# New to Boarding Horses



## LittleZeasel

Hi Akkire,

welcome aboard the horse world.
You will find, there is MUCH more to boarding (even if it is a "do it yourself" barn), than just a beautiful romantic notion of horses on the property.

First and foremost: I don't know whether you or your husband have any horse experience. Having horses on your property, you should definitely learn about them before you start boarding:
- Recognize emergency signs, when a horse gets severely sick and needs a vet instantaneously
- Know how to handle it, if a horse breaks through the fence and runs lose
-... just to name a few examples.

If you have never handled horses before, you may find yourself facing a situation you may not have expected. 

We have a many people on here, who are boarders and offer boarding - each one can probably offer valuable advice.

You definitely need insurance! 
Talk to your insurance company about "Care Custody Control" - CCC. They don't come cheap.

In addition: make sure you get a boarding contract. Never, ever board without a contract!

Barn Plans and Horse Facility Planning Information - StableWise

has a lot of wisdoms, blanco contracts, and advice.

That's just what I have at this moment for very basic advice, from someone who has spent some time working at boarding barns and listening to the drama around  Quite frankly, I have never seen a boarding barn without Drama... 
Some have more of it, some less... but it's always there 

That being said: don't come too fast to a conclusion/decision. Listen around first, maybe visit one or the other boarding facility to get some advice there.

Good Luck with your new life and congratulations on the purchase 

Z.


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## Akkire

*Thanks Little Z!*

From looking around online and in the forum, and I'm reading alot of what you said. The house we bought is actually in a mini "horse country" so I'm going to go visit with them and feel out if they board or what they do. 

I've been around horses, I took riding lessons with them, so the handle/care of them wouldn't be new. Definitely need to learn about illness and that kind of care, never done that one. I think this is the one part that scares me, thinking if I don't catch something that a horse could be seriously in trouble and then what! 

Thanks for your advice, and that link. I'm checking it out and will report back with more questions.

Cheers,
Erikka


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## yadlim

Just an FYI, types of boarding

Full care
This should mean all care. Board facility provides feed (hay at least, sometimes grain, and minerals) and feeds it. They clean stalls, turn in and out. It can also include fly masks on and off as well as blankets. It usually does not include holding for farrier or vet, but mine does. A good full care facility should mean you show up and ride. 

Partial care
This is usually the above, but the horse owner provides all feed. 

Self care
Stable does nothing, other than allow the horse to be on the property. Horse owner provides feed, feeds, turns in and out, blankets, etc.


At lower levels of care, sometimes the stable owner will offer to do some of the work for an additional charge. Feed breakfast, blanket, etc.

Some barns include everything, some do only the absolute minimum. 

The stable I am at here is what is included in the full care:

Horses fed three to four times a day, owner provided supplements fed, turn in and out, water changed daily, blankets on and off, fly masks on and off. 

Oddly enough, minerals are not provided??? So I have to buy my own salt block, yet she bought my two year old a stall toy to keep her busy at night.

We have almost no drama at this stable. All drama people are asked to leave. It makes for a fun relaxing time every time we go out.


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## Akkire

*define*

Hi there Yadlim!

Thanks for the break down, that makes it a LOT clearer for me. What does your full boarding charge you? And do prices vary according to region or are they pretty standard? 

Little Z - Consulted that other website and have ordered some books for research!

Cheers,
Erikka


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## Mellow Mel

I think they vary according to region. I am full board and I pay 350 in Michigan but I have seen people comment that they pay 600 and up for full board. Pasture board at my barn is 250. That is pretty standard in my area.

I think you should also make sure you have time to take care of the horses...you are pretty tied down as far as going out of town and leaving for an entire day and into the night...I just mean your life will be restricted


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## yadlim

Prices vary from block to block around here - the Puget Sound Area of Seattle. 

Full Care usually starts about $350 with an outdoor arena. For an indoor arena they start about $500 and up - PER HORSE!!! I know of three small barns within five miles of my house that have no arena, no trails, just stalls and pasture that are $550 a month per horse.

Partial Care starts about $250 - up to about $400

Self care can be as low as $150

That said, my stable is the 'back yard' of the barn manager's hubby where he runs a part time hay business. She gets her hay at wholesale prices. There is also an indoor arena and 15 stalls from when he used to be a horse trader, since the property is paid off and the facilities are already in place, she has really low running costs. 

