Boarders... do you know what your horse is eating?

[LilDunFilly]

I board at a very basic place and know what my horse gets. The BOs have it set up so every horse is on roughly the same diet; everyone gets their own pile of X hay to munch on in pasture and that’s about it. Some of the breeding animals get concentrates when stalled, but not long term.

My mare is an eat keeper so this works out fine for her. If I had a horse who needed special feeding or something of this nature, I would expect to buy it myself but they would feed it.

[candyappy]

@sportyspicepony

Yeah my thing about people on here saying the BO is the one who’s out with your horse every day, is that when the BO is NOT the trainer, they truly aren’t out with your horse every day. I’d trust the daily workers who are there 6-7 days a week over the BO making the decisions. However my horse is on pasture board so really no one is with her more often than me, her owner, so I should be the ONLY one making any decisions about her care.

I would go a step further and say that depending on where your barn is located you may have workers who have zero knowledge of horses. Feeding, cleaning and other barn duties are just a job.

A good/ knowledgable BO will make the effort to keep an eye on all horses and adjust things as needed. The owner ( even if they are clueless) should be informed of any changes .

Our BO lived on site and was in the barns all the time . Made a huge difference.

[LilDunFilly]

@Sleipnir

A bit off topic, but a friend used to board at a barn which positioned itself as high-end and providing top service. Boarders were NOT permitted in the feed room, and had to trust that horses were really receiving what was promised. However, my friends’ mare started having gastric issues and losing weight, so one day she decided to sneak in the feed room, just to discover… Bags upon bags of stale, old bread and pastries, sweet and savoury! So, instead of the promised grains, the horses where being fed white bread, chocolate pastries, even sausage rolls and gods know what else!

Turned out, the BO had ran into financial problems and, instead of buying grain for horses, had struck a deal with their local grocery chain to get all of their expired bread products…

I personally would not board my horses at a place where feeding is kept secret from owners or where you cannot influence it at least partially!

Hard yikes! I wonder if all the horses were finishing their forbidden feasts or if the barn had to have staff remove any leftovers before boarders arrived.

[lenapesadie]

I once had a miniature horse that had been fed bread, pastries etc by her previous owners. She would knock you over for a sandwich. I bet most of the horses cleaned up those forbidden pastries!

[lenapesadie]

@sportyspicepony

so I should be the ONLY one making any decisions about her care.

You’ll need to do self board or buy a farm then.

If you’re okay with making some decisions re care, then you can try and find a barn that gives you control over your priority items and has an acceptable program for the remaining items. This is what I do currently. I have complete control over my horse’s diet, but barn has a rigid program regarding turn out and bedding. The turnout and bedding protocols aren’t my ideal, but it’s an acceptable situation. Gotta compromise when boarding.

Get your checkbook out and I’m sure you can find a reasonably acceptable place.

[S1969]

@LilDunFilly

Hard yikes! I wonder if all the horses were finishing their forbidden feasts or if the barn had to have staff remove any leftovers before boarders arrived.

When my horse was boarded I once found a glazed donut in her feedpan. I wonder now if there was some reason other than someone thought she would like it (which, apparently, she did not).