# What do you do when horses come in thin?



## goingnowhere1 (Jan 22, 2012)

Honestly, I never really thought of charging people more because the horses skinnier. I always have been taught and showed that the cost of board covers the price of all of the hay, all of the grain, and all of anything else that you say you will provide for your clients. And if you do find your self short on money or having to spend more money than the border pays for board I would up the cost of everyone's board because that way if that does happen again you won't fall short on money. I hope that made sense and that you solve your issue.


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## gothicangel69 (Aug 2, 2011)

Every barn I've been to has always had the amount of hay (and grain if the barn buys it) that each horse gets for board. If more is needed to keep the horse in shape, then the board is increased by that amount. 
Most contracts I've seen say something like, "the board covers 6 flakes or hay, and up to 5 lbs of feed a day(if their paying for it, otherwise they'll feed as much as you want as you're buying). If your horse requires more than the set amount, each extra flake will cost X amount (the actual cost of the bale diviided by the amount of flakes) and X amount for each additional lb of grain." 
The barn owner monitors the condition of each horse, and if one is not getting enough food, will let the horse owner know and will request additional costs for the extras(starting the day its added and after consent from the owner). If the owner refuses, they are given a months notice and asked to leave. 
These have all been barns with excellent standards and the interest being in the horse's health, not the income made. 
I completely agree with these contracts and think they're fair. If your horse eats more, you should have to pay more. Why should the BO take a loss because your horse is a hard keeper, and why should others suffer if their horses are not?
My current contract also states that if the horse developes any dangerous vices or dehaviour issues, you have one month to fix the issue, hire a trainer, or pay the BO( also a trainer) to fix the issue. If one of the options hasn't been done, you are given a months notice and asked to leave. 
I respect and commend my BO for her high standards and safety measures. I don't want to be around dangerous or skinny horses, and neither does she. If I ever boarded horses, I would do the same thing. 
We had a new horse come to the barn that was a stallion when the owners bought it (a few days ago). As he's unpredictable, the rule at the barn is that no-one is to be around him alone, and the owner (who is a minor) is not allowed around the horse without an experienced horse person until his behaviour problems are solved (of which everyone at the barn is working on for her). 
I am all about safety and have learned a lot at this barn that I plan to carry with me. 
I would not be loosing money on the ones that come in thin. Have a set amount of feed in your board agreement, and request additional feed costs if needed. I wouldn't up the general cost of board for everyone though. Why make them pay for the other horse's feed? Not fair in my opinion.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## GhostwindAppaloosa (Jun 3, 2011)

gothicangel69 said:


> Every barn I've been to has always had the amount of hay (and grain if the barn buys it) that each horse gets for board. If more is needed to keep the horse in shape, then the board is increased by that amount.
> Most contracts I've seen say something like, "the board covers 6 flakes or hay, and up to 5 lbs of feed a day(if their paying for it, otherwise they'll feed as much as you want as you're buying). If your horse requires more than the set amount, each extra flake will cost X amount (the actual cost of the bale diviided by the amount of flakes) and X amount for each additional lb of grain."
> The barn owner monitors the condition of each horse, and if one is not getting enough food, will let the horse owner know and will request additional costs for the extras(starting the day its added and after consent from the owner). If the owner refuses, they are given a months notice and asked to leave.
> These have all been barns with excellent standards and the interest being in the horse's health, not the income made.
> ...


 
I do have a set amount of hay/grain i supply. but honestly when horses have been coming in skinny ive been feeding over that trying to get horses some weight on them. 
I provide up to 6 lbs of grain and 15 lbs of hay a day.. and will up hay and decrease grain equally (on cost). these thin horses im giving over 20 lbs of hay a day. Im just going to talk to owners from now on when they come in and point out i think they need a higher amount of hay until we get weight back on and like you said it is charged per lb etc. 

I was just wondering what other barns did. Ive never seen so many skinny horses it seems in my life. Ive also started taking photos and weight tapes of all horses who come in and taking monthly weight tapes on thin ones with photos in case of humane society issues (no joke these horses came in that skinny)


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## Casey02 (Sep 20, 2011)

I sware people dont think there horses are thin! Im sick of people saying there horses are healthy and race horse skinny...there is a big difference between race horse fit and being skinny..

I dont know about everyone else but i like my horses to have a little meat on their bones!


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Sky came in skinny because he didn't travel well and he was skinny to begin with.

The barn gave him 24/7 hay and up to 2 scoops of grain (most horses eat one) and within a few months, he was a good size. 

Board didn't change, they claim in their services that any feed comes with the board cost. They set the bar high so they can afford all the luxaries, which I'm fine with.

If you find yourself stopping short, talk with the owner and maybe up the bar a little so everyone that comes in can afford whatever diet their horse needs.

Just my opinion.


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## GhostwindAppaloosa (Jun 3, 2011)

i dont live in an area where i can charge a lot more for board. I wouldnt be able to get any business. I charge 250 a month and my DEAD COST on horses is about 150 a month (in the summer.) in the winter I figured with increased hay and lights etc im lucky if i make 50.00 a month per horse. So that increased amount of food really hurts any profits I might make. 