Now, it is not a pretty place. There are piles of lumber, a dead boat, fences have not been painted in what looks like decades, but it is horse safe. I pay $225 per horse, but have talked her into charging more. She was having trouble filling stalls at $225. She raised it to $250 and filled 8 stalls. My guess woudl be that she could probably keep the stalls filled at $300, but for any more than that would have to make the place a lot prettier.


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## ~*~anebel~*~

Don't expect to make any money boarding horses - if you are breaking even, you are well ahead of most barns. Most boarding facilities make their money buying/training/selling horses, coaching, training and through sponsorship, or they are independently wealthy/have other streams of income.

IMO your best bet is to find a friend that wants to lease your land and do all care/maintenance/etc.. You need to have insurance, and also an airtight agreement on the terms of the lease, how the land and facilities are to be maintained, etc.. and be prepared to use the document in court. In general horse people are scheming cows that will try to suck you dry and take everything possible from you and no they will not feel bad. This is why I say - start with someone you know personally to be trustworthy and make sure both sides understand all the terms of the agreement and have a signed document stating that.
This is the "easy" way out that will not require you to be tied to your property.

If you DO decide to board horses and not lease the property, here is a brief list of things that are generally expected to be done:
Every day:
Feed in the morning (grain and hay)
Horses blanketed and turned out
Water hauled to the field if there are no auto waterers
Stalls cleaned thoroughly (including buckets and waterers) and re bedded
Barn swept and dusted, poop buckets dumped
Horses checked on (at least once) and fed hay/water during the day (if you are offering this)
Horses brought in to grain, hay and water and unblanketed
Night check and hay
Every week:
Water in the feild to be cleaned
Clean poop in the field
Arena to be harrowed (at least once a week)
Fences to be fixed/maintained
Twice a year:
The entire barn should be power washed and disinfected (this is legislated in some areas)
And maintenence/painting as required.

If you DO need to leave the property for vacation it is also expected that you will find suitable help to take care of the horses, not just Bill or Joe from down the road.

What I would expect from boarders:
If you are going to have barn hours, for them to obey the hours
Clean all poop out of the arena and don't let the horses pee in the arena
Clean the barn when you are done riding - it should be as they found it
Provide adequate, clean blankets in good repair for the horses
Provide all feed and medications, as required
Schedule all vet and farrier visits during barn hours and be present to hold the horse for all visits.

It's not easy, it's not fun and it is a thankless job. Most horse people are looking for what YOU can do for THEM and not the other way around. They tend to whine, moan and complain while their horses wreck your fences and they leave your facility dirty. This is why barn rules and airtight, signed documents are so important.

Good luck!

ETA: for partial care (as outlined) and in a good facility with safe fencing and 24/7 people on site I would pay $400-500 a month. With an indoor arena and provided hay the rates would be over $700 a month in this area.


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## ANeighbore

How much does it cost the barn owner for hay, grain, bedding, etc. I am trying to estimate how much to charge per month for boarding as i am in the process of purchasing a farm. Is there a list with the average costs for the barn owner in the Harrisburg PA area. Thanks


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## yadlim

General rule of thumg, each horse will eat half its weight in hay every month - or approximately 1 1/4 bales of hay a week (assuming 100 lbs bales of good quality hay). Hard keepers, like my horse, eat twice that. Easy keepers, like my daughter's filly, eat about 1/3rd that. 

In cold weather, figure about 1/2 to 1 bag of grain per horse per month. Summer it goes down to a handful or two per day - give or take.

Bedding - my boardign stable uses one bag of compressed pellets, uncompressed - with use of soem water and lots of mixing, per four or five stalls, per day.

Here, on the other side of the US in Wash state, I figured it cost me about $150 a month to feed one horse in the yard a month - but that is a hard keeper and he did not get bedding in a stall.


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## caseymyhorserocks

Do a google search on the internet for local boarding stables in your area, and see how much boarding is. Also, to see how much demand there is locally, look on your craigslist and search "horse boarding wanted" or "pasture wanted" etc. Also look into a commercial insurance for your stable, expensive but a must. You are also going to want liability papers signed by your boarders.

