Sure, but as I said, during non-Covid times we still have a policy called courtesy to the BO and respect of her private property which means we don’t just assume we have the right to invite strangers to use her facilities without clearing it first.
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I wouldn’t consider bringing someone with you (to watch you ride, for example) to be “using her facilities.”
But - there are differences between a backyard boarding barn and a commercial boarding barn. I would think anywhere there might be a lesson program, you’re going to have people on the property who are not boarders or pros.
When I had a boarder, I never minded if she brought someone with her. In fact, since it was only her horse and mine, I preferred she had someone with her if she were riding when I was not home. That was far more of a concern to me than someone watching her ride.
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Sorry, poor wording! Like I said, the thread has been eye-opening for me - I’ll definitely think twice about stuff like this in the future.
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yea, if it was just a quick drop-by with one person en route to somewhere I would not give notice. I think there is a difference between a friend or family member being on the property for 20 minutes with me as I feed my horse his evening grain & supplements on the way to dinner vs. a friend wanting to come and “play with the horses” and get a tour of the property etc.
In both instances I would still have to keep an eye on my guests all of the time, but if I’m giving a full “this is a horse, these are chickens” tour and answering all manner of questions about animals and doing a little demo with my horse I would let the BO know in advance since 1. there would be a person or group of people on the property who don’t know barn rules or animal/horse common sense and 2. If I am prepping my horse or doing actual chores while they are there, its harder for me to keep them in my sight and therefore out of trouble. Like when I popped into the tack room really quick to grab fly spray, and my brother’s friend turned around and stuck his hand into a stall and sure enough - got his hand bit (despite being told numerous times not to do this).
Its just so easy for something to go sideways, I just like to give the BO or other boarders a heads up so they can be aware that non-horse people will be around and they can plan accordingly. But for a quick stop-in I likely wouldn’t worry about it.
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That seems like it would only apply to small, rough-board type facilities. At a lesson barn or more public facility there are always boyfriends or random family members hanging around the barn. I can’t imagine giving the barn owner a heads up at a place like that, but could definitely see doing that if it was just someone who had four stalls in her backyard.
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yep -in my initial post I stated it was the case for a small, private boarding barn. Sorry, should have restarted as much in follow-up.
When I was a at large public facility (150 horses) no notice would have been given, I doubt the BO even knew who I was LOL
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3 horsepeople, five different ways of doing things
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The barn owner is very private and is quite strict about barns hours and the visitor policy. In non-Covid times we can bring a friend to watch us ride, etc. but the accepted practice is to ask for permission first. I’m not sure why it bothers you so much. As I said before, the people who board there all accept the “her barn, her rules” philosophy. People who don’t like it don’t board there.
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Our barn is most definitely not rough board, but it’s not a lesson facility and not open to the public.
I have boarded at other barns where people bring their kids, their boyfriends, their coworkers, give pony rides, or even have picnics in the back field.
Every place is different. Bottom line is your BO should have communicated better what the policy was, but you also should have confirmed it was ok before bringing someone else to ride. Not every detail can be included in a boarding contract and it’s dangerous to assume what was the norm at one place will be the same at another.
I once boarded somewhere where a fellow boarder got quite indignant when she was told off for a) riding her horse on the BO’s front lawn and (b) “hand grazing” her horse by letting it wander loose up and down the fence lines to graze the stud lanes.
Neither of those rules were specifically in the boarding agreement so how on earth was she to know they weren’t allowed? (Her reasoning, not mine). 
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Why I will never board again - there are limits to genius, none to stupidity.
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I have one boarder. It’s not in the contract, but I would appreciate a heads up that someone was coming to ride one of her horses, just so I know to expect it and get a release signed. She also rents a cabin on my property, so she’s got a pretty sweet gig of private residence, private paddock for her 2, access to tons of trails and discounts if she does the barn for me as needed. I made it abundantly clear that she should not surprise me whenever possible…ask instead. Whenever possible, I’m going to say yes. But if I came home to let’s say 2 strangers riding out on her 2 horses without a heads up, momma bear is going to be pissed.
To the OP, always ask first, as you said…you didn’t know, you assumed it would be fine. Never, ever assume.
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Gossiping with people you don’t know well, about another person you don’t know well who owns where your horse lives…
That’s a bad idea.
I like to keep my lips zipped and my eyes and ears open because your perception of people can change as you get to know them better.
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Or you may want to look for a new barn if you think this is going to be an issue for you
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A barn where most of the boarders joke that the barn’s owner makes them want to buy their own property doesn’t sound like a fun atmosphere to be in. It does sound like a nice facility, with barn-accessible cross-country courses, trails, and arenas, and nice fellow boarders. It’s possible that the BO is trying to manage what can be a chaotic environment, and not doing it in the best way. Regardless, you have to make a call for yourself if the environment’s pluses outweight the negatives.
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It’s possible that the BO has to be careful with who she gives permission to do what with based on the boarders experience and past history at the barn.
If I ran a boarding spot, I would 100% require to know who is on my property and make sure they signed a release and were competent horse handlers/riders. It’s my insurance on the line.
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So it was a week on June 4th, have you actually spoken to the Barn Owner yet about this?
@Mercedes2
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there were some boarding barns (also game farms) that my company installed the same level of access control systems on as we did for airports. Every vehicle was time marked entering or exiting, each was required to either manually access the system by use of a card (in most cases) a few systems were set with codes (if codes were used we always set the system into an antipassback mode where the same code had to used to exit before it could be reused to enter) …but the more prevalent systems used RFID tagging to record the movements which made the system hands free, seamless in operation.
Cameras recorded every transaction, in or out, one camera captured the licence plate and one the vehicles’ occupants.
A telephone entry system was used to provide visitor access and egress. The later phone systems were cell based with photos so the owner could verify who was coming an going
These systems were set up on drilling sites also but were completely cell based with solar systems for powering everything.
One horse trainer had just a few clients but the stock was valued in the multiple millions and he want the horses protected. Others were just wanting to make sure they knew who was on their properties.
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Sounds a little expensive to track a handful of “extra” people every month in the non-million dollar horse barn. I mean, who is going in and out of a small boarding barn on a daily basis except boarders…and a few other people…the vet, the farrier, saddle fitter…feed delivery guy? Unless, it’s a lesson barn, and then do you really want to issue a card or ID to every single parent and student?
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His clients wanted to know their horses were safe. This is not all that unusual… places have tractors and equipment that cost hundreds of thousand dollars really get tired of items being stolen.
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In my metro area in the exurbs every horse property has a driveway gate with intercom or code access. Even the Lower budget recreational ones. There’s just a constant trickle of vehicle thefts and lowlife coming around looking for crap to pawn, wallets to steal etc. The barns tend to all “harden” their road frontage but have regular pasture fence between properties. Video security is no big deal either these days. I haven’t seen anything really high end like Clanter describes but everyone has an electric gate with some kind of intercom and code system.
