looking for a reasonable fee schedule for “extras”. Please share your experience at boarding facilities.
extras might be;
banamine
hand walking
free lunging
holding for vet /farrier
theraplate time
bandaging
wound care
trailering to clinic ER
trailering to shows
admin of meds (ulcer guard/bute)
etc
banamine-- no charge if you provide (or from vet at their cost), $5 if you don’t
hand walking-- $10/day
free lunging-- NA
holding for vet /farrier-- none for regular vet/ farrier, $5 if it’s a separate appointment
theraplate time-- NA
bandaging-- no charge
wound care-- cost of supplies if not provided plus $5
trailering to clinic ER-- $2/ mile
trailering to shows-- NA
admin of meds (ulcer guard/bute)-- no charge if you provide (or from vet at their cost), $3 for bute
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Banamine - 15 a shot (when told to do so by vet - no shots without vet auth) - farms ban and needles
Hand walking - 10 for 15 min
Holding - nothing
Bandaging - free first time, 5 a service if multiple
Meds - if supplied, free - owner must make it as easy as possible on us - counting pills out
We have a few rehab facilities in the area - and they provide most of these services (no theraplate), but you pay the equivalent of full training - they range from $800 to $1600/month. You would pay extra for any trailering. I’ve seen charges of $2 to $3/mile, plus many add a base charge (so it might be $35 plus $2/mile).
I’m not sure what the ala carte pricing is for many of these - they are covered in my full training (FT) services. Here’s the breakdown:
banamine - administration covered by FT, $ of banamine paid by me, but haven’t needed it
hand walking - FT (either for weather or injury, in place of schooling)
free lunging - FT - only on a lunge line
holding for vet /farrier -FT (also coordinating routine farrier and vet appts for the training horses as a group)
theraplate time - available, but not sure of the $ as haven’t used it
bandaging - FT
wound care - FT
trailering to clinic or shows - depends on distance, number of horses and if trainer brings a horse
admin of meds (ulcer guard/bute) - FT
ones you didn’t have, but I pay for:
blanketing in winter - $30/mo
full clip - $100
I think the regular or recurring costs should be figured into the board, including turnout, blankets, fly masks, farrier, routine vet calls. These are all going to be year round.
Trailering should be figured out on a mileage and time cost. Find out what the good local hauler charges and undercut by ten or twenty per cent to reflect the convenience of being on site with the horse. If the driver had to wait for the client charge for that.
Unusual nursing charges such as medication wound care bandaging should have a set fee.
Really you need to figure your cost, which is hpurly salary of the worker divided by the time the task takes, with a per cent added for your overhead and profit.
I suspect that it is easy to on one hand make the client feel they are being nickel and dime to death, but on the other hand for the trainer to not actually be getting enough money for the work.
The other thing to remember from the trainers POV is that it’s the business as a whole that needs to be financially sustainable, so if one client has a less needy horse and one has a more needy horse it can balance out.
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Giving owner or vet-provided Banamine or other meds/supplements that owner paid for - no charge unless horse is difficult to dose and it’s a huge fight that takes 3 people. Or it’s multiple times per day or I have to make a special trip to the barn just for that horse. Basically if it takes less than 3 minutes for me to do, I don’t charge. If a horse has a LOT of 3 minute tasks that are going to be a daily routine for more than a few days, then $15/day. Say the horse needs oral meds 3x day plus a shot of banamine 2x day, then I’d charge them $15 flat fee per day. But if it’s throwing powdered bute in the feed that the owner has paid for, or the horse is good about being dosed orally and he needs a tube of something once per day, charging for that is really petty. I don’t charge for administering supplements, so I just consider it along those lines.
Hand walking - $1/minute
Free longing - regular hourly training rate
Holding for vet or farrier - included in board unless owner uses a farrier or vet other than the barn farrier or vet. Some exceptions would be (for example) if you scheduled the vet to come to the barn on April 15 for shots. One owner decides they want shots on April 1. They can schedule the vet on their own, but they need to be there for the vet. Same with the farrier. Horses are scheduled to be done April 15. One owner wants their horse to wait 2 weeks. They would be responsible for coordinating with the farrier to be there.If there is a vet emergency, I generally don’t charge to meet the vet. I did have one instance where I did charge an owner for vet care. The horse was starting an impaction colic. Vet gave 2 choices: haul horse to vet hospital or hook to IVs here at the barn. Owner opted not to ship horse. I had to baby sit the horse for 6 1/2 hours while the IVs ran. I charged $20/hr for that. It was still less than the owner would have had to pay to ship horse to equine hospital.