Helpful sites- 
Boarding Horses on Your Hobby Farm - Hobby Farms
boarding


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## Corporal

IMO if you board anybody else's horses your guaranteeing headaches.
They include but are not exclusive:
1) missed board payments
2) (partial care), forget to feed, don't clean stall
3) YOUR brushes, your hay/grain, horse meds, tack used without permission, maybe left out after use
4) Boarders out to ride/muck stalls, etc. at ALL hours
5) Boarder disappears, cannot be reached by phone or mail, and the horse's *care* becomes 100% YOURS. AND, if you sell the horse and the owner shows up later, you'll be in small claims court over it.
6) Complaints about your lack of good facilities
7) MOST IMPORTANT: Boarder gets hurt with their own horse OR claims it's YOUR horse. They sue you and you have to move. I'm NOT exaggerating this!
I used to know a boarding barn owner and ALL of these things happened to him, except he didn't lose his place. This was his primary business, plus a tack shop.
Find a part time job if you need more dough.


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## CLaPorte432

I'm not trying to be rude or anything. So please don't take offense to this, this is just my honest opinion. I would never board with someone that hasn't actually owned horses themselves. There is so much that goes into owning a horse, and even more that goes into boarding. Leasing a horse or taking lessons doesn't cut it.

What happens when you get tired of having to deal with them 9, 10, 12 months down the road? Would you just kick them off the property? Boarding horses is a JOB. Sure, lots of people love it, but those are the type of people that live, breathe and thrive on equines.

I personally think you are setting yourself up for failure and I'd hate for anyone to fail at anything in this world.

If your getting into boarding to earn some extra money, your getting into the wrong business. Most barns barely squeak by with board alone. And since your not a trainer, you can't give lessons, train horses etc. which is how a lot of barns do make their income. It's like Murphy law with horses, if something can go wrong, it will. If a horse get sick or injured while in your care, on your property, you can be sued! You have to have some pretty pricey insurance as well because horse's are a liability and especially other people's horses. Whew. You're in for a hefty premium.

Most boarding barn managers actually have a degree in animal husbandry, or equine "this and that" or small business management. And others without a degree have decades of experience under their belt.


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## amp23

yadlim said:


> In cold weather, figure about 1/2 to 1 bag of grain per horse per month. Summer it goes down to a handful or two per day - give or take.


Wow this would be nice! I have a hard keeper  he goes through about 3 bags or so a month...


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## mls

CLaPorte432 said:


> Boarding horses is a JOB.


To add - 

It's way more than a job - it's a huge part of your daily life. You can quit a job and walk away. When you are responsbile for the health and well being of others (daycare or animal care) events need to be preplanned and there has to be a contigency plan in place.

Boarding is also NOT about horses. It's about the horse owners. I get along with our horses just fine. It's the owners that give me headaches.


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## GhostwindAppaloosa

You know those days you wake up and feel like a truck hit you... you are so sick you cant move and puking your guts out everywhere? most people can call in sick to work and rest. Barn owners are still out there feeding and watering animals (while puking in the wheelbarrow as cleaning stalls) rain or shine... 5 ft snow or not you HAVE to be out there feeding horses! 

I had a boarder ask me once if there was anything they could do to lower their board. I said i can offer you self care (this particular boarder is VERY reliable the only reason i offered it) she said.. no.. i like my days off. I was like yeah. must be nice! Spending holidays with family and going on vacations. I cant have christmas with family 4 hours away because I have horses that need fed and taken care of twice a day.  

Id suggest just renting out the whole barn.


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## karebear444

I would definately do a contract with your boarders. I've boarded many places and I have found that the smaller no drama stable suits me well. So much better than some of the other places I've been with the, "I'm better than you" show people that either ignore you or make you feel like a spec of dirt. I'm sure you will find other people around your area that feel the same about your place and would be happy to board with you. Good luck!!


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## Palomine

Horses will get about 15 feedings or so out of one 50 lb bag. Figure one bag a week, at 2 feedings a day, or little more if in heavy training, or not an easy keeper. Hay would last about 2 days at 1/2 bale a day during winter months, or when grass is not up good. Water heater will add 35 plus to your electric bill each month when water will freeze up. Not to mention water bill.


However back to the boarding issue.

I would not do this for so many reasons.

