Boarder has hard keeper, am I obligated to do more?

[house]

I would like a little input. I have a boarder who boards 8 horses with me, I have a couple of other boarders that have one or two horses, but basically my house is home to my horses and I appreciate the extra income, it helps me offset my own costs but I am hardly getting rich.

A month or so ago her older thoroughbred who has a plethora of health issues to the point that he is just a pasture ornament. he is also a Cryptorchid, he got worked up and cut his leg up on the gate hinge pretty good when my wife’s mare got loose and ran up to his pen. It bandaged him up pretty good, it was ugly but mostly superficial, I called her she came out and was happy with how I treated it. My vet looked at it the next day and said stitches would have helped, but my bandaging job was good enough. the horse is healing well but he has never been an easy keeper, but in since his incident he has been getting even more poor. the past month of rain has probably not helped him much as it has also been unseasonably cool and wet

I have him on free feed bermuda hay and a flake of alfalfa morning and night and she supplements him with a large array of pellets etc. He is eating 100 lbs of alfalfa a week and probably another 100-150 lbs of bermuda. Last night she made the comment to me that she was concerned that he was going down hill. I am at a loss for what to do with this horse going forward.

Typically horses I have at the ranch, including her other 7 could use to loose a few pounds. I just don’t know what to do other other than getting more involved in her supplementing to get the horse to gain some weight but at this point I my cost to feed and care for the horse is greater what I am getting for board.

This person is very cost sensitive so I don’t feel like I can just up my board to provide the horse with more dense calories than it is getting in hay. And I am also concerned that she will take offense as she already has a complicated formula that she does not really share with me.

I guess my question is where do I go from here? just live with the horse as he is? I am tempted to ask her to have the vet over to make some dietary suggestions so that it takes me out of the decision process, but i suspect that suggesting that will be met with concerns over the cost of it.

I would rate the horse as a body score of 3-4 I don’t think he is at risk, but I am not happy with his condition, and I really am more concerned by the owners comments about his condition, feeling like I should be doing more, I just don’t know as a boarding facility how much beyond making sure the horse is fed and watered, and has a clean stall I should fret over this

I guess I need some opinions on how to address this issue

[clanter]

@house

He is eating 100 lbs of alfalfa a week and probably another 100-150 lbs of bermuda.

get a fish scale to weigh his hay and Record the amount fed, then there is no question as to amount being fed

We have Morgans who we have to scale their hay (TEFF) , they are getting less than half of what you are feeding this dude (and they still gain weight, at least Lexie and Lakota do)

[Djones]

She has EIGHT horses boarded with you. Should she take offense and leave, that’s a lot of monthly income to replace (as well as less expenses, I get that).

He is dropping weight despite 24/7 access to the same hay everyone else is doing fine on.

I would tell her of your concerns about him dropping weight, that you’re feeding him 2x? 3x? What is it? More than any other horse on the property, and ASK her what she might be thinking about his weight loss. He is HER horse. If she asks you to feed still more, then be prepared to say that in your opinion, he may need more dense calories than hay alone is providing, and perhaps she wants to supplement his intake.

Be factual and kind but do not leave yourself open to spending more of your own $$$.

[Scribbler]

@house

I would like a little input. I have a boarder who boards 8 horses with me, I have a couple of other boarders that have one or two horses, but basically my house is home to my horses and I appreciate the extra income, it helps me offset my own costs but I am hardly getting rich.

A month or so ago her older thoroughbred who has a plethora of health issues to the point that he is just a pasture ornament. he is also a Cryptorchid, he got worked up and cut his leg up on the gate hinge pretty good when my wife’s mare got loose and ran up to his pen. It bandaged him up pretty good, it was ugly but mostly superficial, I called her she came out and was happy with how I treated it. My vet looked at it the next day and said stitches would have helped, but my bandaging job was good enough. the horse is healing well but he has never been an easy keeper, but in since his incident he has been getting even more poor. the past month of rain has probably not helped him much as it has also been unseasonably cool and wet

I have him on free feed bermuda hay and a flake of alfalfa morning and night and she supplements him with a large array of pellets etc. He is eating 100 lbs of alfalfa a week and probably another 100-150 lbs of bermuda. Last night she made the comment to me that she was concerned that he was going down hill. I am at a loss for what to do with this horse going forward.

Typically horses I have at the ranch, including her other 7 could use to loose a few pounds. I just don’t know what to do other other than getting more involved in her supplementing to get the horse to gain some weight but at this point I my cost to feed and care for the horse is greater what I am getting for board.