Theraplate Time - Same as handwalking $1/minute
Bandaging - $10 + cost of supplies
Wound Care - depends on the wound. If it’s a matter of wiping off with Betadine and putting some Corona on, no charge. If it’s more intensive like flushing and rebandaging, $10
Trailering to Vet - standard trailering rate.
Trailering to Shows - Standard Trailering rate for your area. Reduced if more than one horse, i.e. $1.50/mile round trip for 1 horse or $1.00 per horse round trip for 2 or more is pretty typical around here. That being said, make sure your insurance covers commercial hauling. If you accept payment, it’s considered commercial. If there’s an accident and you’re being paid to haul someone else’s horse, you may not be covered.
While you don’t want to be taken advantage of, nickel and diming your boarders can cost you boarders. The best thing to do is mention costs associated with certain things up front, but you don’t always have to enforce them. For example, you have a fantastic boarder that helps you out a lot. She pitches in and helps bring horses in, or will fill an empty water bucket rather than telling you about it. She has an emergency and can’t make it out to rebandage or hand walk her horse one time. Don’t charge her for it. But if you have a boarder that routinely pawns little tasks off on you, (Oh, I’m running late, can you turn my horse out for me? Oh, I forgot to put Dobbin’s Flymask on, can you take it out to him?) then go ahead and charge them for all the little stuff you do. Just make sure it’s posted for all to see.
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I’ve boarded at three facilities in recent years, none where my horse would be considered in full training, but all she would be considered full board (cleaning, feeding, turnout all included). At one of the three locations, basically none of this was even offered, so my answers are for the other two!
banamine - no idea as I’ve thankfully never needed it!
hand walking - occasionally free, more routine would be subject to individual negotiation with whoever is willing to do it. Not something that is generally offered at barns in my area.
free lunging - not offered at any of the barns I have boarded at.
holding for vet /farrier - free if using barn farrier or vet at pre-arranged time; if not, free if only a rare instance. Otherwise you need to show up to hold your own horse or arrange with vet/farrier/massage therapist that holding is not needed.
theraplate time - not available at any barn I have boarded at.
bandaging - removing bandages that owner has applied = free, applying them generally not offered unless part of wound care.
wound care - on an occasional basis, usually free. If for an ongoing issue, it would depend on the extent of care needed. Something minimal would probably only be $20/month, but something more extensive would require individual negotiation.
trailering to clinic ER - not offered at one barn, other barn offered but no idea of cost as I’ve always had my own trailer.
trailering to shows - only offered through trainer, not through boarding facility.
admin of meds (ulcer guard/bute) - depends on horse, med, and number of administrations. If the horse is easy and it is only needed occasionally, it would typically be free. If it is something that can just be dumped in the feed, that would be free too. More frequent, long term, or if horse is difficult would be anywhere from $20/month to $5/day.
Additional services not mentioned:
Blanketing - on an occasional basis, free. If more consistent or onerous, $20/month.
Flymasks & spray - free if owner provided.
Supplements - if easy (like Smartpaks), free. If more complex, owner needs to bag feed with supplements.
Both boarding facilities I’m referencing are smaller, family run facilities. In general, occasional, minor accommodations are free and more significant ones are subject to fee negotiation. I have never felt “nickeled and dimed” at any of these facilities. The one that basically offered no “extras” (even for a fee), was not satisfactory as I travel a lot for work, so occasional things like blanket changes during sudden weather changes are very important for me. I did, a long time ago, board at a facility where everything was “extra” and it drove me nuts - it was just too troublesome to keep track of what was owed, what I was being charged for, if things were actually getting done, and what my monthly bill was going to be for budgeting!
So OP is your insurance going to cover you administering prescription medication to other people’s horses if something goes wrong?
