I wonder if the BO saying something about the price of hay going up and not wanting to discount really means that she hasn’t raised board since she is using him. If HO stops allowing him to be used the BO may raise the rates.
If HO is truly unhappy she may be happier if she just moved to horse where he isn’t used in lessons. It sounds like she would be paying the same amount somewhere else but have access to better facilities when they do ride. Unless of course those facilities require the HO to take lessons or have training rides.
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When there was an instructor teaching lessons at my barn, she used a couple of the BO’s horses. They received $5 per lesson in compensation. ( 1 hr, beginner/intermediate lessons). I thought this was a fair trade-off. After all, the instructors are the ones making money off the horses and they are not the ones paying for feed and care.
A couple years ago, a friend of mine offered to let us ride her gelding after we lost a horse, light riding a couple days a week. She expected no compensation, but I thought it only fair to do something in return for her kindness. We offered to pay for his supplements and hoof care, in the end she only accepted us paying for his trims. IMO, the BO/instructor in this case should have offered some sort of compensation for using the horse. It’s just the right thing to do.
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Yeah that’s a fair assumption, but the BO has already raised the rates and my friend is paying more. Which is fair I think. Boarding rates have gone up everywhere in my area, it is what it is and it’s growing increasingly more expensive to own horses.
I think digging deeper into it, is that if the BO owned her own horse that could be used in the unique programs she does, then BO would have to pay for the upkeep and maintenance of said horse, but instead, she essentially has a cost-free horse to use to make money on, and my friend is footing the bill while paying regional average for board, all farrier, vet, grain, supplements, etc. It’s like if I drove truck but didn’t have to pay for rental usage of that truck, I could just make money and someone else had to pay all the maintenance, fuel, etc. I mean, that just wouldn’t happen.
And these aren’t simply $50 a pop lessons, these are multi-hour, multi-participant workshops bringing in hundreds of dollars an afternoon. And again, these are liberty style sessions, so it’s not like 5 people are getting on the horses back in an afternoon.
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Yeah for sure, but my friend does pay this BO for lessons and training rides. I mean, she’s literally not getting anything in exchange lol
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Your friend is getting screwed.
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I think this topic is like the lease thread. It all depends on what you (general) agree to and what works for you and your horse.
If I had a trainer I trusted and a horse that needed regular exercise to stay sane/sound/useful, it might be worth it to me to allow the use of my horse for certain things while getting no compensation for it.
There are other situations where I agree that for the use of the horse the owner deserves to get some money.
To me, if your friend is OK with how everything is, the horse is happy with how everything is, why stick your nose in and make problems?
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Haha yes! That’s what I think! Thank you everyone for all your feedback!
I do think my friend is getting the short end of the carrot stick here, but she’s just so afraid to rock the boat. She had been bullied at previous barns, so she just wants to be agreeable as she really loves the small barn she’s at now. In thinking a bit more granular about the whole ordeal, I’ve come to the conclusion that equestrians/BO really have to be careful of how they are treating their fellow equestrians. When they bully another horse person, it’s not only the person that gets hurt, but it DOES absolutely trickle down to the horse. So if the bully is self proclaimed horse-centric, just know that how you treat the horse owner can affect the horse too.
My friend is absolutely struggling to pay for this horse as a recently divorced single mom trying to do the right thing for him, and since everyone and their dog is coercing her to let them use her gelding (who she carefully rehabilitated and takes excellent care of) for free, she is at a point where she may have to rehome him, and we all know how that can go.
So yeah, the morale of this story IMHO is, horses cost money and if you are making money off a horse that you don’t own, then you should, ethically, pay for use of that horse.
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She’s not OK with it, and is struggling to say anything due to past experiences.
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you are assuming the board rate nets the BO a huge profit.
No I’m not assuming that. I work at a barn and know exactly the cost that goes into it, but that doesn’t mean that because the BO choses to do this business and sets the price, that BO is able to just pull boarders horses and use them for lessons without compensation to HO. In our region “lesson horse use fee” is common and everyone who rides a lesson horse opposed to their own horse pays more for the lesson (that additional cost goes to the horse owner, whether that is a boarder, the actual coach giving the lesson, BO etc).
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The barn owner is making a huge profit using the horse for the multi-hour/day workshops. Boarding probably not so much but is charging the owner prime rate and getting a nice horse to use for free.
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Yes exactly, and this is a tiny barn, like space for under 5 horses. If my friend left the barn, the BO would need to purchase a well trained, bomb proof horse to do these clinics, and BO would have to pay for the hay, grain, vet, farrier, and labour to care for her own horse.
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Let’s say the BO made $400-500 off a one-day clinic using my friends gelding, really, she can’t take $50 off the board per clinic? And she does these clinics each weekend, both days.
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You have no way of knowing what costs are for this operation. You might know what a bale of hay costs in your area, but you do not know what this person is paying for taxes, insurance, utilities, etc.
Then it sounds like it is time to either put her foot down or simply move Dobbin to a new place.
I read your posts as your friend was pretty much OK and you were the one pushing that this is wrong and the friend should be mad. I am sorry if that is not how I should have read them.
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Then the BO needs to set board at a rate that covers those costs, not use random boarders horses for free to make money from. But again, this is a small backyard operation and no amenities.
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Yeah that’s totally fair. In my area, there is always a lesson horse fee, even if the lesson horse is owned by the coach giving the lessons which makes sense. The fees are nominal but I think they need to be there. Horses cost a lot and no one rides for free.
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Horses and their care can be so complicated.
I’m afraid what’s fair usually has little to do with what happens.
Your friend can absolutely request that her horse not be used in lessons / workshops / whatever or to be compensated if horse is to be used. The flip to that is friend should be prepared for all the possible counters BO may make (leave, raise board rate, etc etc). Of course, BO might agree to pay a fee for using horse but if it swings the other way then friend should be prepared.
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That is what the OP is saying now. I went back and read all their posts before I posted. It is OK. I am admitting that I must have read it wrong now that the OP is saying their friend is not OK with it.
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TBH-- I am usually the one who reads it wrong 
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