and water in the barn also. I am getting it ready for boarding. I will need to fence the property as it had barbwire that I have been taking down. Does anyone know what the safest fence is on a budget? I want to keep the cost as low as I can so I dont have to charge. Also does anyone know of any good ideas of how to keep drama borders out. I want this to be a fun place where people can enjoy their horses and get away from the stress of the world. I would like to offer it to students first as I know a lot of them are on a budget. I also might put up an outdoor arena but not an indoor due to costs as I dont want to charge. I am only going to take 3 or 4 borders as I want to keep it a small operation. Any input would be helpful. Thanks


So you're just going to take random horses from strangers, and pay for their upkeep? That doesn't make sense. Who is going to do the feeding, cleaning and turnout? How will the property be maintained?


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## cebee (Apr 4, 2010)

I have never heard of asking for a deposit for possible vet bills and I have boarded at 3 places over the years. I just have my credit card on file at the vets, and if the BO calls because she feels the vet needs to come out for my horse, I call the vet and authorize them to charge my CC, and to see my horse. Personally I would not front anyone $500 'in case' i need a vet.


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

DancingArabian said:


> So you're just going to take random horses from strangers, and pay for their upkeep? That doesn't make sense. Who is going to do the feeding, cleaning and turnout? How will the property be maintained?


Exact same questions I had, DA. 

I could be wrong, but that's really the vibe I'm getting. NOBODY boards horses for free.


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## Wallaby (Jul 13, 2008)

I don't think the OP is saying they'll pay for the horses to be there? I got the impression that the OP is doing some sort of self-care type deal where the boarders would be paying for the care/feeding of their horses, but not a boarding fee.

I could be totally wrong, of course!
That's basically the type of boarding I do - I keep my horse on my neighbor's property with no boarding fee, I just do most upkeep myself and keep an eye on their house when they go out of town [which is frequently]. They just enjoy having a horse on their property and the security that comes with knowing their house isn't "abandoned" when they go away.

I've kept horses in two separate places [current place and a friend's house where feed was included] and I've honestly never had to pay board. I am certainly aware that that's not the norm, but it does happen.


OP, I agree with the other posters, having horse facilities are expensive. If you plan to have any kind of setup beyond just a pasture and shed, you probably will want to charge a low board fee. It probably doesn't have to be too expensive, but you'll likely want something. Plus the whole insurance thing, that's important!


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## Speed Racer (Oct 21, 2009)

Wallaby, even self-care with no maintenance fee is kind of strange. Even just enough to maintain keeping the lights on, liability insurance paid, and upkeep on the fencing/arena/grounds makes more sense than no cost at all. 

Methinks the OP has no actual clue to the costs, or how destructive horses really are to maintain.


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## beau159 (Oct 4, 2010)

OP, I am agreeing with everyone else. Have you ever boarded horses before? Did you realize you are going to need to carry liability insurance? 

What about buying hay in the winter? That's not cheap. (Unless you'd make your boarders buy their own hay.)

No matter what you decide to do, make sure you have each and every boarder sign a contract that spells out the details of your arrangment. And how you will "evict" the boarder, if need be (aka "drama")



stevenson said:


> asking for a deposit.. never heard of such a thing. I would never pay a deposit for boarding.


No different than if you sign a contract to rent an apartment. They always take one month's rent as a deposit. 

I've never paid a deposit for boarding either, but I wouldn't be surprised if a barn made it into it's policy. They can make their policy what they want.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

beau.. yes they could make it policy. but i would not board where I had to leave a deposit.


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## churumbeque (Dec 20, 2009)

She wants to do something good and obviously isn't trying to make money or break even. I really like the idea for college students or maybe people getting divorced and don't want to loose their horse.
I would interview and get references. 
If she is doing all of this which is costing $$ insurance is just part of it. Also if you don't board and the technical definition for board maybe if you are charging then her regular insurance may not be an issue.


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## Regula (Jan 23, 2012)

Yes, I think it is a nice thought to do this for college students. However, on top of the financial issues, I would be afraid of the welfare issues with people basically dumping horseson you and not maintaining them.
So if you really want to stick to your original plan, I would screen people very, very carefully, make a detailed contract, and make sure there is a way to get rid of them again if need be.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

You need to be able to be hard headed with borders or people will crap on you. It's not about being nice or helpful, it must remain a business. Contracts need to be made up and signed by both parties before the horse steps foot on the property. You need to put in the contract that if the board is past due by (say, 5 days) that it will be taken to the next auction and sold. Since everyone is so afraid an auction means the horse will be slaughtered, that usually prompts people to pay on time. Think of boarding in the context of a newbie allowing a horse to get away with little things then one day things go badly. It's not the horse's fault, it's the handler's. She tho't she was being nice to the horse.


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