Hay costs us about .10 per lb. So upping a horse to about 25 lbs (about what they will eat a day) would cost me an additional 1.00 per day. which doesnt seem like a lot.. but when you add that up over 30 days its 30.00 per horse per much. when your profits are so little that amount is a lot to cover


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## poppy1356 (Jan 18, 2012)

Well I am not sure what my contract says exactly but I know my horse is currently getting 30-40 lbs of hay per day and still losing weight. Vet is coming to determine why. But with the cost of hay and knowing my horse is getting almost twice the amount of the other horses, I wouldn't have a problem if the BO wanted to charge for that extra hay. 

Yes money is tight with everyone but you run a for profit business, simple as that.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

I'm speaking as an owner, not as a BO. Both my horses were underweight when I brought them to the boarding barn (both came from the sad situation). However I didn't pay extra. The BO provided unlimited hay (round bales), and I did buy my own grain simply because I liked the quality more and usually fed them myself at least in evening. It took them just couple months to pick up the weight (and in fact my paint went on heavy side from all the hay she was consuming and being greedy after starving).


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Most boarding barns don't offer any grain at all in their monthly costs. They feed 15-20 lbs hay and if the owner wants grain they provide it and the barn will feed it. Since you do offer grain, you need to sit down and figure out how much a normal horse will eat, of both hay & grain, to maintain their desired body condition/weight. Once you do that, then you just start charging extra for the thin ones and just let the owners know up front that board is normally XXX but because you'll have to feed extra to bring their horse up to condition, you'll have to charge XX on top of that until the horse is in satisfactory condition. 

With the economy in the state it's in and I don't see things getting much better any time soon, I think getting in thin horses is going to be more the norm than the exception as many people want to cut the feed as the first cost cutting measure and it never works out well for the horses.


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## Acco (Oct 4, 2011)

Like one of the other posters said, my barn also charges extra (per flake of hay, per lb of grain) if your horse eats more than what is standard. 

The amount they have set as standard is a good amount, covers the vast majority of horses. The only two we have who get charged extra are these two enormous warmbloods.

I'd say you're perfectly justified in charging extra for a horse who needs a large amount of food, then reducing their board back to normal once the horse can eat the standard amount again.


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## sillyhorses (Sep 2, 2011)

We have had the same experience. Our board rates include a set amount of grain/hay ("up to x lbs sweet feed, x lbs hay, divided between 2 feeds daily"). Good business practice; make/keep a per horse budget. If horses come in thin because they have been fed inadequately at the previous facility, all it takes is feeding what is included for our board and some time. Horses should start putting on weight immediately, but slowly. This is typically the case...

However, if the horse is thin because it is a hard keeper, then the owner pays the difference between what is included in board and any additional or alternate feeds. We sit down, discuss our suggestions, weigh that against the owners knowledge/experience/suggestions, and go from there. Occasionally, we get the awesome boarder who thinks that just giving their horse 10lbs sweet feed per feeding is a great idea, at which point we request a veterinary approved diet plan (either signed by the vet or suggested in our presence). Rarely, that does become an issue, haha. Unfortunately, in our business there are lots of horse owners who don't know the first thing about actually caring for their horses, and out of this ignorance suggest things that could put their horse's life in jeopardy...

We also have a clause in our contract that says horses are required to be maintained at a 4-7 on the Henneke scale. This way, if a horse's owner doesn't care if their horse is thin (but WE DO!!!!), we can point that clause out and say "something needs to be done..."


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## GhostwindAppaloosa (Jun 3, 2011)

sillyhorses said:


> We have had the same experience. Our board rates include a set amount of grain/hay ("up to x lbs sweet feed, x lbs hay, divided between 2 feeds daily"). Good business practice; make/keep a per horse budget. If horses come in thin because they have been fed inadequately at the previous facility, all it takes is feeding what is included for our board and some time. Horses should start putting on weight immediately, but slowly. This is typically the case...
> 
> However, if the horse is thin because it is a hard keeper, then the owner pays the difference between what is included in board and any additional or alternate feeds. We sit down, discuss our suggestions, weigh that against the owners knowledge/experience/suggestions, and go from there. Occasionally, we get the awesome boarder who thinks that just giving their horse 10lbs sweet feed per feeding is a great idea, at which point we request a veterinary approved diet plan (either signed by the vet or suggested in our presence). Rarely, that does become an issue, haha. Unfortunately, in our business there are lots of horse owners who don't know the first thing about actually caring for their horses, and out of this ignorance suggest things that could put their horse's life in jeopardy...
> 
> We also have a clause in our contract that says horses are required to be maintained at a 4-7 on the Henneke scale. This way, if a horse's owner doesn't care if their horse is thin (but WE DO!!!!), we can point that clause out and say "something needs to be done..."


