Barn charging part boarders

[sascha]

@demidq

The BO specifically said they would charge part boarders for the extra wear and tear.

So, do mother and daughter/father and son/sister and sister/etc combos who share a horse get charged double? What about your overseas relative that comes once a year for a pony ride - do you need to pay a fee for that?

I mean, I personally wouldn’t get into it if I wanted to keep my horse there and would just wave a sad goodbye to the possibility of having a part-boarder. But it just seems so crazy that I’d love to ask those questions (and more) if I didn’t care about continuing to board there and had a place lined up that I could move to real quick like if the discussion went south.

[GoodTimes]

I’m in Ontario as well and I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a barn doing that. Some places will require that the part-boarder take X number of lessons per month, or at least a couple to start off, just for safety reasons.

[eightpondfarm]

@beowulf

about a trainer boarding at the barn who was offering training rides/instruction to other boarders. BO wanted to charge them a ring fee per session.

That would be objectionable to me.
I haul-in 2 horses for my lessons … i take two lessons back-to-back and i pay BO 20/lesson to use the arena. And that 20 does not secure the arena for my exclusive use. If a boarder wants to use the arena while my lesson is in session, they are able to do so. It rarely happens because my lessons are early afternoon on a weekday. But still, i consider it a privilege to be able to have a nice place to have my riding lessons.

[TheJenners]

@beowulf

a trainer boarding at the barn who was offering training rides/instruction to other boarders. BO wanted to charge them a ring fee per session

Nawww… I’d be okay on a charge to the trainer for facility use but to the paying boarder? Noope.

[peedin]

@TheJenners

@Horsegirl_s_Mom

I have never heard the term “part boarder.”

Lease or part-lease.

We call them share boarders. A lease is a different thing.

[Night_Flight]

Part-boarder is a very common term in Ontario and Quebec, based on my experience.

[beowulf]

That’s the rub. The boarders are already paying to use the ring via their board. Them paying a fellow boarder for training/instruction doesn’t change that. It was an interesting thread.

[Ghazzu]

@sascha

Oh, I am definitely not saying that barn owners shouldn’t charge a reasonable rate for use of electricity and that barn owners should fit the bill for idiot, mannerless, inconsiderate boarders, just that it serves no-one fewer headaches to have a time clock for lights.

Oh, I didn’t think you were–it just reminded me of the whole kerfluffle.

[Ghazzu]

@beowulf

I am part of a local barn owner/manager’s group on FB and I saw a recent post very similar, about a trainer boarding at the barn who was offering training rides/instruction to other boarders. BO wanted to charge them a ring fee per session.

I’d say that depends on the situation–the boarders shouldn’t have to pay extra, but if I were a BO who either taught lessons or employed an in-house trainer, I might not look kindly on an itinerant trainer coming in and skimming the cream, so to speak.

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

OP
Would the part boarder pay you for his/her share of the board, or would part boarder pay the BO directly?

I’m not quite sure why the BO would do this to discourage boarders from doing part boarding
If BO doesn’t want to deal with it, why not just say no, and be done with it?

I can see where having a lot of part boarders could get disruptive.

Part boarder is sharing the horse but using BOs facility.

Does PB get tack room privileges? If so , how much? Do they get their own saddle rack, locker, bridle hook. Tack trunk space, locker?
Or is the PB expected to haul tack back and forth each time they want to ride?

It probably wouldn’t be significant if only a few boarders did this, but all it takes is some wise guy to share board a pony with 3 or 4 family members or friends and suddenly you’ve got Bebes Kids and Bumpases Dogs on your property, filling up your tack room, taking up all the spaces in your parking lot, clogging the bathrooms, and pissing off the boarders who are paying full price for facilities that PB are only paying a 1/2 or 1/3 for.

Just something to think about

[clanter]

does this part boarder arrangement change the true boarder’s insurance requirements sine they are now in a business relationship with this part boarder?

I assume their liability insurance was a personal policy rather than a business which occurs with a leasing of their horse

[demidq]

The usual arrangement is that a part boarder pays the owner a fee to use the horse a set number of days/week.Owner pays the full board. BO doesn’t play a part in the agreement, and in my case there is nothing in the boarding contract either way.
When I had a part boarder many years ago, they used my tack and equipment, were required to have liability insurance and were not allowed to let anyone else ride without my EXPRESS permission.
The BO is not hurting for money, and says the barn is paying for itself and then some! They haven’t been in the horse world very long and sometimes don’t understand what might seem logical to someone with more experience.
It really isn’t worth the hassle of “fighting back” - the place is nice, it’s good care and close to my house. I don’t want to antagonise the BO.

[sascha]

@AnastasiaBeaverhousen

all it takes is some wise guy to share board a pony with 3 or 4 family members

The families thing is a thing regardless of part-boarding or not. Either barns allow kids or they don’t. Don’t want to be around kids? Don’t board at a facility that allows them. Likewise for barn owners who don’t want 3 or 4 family members on the property, “I’m sorry this is an adults only facility.” And same for dogs, either absolutely no dogs allowed, or any variation of allowed but on leash/not in riding rings/free rein unless they cause any issue/etc.

It’s not hard.