This person is very cost sensitive so I don’t feel like I can just up my board to provide the horse with more dense calories than it is getting in hay. And I am also concerned that she will take offense as she already has a complicated formula that she does not really share with me.

I guess my question is where do I go from here? just live with the horse as he is? I am tempted to ask her to have the vet over to make some dietary suggestions so that it takes me out of the decision process, but i suspect that suggesting that will be met with concerns over the cost of it.

I would rate the horse as a body score of 3-4 I don’t think he is at risk, but I am not happy with his condition, and I really am more concerned by the owners comments about his condition, feeling like I should be doing more, I just don’t know as a boarding facility how much beyond making sure the horse is fed and watered, and has a clean stall I should fret over this

I guess I need some opinions on how to address this issue

When an older horse starts to visibly lose ground despite having plentiful feed, it’s time to get the vet involved. She needs a basic health workup with tests for Cushing’s, kidney and liver disease, and other assorted inflammation and infection. Also his teeth need looking at, and a fecal on worm count. Etc.

As for feed, weigh the feed for a week and monitor that he is actually eating it all, not chewing up and quidding or getting run off by other horses. If he’s getting 25 lbs of hay a day and losing weight there’s something going on. Is he running it off acting studly? Stallions can drop a lot of weight in spring. He is hormonally a stallion.

TB are also notorious for losing weight when they are in pain or injured.

But to me it sounds like time for a vet workup to catch any metabolic problems brewing.

[SLW]

Ditto what Scribbler said. Check teeth, run a fecal and blood panels for starters.

[Mallard]

Considering that she has expressed concerns that he’s ‘going downhill’, I’d suggest that she ask the Vet how to best deal with his particular feed/weight issues.
And yes…weigh the hay that you are feeding so you can keep track. It certainly sounds like he’s getting what he needs - or more.
I am assuming you don’t have a boarding contract stating how much/often you will feed hay.
Even if you don’t, surely she must realise that you can’t continue to feed him extra with paying for it.

[OverandOnward]

@house

her older thoroughbred who has a plethora of health issues to the point that he is just a pasture ornament

You do not say how old this horse is. But we can understand that this is an older horse who is already declining. Either because of his health issues, or his health issues are a symptom of decline.

His problem could be increasing age and his coming mortality. Hopefully both you and his owner can work your way to being on the same page regarding his real issues and how you approach them.

Again I don’t know if this “older” horse is 13 or 30, but the health issues are also there.

If he is declining slowly through the final stages of life, he is very likely to continue to drop weight, and possibly start eating less. This is his body very slowly shutting down.

You may find something that will only puff him up and shine him up temporarily. But that may just be a cosmetic effect.

IF this is the case (again I don’t know) there is no treating or reversing the stages of decline due to age and mortality. In fact, it is a bad idea to try, because it frequently adds stress to the animal’s system without helping.

IF this is the case, it is time to identify some future stages of decline to come, so that the owner (and you) can make some decisions at each point. Find out about the owner’s attitudes toward euthanasia and at what point the owner is ready to consider it. There is info on the web that might help.

It is sad to see owners desperately trying to reverse the final aging process, creating stress for themselves and the horse. When the thing to do is gently ease the horse through it as comfortably as possible.

IF that is the case.

You aren’t responsible to reverse nature. If final decline is not the case with this horse, you are also not responsible to create magical healing when an owner can’t afford treatment.

Sounds like you are a conscientious, good and caring barn owner. Thanks for being there for the horses in your care, and for their owners.

https://ceh.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/caring-horses-through-life-and-death

[rulex]

Lots of great suggestions in the thread. One thing I have seen on boarding contracts is something along the lines of “will feed hay as per individual horses needs up to x lbs a day” and the owner needs to pay for anything beyond that amount.

[Lusoluv]

I’d also suggest to the owner that she have a vet workup on her ailing horse. If she refuses to do that, and you said her other horses could afford to lose a few pounds, can you take a small percentage of what they get and put towards her skinnier horse? I can’t imagine they’d miss a pound or so of hay/grain if there’s 7 of them? Kind of reallocating resources?

[Old_Mac_Donald]

I have to ask, if I was the OP, where said offended boarder is going to go at a moment’s notice with eight horses - including a rig. I wouldn’t have a rig on the property. Plenty of boarding barns (agistments here) wouldn’t either.

OP, tell boarder she needs to provide more calories to Horse in form of More Food, outside of what you are providing. Otherwise, you will provide more food and the bill for that one horse will be adjusted accordingly. If she is offended, she can take her skinny rig and her seven other horses, and find new digs, and you can find yourself seven new boarders. I don’t imagine it will be too difficult - if you are providing bang for buck agistment - to replace her. Do not be held hostage to the idea that her income cannot be replaced, because it can.