Yes good point. I might have to add that clause into ours. 

I know several have mentioned that their or others provide whatever feed a horse needs. Im wondering what the cost per month at those facilities are? 

An average 1000 lb horse in light work (which pretty much every horse in my barn is.. and none are 1000 lb horses.. more like 850-900... 6 lbs grain and 15 lbs hay is pretty standard rations for them. I fed a body condition score 2-3 20 lbs a day in a slow feed net and two scoops of food and in 6 weeks she is up 150 lbs. 

obviously some horses are hard keepers and fast burners.. but like some have said that is not my problem. THe problem comes in when a horse needs more food and owners dont want to pay the measly 20 bucks extra a month and feel i should provide it.. so wont authorize the change.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

GhostwindAppaloosa said:


> Yes good point. I might have to add that clause into ours.
> 
> I know several have mentioned that their or others provide whatever feed a horse needs. Im wondering what the cost per month at those facilities are?
> 
> ............... THe problem comes in when a horse needs more food and owners dont want to pay the measly 20 bucks extra a month and feel i should provide it.. so wont authorize the change.


 
I charge $350/mo pasture board. They have 24/7 access to a round bale and I feed 3-4 lbs of Strategy 2X/day along with salt, and fresh water. If they want a stall it's $550/month, same feed plus flakes of hay when they come in at night. All my horses go out in turnout paddocks during the day and have round bales to munch on. My contract says I shall provide what is needed to keep the horse in good shape. Notice it says KEEP not BRING the horse to good shape. I have no problem tossing in some Ultium if someone needs it to gain some weight. That's for a horse that's just down a little bit in weight. 

The day I get a boarder wanting to bring me a BCS 1-2-3, I will toss in a paragraph about how they need to provide extra feed for their horse until he/she reaches a minimum BCS 5 or they can pay an extra $100/month and I'll provide the extra feed. I've been lucky so far and not gotten in any really thin horses (except for one I repo'd but that was MY problem) but that day is coming I'm sure.


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## Bellasmom (Jun 22, 2011)

I'm glad I don't board my horse! I would feel very uncomfortable having someone else tell me how fat my horse needed to be. With that said, I think the clause requiring at least a 4 on the Henneke scale is a good one, it allows the owner some freedom of choice while ensuring the horse is not dangerously thin. I keep my horses lean and fit, I feel many people keep their horses grossly overweight. I see way too many horses laboring along toting an extra 200-300 lbs (and often an overweight rider as well). At the end of a 4-5 hr ride my "skinny" horse has barely broken a good sweat, while Susie Q's "healthy" horse is drenched and exhausted.


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## kitten_Val (Apr 25, 2007)

Bellasmom, I think OP was talking about clearly underweight horses - those that are all bones. You simply can't miss that one and they don't look healthy at all. Usually such horses need a different approach till they pick all the weight on (like different grain, beet pulp, oil, weight builder, etc.), and I can see either charging more for that or asking the owner to provide it all.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Bellasmom said:


> I'm glad I don't board my horse! I would feel very uncomfortable having someone else tell me how fat my horse needed to be. With that said, I think the clause requiring at least a 4 on the Henneke scale is a good one, it allows the owner some freedom of choice while ensuring the horse is not dangerously thin. I keep my horses lean and fit, I feel many people keep their horses grossly overweight. I see way too many horses laboring along toting an extra 200-300 lbs (and often an overweight rider as well). At the end of a 4-5 hr ride my "skinny" horse has barely broken a good sweat, while Susie Q's "healthy" horse is drenched and exhausted.


I don't think anyone is talking about feeding up a lean and fit horse. I know I like my horses a little more filled out than an endurance rider, but it's my personal preference and wouldn't dream of trying to fatten up one of those horses. I'm talking pure D neglect and hip bones, ribs and spinous processes all sticking out type of thin, not lean and trim because of a good feed & exercise program. 









This kind of skinny. Somebody brings a horse in looking like that, you are dayum skippy straight I'm going to tell them how to feed and care for their horse and I am going to feed it up if it's at all humanly possible.


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## GhostwindAppaloosa (Jun 3, 2011)

I'd like to give an example. This is a horse I personally purchased this spring and it is a photo of it when it came in. This is about the same condition I've had horses coming in at. and IMO this is TOOO skinny. I personally like my horses fit and not fat. Im not expecting people to want their horses fat. Just at a healthy weight so I dont have issues with humane society etc. because I would be the one that would be in legal trouble because I am in charge of a horses care.


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## GhostwindAppaloosa (Jun 3, 2011)

and for those interested.. this is after 6 weeks of regular food.... nothing extreme...


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## Casey02 (Sep 20, 2011)

ghostwind- i feel the same way, that horse you just posted looks toooo skinny in my books. No i dont want an obese horse but they need to be at a healthy weight! I like a little meat on my horses bones lol. And i can already see a huge difference in the way he looked only after 6 weeks! It kind of makes me sad that all it took was a little food to make him gain weight so fast...


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