OTOH, part boarders tend to take up no extra room anywhere except maybe the first time they come out to try the horse in which case they’re going to use 1 extra parking space for an hour or two on one day.

It’s rare for a horse owner to have more than one part boarder, but even if they did, they stick to a schedule so that the horse isn’t worked by more than one person on any given day.

The barn I’m currently at has 2 or 3 part boarders at the moment (2 or 3 different horses) and in no way do they disrupt the rest of us. Those horses just have a different person attached to them depending on the day of the week. I’d far rather that than those horses that don’t get daily attention from their owners.

The horses seem happier, less stressed and it is absolutely zero trouble to anyone … except for those of us that have trouble remembering names

[findeight]

I didnt read that the part board guy was specifically bringing kids, just 3 or 4 other family members. Thats still 3 or 4 extra bodies with little or no horse knowledge wandering around. Unsupervised adults are as bad or worse then kids.

Have experience with half lease/share boarders arriving with an entourage, often in several cars, as well as teens dropped at the gate for the day, sometimes with one or two friends. Not a day care here folks, no wonder most BOs dont encourage it and the smart ones require a separate contract with them or parent.

[sascha]

@findeight

I didnt read that the part board guy was specifically bringing kids, just 3 or 4 other family members.

That was something spontaneously inserted by the poster I quoted and nothing to do with the entire rest of the thread

@AnastasiaBeaverhousen

but all it takes is some wise guy to share board a pony with 3 or 4 family members or friends and suddenly you’ve got Bebes Kids and Bumpases Dogs on your property, filling up your tack room, taking up all the spaces in your parking lot, clogging the bathrooms, and pissing off the boarders who are paying full price for facilities that PB are only paying a 1/2 or 1/3 for.

As far as individual barn policies re: kids, dogs, and part boarders, I don’t think anyone on this thread is saying that it’s not acceptable for a barn to have a zero tolerance policy on any of those items. Make a policy and stick to it. If people don’t like it, they will know UP FRONT and will not choose to board there if it won’t work for them.

What is being challenged is the bizarre barn charge for a part boarder when the barn is already getting paid full board for the horse in question.

[AnastasiaBeaverhousen]

Glad it works out for your barn.
It doesn’t always
I don’t find the extra charge unreasonable or bizarre.
The OP already responded . She has decided not to get a part boarder at this time.

[findeight]

IME the charge to a part boarder is not “ bizarre”. Yeah the horses basic board is already paid (and we know how much “profit” that generates) but part boarder is another body using all of the facilities. Some barns require a part boarder to use barn services like taking lessons, some want a cut of any income horse owner receives from part boarder. Whatever, It should be in the boarding contract. If barn changes policy and adds it, needs to be a new contract signed and written notice of changes.

As to why a barn thats never had it would suddenly add this policy without officially notifying all boarders ? Bad sign. IME and nearly 50 years in boarding barns, barn is sliding towards far worse. Either towards financial ruin or BO has had enough and burning out. Usually both.

Its a big yellow flag warning about a barns future. Beware of sudden, surprise changes.

[cheval_convert]

I have 2 people who each lease my horse one day per week. The barn owner charges them a nominal monthly fee in addition to the lease cost. BO originally approached me and said I was supposed to pay the fee but the lease agreement my leasees have with me puts the onus on them. The barn owner and the leasees have worked it out.

Also, at this time it is so expensive to run and maintain a good facility I do not begrudge the BO at all for finding a way to make ends meet. She runs a class facility and takes good care of the horses and their owners. She has excellent staff and I never worry about my horse. By charging a small fee to leasees she is able to keep our board rate at an almost affordable level.

[sascha]

@findeight

Yeah the horses basic board is already paid (and we know how much “profit” that generates) but part boarder is another body using all of the facilities.

I still don’t understand this math.

A person boards a horse, comes out 3 days per week.

A person boards a horse, comes out 7 days per week.

They are both charged the same amount.

What difference does it make if those 7 days of the week are divided 3 part boarder and 4 owner or not even 7 days, but maybe 4 with 2 part boarder and 2 owner? It’s not (generally) like people who lease out half their horse for half their board (or whatever percentage) are adding days of double visits for the horse. Generally they’re making up for days they can’t be out there.

@findeight

As to why a barn thats never had it would suddenly add this policy without officially notifying all boarders ? Bad sign. IME and nearly 50 years in boarding barns, barn is sliding towards far worse. Either towards financial ruin or BO has had enough and burning out. Usually both.

Totally agree with this.

[sascha]

@AnastasiaBeaverhousen

Glad it works out for your barn.
It doesn’t always

Nobody said it always works out. Often times it doesn’t, but most times a BO can (should!) look back and say, “Damn, I didn’t have rules/policies in place.to prevent this place turning into a 3-ring circus.” Generally people are smart enough to know what they want ahead of time though. If they don’t like kids, they’ll make a no kids policy from the get go. If they have issues with dogs, they’ll make a no dogs policy from the get go.

As for this

@AnastasiaBeaverhousen

The OP already responded . She has decided not to get a part boarder at this time.

So? Discussion around this topic must end? If you’re done discussing it, feel free to not click the link anymore. It’s really that easy. Others are still interested in finding out about different barns policies and discussing how part boarding can be good/terrible/really terrible/lovely, etc.