Also, you are a saint for having a rig on your property.

[Djones]

@Old_Mac_Donald

I have to ask, if I was the OP, where said offended boarder is going to go at a moment’s notice with eight horses - including a rig. I wouldn’t have a rig on the property. Plenty of boarding barns (agistments here) wouldn’t either.

Someone’s cranky. Where did I say she’d grab halters and flounce at hyperspeed after getting huffy? and my goodness you are put out abut parking a trailer, too?

ETA I misunderstood rig to mean trailer and I’m a cracking up reading this again

[beowulf]

Your boarding contract should cover exactly what you offer in terms of feed, grain, hay, etc.

And your boarding cost should cover both ends — the easy keepers, and the hard. If you have seven horses doing perfectly fine on hay it sounds like they are easy keepers — your boarding costs should be structured around feeding horses to keep them an ideal weight. Ideally, most horses fall somewhere in the middle of the spectrum in terms of costs — they won’t cost you the full amount of your board charge, but the hard keepers might come close to it. I expect the easy keepers to offset the costs of the harder ones when I factor in board costs.

I do have some questions about how much he’s really eating. I agree with the suggestion of a scale. Are you sure he’s eating 100lb of alfalfa a week if you’re only giving him two flakes a day? How big are these flakes?

I missed whether there is any grain provided to this horse? Not every horse can thrive off a forage only diet. It may be time to start adding a high fat, high fiber grain to improve his condition. Even Haystretcher or Alfalfa pellets can add weight. Other options are BEEP and if you have the set up for it consider oils that offer high fat without much hassle.

I wouldn’t assume the horse is ailing just because he’s failing to keep weight on forage only. This is a very common problem in many parts of the state. Sometimes the horses on lay up or rehab need more food than you’d expect because their bodies are so stressed from the trauma of injury or healing.

It’s certainly worth suggesting she involve a vet and dentist to make sure everything is good with the horse’s ability to masticate and digest. Beyond that, feed the horse more. It’s perfectly normal for senior horses to need added concentrates.

[Old_Mac_Donald]

Where did I mention a trailer???

Oh, wait. “Rig” means a horse with an undropped nut, an extra in the basket, a one-ball, a crypt. Not a trailer.

Rigs (crypts) are considered “as a stallion” in our state, and you cannot knowingly sell one undisclosed, and they must be kept under stallion conditions.

[endlessclimb]

I’m laughing so hard at this exchange.

I don’t know any boarding barns that would allow a known crypt, either.

[endlessclimb]

In the “7 visual signs of horse dying of old age” article, I have read the following sentence multiple times and I’m not getting it. Do I need more coffee? (that whole article is BS, by the way…)

“Generally, after 15 years, aging symptoms start appearing in horses, but few long-life slices of bread experience such changes in their twenties.”

[Old_Mac_Donald]

Lol yeh, didn’t realise the term “rig” was on par with a vegemite sanga.

[fordtraktor]

It sounds to me like the owner is supplying the concentrate, which is common in many areas. The horse is getting free choice hay.

OP, I would suggest that you tell the horse owner she needs to feed the horse more and/or get a vet out to examine it. You are doing all that is necessary IMO, since the owner is in charge of the solution here (getting more calories in the horse by concentrate/fat supplementation).

[Bluey]

Ridgeling:
noun. ridge·​ling ˈrij-liŋ variants or ridgling. : a partially castrated male animal . : a male animal in which one or both testes have not descended into the scrotum.

[

Ridgeling Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

[image]
Merriam-Webster
](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ridgeling)

[Djones]

@Old_Mac_Donald

Where did I mention a trailer???

Oh, wait. “Rig” means a horse with an undropped nut, an extra in the basket, a one-ball, a crypt. Not a trailer.

Rigs (crypts) are considered “as a stallion” in our state, and you cannot knowingly sell one undisclosed, and they must be kept under stallion conditions.

Hahaha boy did I miss that he’s a crypt. Whoops! Sawwwwry lolol

Bluey dragging out the dictionary to repeat what’s already been clarified. #classic

[2DogsFarm]

@house

am tempted to ask her to have the vet over to make some dietary suggestions so that it takes me out of the decision process, but i suspect that suggesting that will be met with concerns over the cost of it.

Her horse, her obligation, cost notwithstanding.
You provide basic board including hay, correct?
Her Secret Formula supplements are not your responsibility.
If vet suggested upping forage, could you do that & absorb the cost with what she’s paying for board now?
If not, then (IIWM) I’d let her know her Special Needs horse requires a board increase.