Unless you offer full services, you are likely to get the type of people that won't put much value in providing feed/hay for their horses, much less pay the boarding bill. And even with full services? Can be the same.

Too many people want a "pretty horsie" but have no clue as to what horse needs, and couldn't care less about providing those things either.

Also, with so many people of the "I can do whatever I want and who are you to tell me I can't" mindset, you could end up with people drunk/smoking on your place, or drugging, or dragging people in who have no right to be there as they aren't boarding. People also rarely correct their children nowadays, so that is another headache for you to possibly deal with.

And too, as another pointed out? You will not make any money doing this, unless 50 extra dollars a month seems like a windfall. To some people, that would be enough of course, don't know if you are one of them. I'm not.

The destructive nature of horses is astounding. To wit, trainers left with show string, (or part of it anyway) Wed night. The first night gone? One mare kicked 12 foot 2x10 board off of stall wall on one end. Two others decided to see who could eat their way into each others stall. Took out board that was inset into wall, 6 pieces, and busy working on other boards too. That was over 24 hour period.

Two weeks ago, one horse decided to take down fans that are on brackets, on top of stall walls. These walls are tall, horse are short. Very. How did horse do it? Not a clue. Cats may know but they aren't talking.

One horse last summer spent all its spare time in one day to destroying 6 feet of wall...did it too.

While there ARE good boarders out there? Most of them are not worth dealing with sadly.

I am a good boarder, I pasture board, with Kola up in smaller area due to needing his meds, and being arthritic in near fore knee. Bonanza is out in fields with her horses. Mine are only boarders there. That probably won't change.

Baby Huey is at WP barn I work for. I was told if I just provided his feed/hay, I didn't have to pay board there, but I do buy 4 extra bags of feed over and above his, because the days I don't work, they feed him of course. And I offer to pay the electric bill for heater, although there is training horse in with Baby Huey. Point is though, I take nothing for granted.

When I first approached them about boarding, I told them very plainly what I would be like as a boarder. I would not come at odd hours, such as late/early, although they are farmers/cattle people.

I also told them I would bring no one out to ride, nor with me otherwise, and I didn't smoke or drink, or do drugs. I would provide my own tack if something was needed, as well as anything else. I have stuck to that. I make sure board bill is on time, and since owners divorced, I went with the wife to her place, which is rented out right now.

As Kola's water is a frost free that runs off of their water, I pay the renter's 35 dollars a month on water bill, and if we decide to go with heater in trough next year, will pay that additional charge too.

As a contrast? Friend of mine rents 2 acres +/- for two horses she got, (disaster there) but the water comes from the funeral home, whose owner owns the pasture her horses are in. She has to fill troughs from his spigot, which is inside the funeral home garage. The place is open, unless there is funeral, 9-5 M/F. And sometimes there is no one there past 4. And no one there on weekends. Hose must be drug inside the garage, and out across parking lot in the back to fill.

Time after time, she has not been there in time to water horses. She lives less than a mile or so from place. Has kids that wander all over town. Has shack job that goes right by there. 

Horses were without water several times, since she didn't get out there. She knows all of this can happen, yet still lets it.
She is a bad boarder there, can you imagine what it would be like in a more structured setting?

If you decide to go ahead with this? Find single women, of an older age, who appreciate the arrangement. Must have jobs, and vehicle, and have good sense too. Set your rules early and hard. YOU can adapt as needed, if something comes up, but make clear what time they can be there.

What about guests, either being there or riding? What if horse needs immediate care, you can't get ahold of them and vet is not willing to come unless you guarantee money? 

And make sure they are decent people, not someone in one crisis after another, evictions/job changes/relationship woes...that gets old quick.

For instance, if you have family gathering planned, do you want them traipsing around. And if you have no outdoor bathroom? What then? Do they use yours? I would suggest a Porta-Potty in that case. 

And can you dedicate the time to make sure they have turned off spigots? A hose left on full force can run up 300 dollars very quickly. Ask me how I know? Not a boarder. Spousal unit...said "it is muddy down there" and when asked him if hose was off? "I turned it off, must be just boggy."

No, hose was NOT off. Moron. And company trusts him with 80,000 lb truck????

By and large? Just not worth it.


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## countercanter

You would probably make more money renting out the barn to someone that wants to manage it themselves. Make sure you have insurance and a contract clearly outlining the responsibilities of the person leasing the property. This way you could enjoy having horses on your property but you wouldn't have the responsibility of being in charge of their care. I too would not board my horse somewhere where the owners had very little horse experience (no offence to you or your husband at all). I used to board at a really nice facility that was owned by a couple that had zero horse experience. My trainer was also the barn manager so I knew my horse was being taken care of but the owners were constantly a problem. Whenever they came down to the barn they always thought it was dirty (we blew and swept the barn aisles 3 times a day, everything always organized and neatly put away, but it is a barn, not an operating room), she wanted to charge close to $1,000 a month (that is what full board at a show barn goes for in the area, even on the cheap side, but you have a groom at your disposal that gets your horse ready/untacks for you and all that stuff), and just didn't understand why things were being run the way they were. It was very frustrating for boarders and my trainer who wanted to keep the owners happy because it was a fantastic facility, but at the same time had to look out for her clients and horses. It is a very touchy business and it would probably be best to find someone that wants to lease the property from you.


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## ChristineNJ

I was riding at a barn where the owner had hired a barn manager who lived on the premises and another barn helper who also lived on the premises. This worked out fine until drama started from the people boarding on the property. Well, one another bad thing at this barn was that full board was charged $500 per month which did not include cleaning the paddocks. And they were large paddocks!! Bad!! Well, people started complaining and the barn manager got hurt and couldn't do the job as well. (She was also making money as an instructor) Well, to make a long story short the manager quit as did the the other worker. What a mess!! People wound up moving there horses next door to another barn because they were scared that their horses would not be taken care of. This barn is still trying to recover from all this drama. Boarders that stayed at the barn are mostly field board and take care of their own horses & also help each other out. I prefer a barn where the owner is there full time or has a barn manager there full time! So, owning & operating a Boarding Stable does have it's pitfalls. If you are going to do it best to start with a few horses and see how it goes.....and have a good contract signed by everyone including liability clauses!!


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## ls6firebird

~*~anebel~*~ said:


> Don't expect to make any money boarding horses - if you are breaking even, you are well ahead of most barns. Most boarding facilities make their money buying/training/selling horses, coaching, training and through sponsorship, or they are independently wealthy/have other streams of income.


with as much as boarding costs, why do so many barely break even? i mean i know there are a lot of costs involved in boarding, but it seems like they bring in a lot of money. 

i know this is probably a dumb question, just wondering if its a lot of little costs that add up, or is there something big that makes it tough?


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## hel

If you do decide to take boarders, good luck to you, because there are so many things than just having horses on your property and getting money from their owners.


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## Susan Crumrine

I cannot even begin to tell you what you are going to experience if you do open a boarding barn.

There is nothing but one hassle after another.
It is dirty, dangerous and all consuming.

The last big barn I ran was similar to your situation.
This young woman had taken lessons and liked horses. 
Her father bought her a 30 stall barn with an indoor arena, outdoor arena, pastures and lovely house.

Because she had no clue, no one would put their horses in that beautiful facility.
She was in tears during our first meeting, afraid to handle the horses, (of the 8 horses that were there, 5 were hers).
They drew straws to see who would have to lead the horses to the pasture.

One horse got his eye kicked out. They almost got sued by their next door neighbor.

Even when I was BO, and the barn was full, we had a waiting list, it was a hassle.
People were never happy, my phone rang and rang.
Kids were climbing in my hay and swinging from my gates.

People would let the whole herd out trying to get their horse out.

And on, and on....you get the picture.

Lease the barn out to someone, that's what I would do if I was you.


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## PaintHorseMares

Corporal said:


> 4) Boarders out to ride/muck stalls, etc. at ALL hours


Many folks forget this...you are allowing access to your property (I assume you plan to live in the house) and this is often a bigger headache than you may think.

Just an idea to toss out...consider looking into what the market is in your area for 'retirement boarding'. There are a couple around us that do this and apparently there is a market for older people that want to relocate but want to insure their horse (typically older, too) is well cared for (i.e. don't want to sell it). The only contact they have with the owners is getting a check every month. You still could get stuck with a non-paying customer, but the 2 stables I know told me that these types of owners are usually financially well off and they have never had a problem. The down side, of course, is that all the labor will be on you.


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