Yep. It was my horse. The boarding barn didn’t supervise the non-English speaking workers and they gave my horse almost 100 doses of Bute in less than a month. I think it worked out to them giving her heaping scoops that probably measured 3-5 grams a day (she wasn’t that big). I got her through the crisis but she never really recovered from it.
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You’re not in SoCal by any chance? If not, I guess the horse world must be full of them.
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Do not encourage cliques in the barn. Do not have one set of rules for your friends and another for everyone else. Do not smoke on the barn property. Do not make out with your boyfriend in the parking lot for extended periods of time during busy times. Do what the boarding contract says you are going to do. Be honest about what you are looking for in a boarder (horse and human).
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Not counting feed I would expect to be informed of a turnout change or a stall change, but really have no input. If the BO is a nincompoop that’s not to be trusted with the correct stall arrangement, then you need to leave anyways.
This doesn’t fly with me, either.
Now that I’ve moved to a new place, I just don’t understand why the BO of the place I was at for 20+ years (a long-time friend of mine, too) does not control the environment in the barn better. Someone being mildly annoying is one thing. Someone destroying the atmosphere in the barn (and being there all.the.time.) is another. I casually think in my head who would get 30 day notices if I bought his place from him.
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No, other side of the country.
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Oh my gosh. That’s awful! Your poor horse. 
All of these are very valid points. Easiest barns to be at are the ones where rules are enforced and well thought out. At least then you know where you stand. I also prefer a barn where the BO/BM is around and involved; at least then they are (more likely to be) aware of what is going on.
Just yesterday in one of my boarding groups on FB, an owner was asking if she was charging enough, ballpark, for her area, with XYZ amenities. Can’t tell you how many responded with wishes for cheap cheap cheap. I commented with ‘are you factoring in insurance and maintenance and etc etc etc.?’ to which the OP responded she wasn’t even factoring in things like fuel. My response to that was ‘this is why so many barns close’.
I’ve been at way too many barns. Professional to backyard to friends. The longer I own horses, the longer my list of deal-breakers gets.
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Too many otherwise-nice barns in my area throw only a bag of shavings on the floor and don’t properly bed stalls “because we have mats.”
Yeah, and that’s why the horses have hock sores.
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You know you’re at a good barn when:
When I read your post, I was reminded of the last time I got to the barn and couldn’t find my horse. He wasn’t in his stall, and he wasn’t in his field. The head trainer caught me heading around the corner to see if he had escaped and said “I borrowed your horse.” Oh? My horse’s codependent platonic life partner of many years had banged up his leg (again) and was not permitted to be in full turnout. They had put him in a small paddock so he could stretch his legs, but he was losing his marbles. So rather than bring him in to pout, they gave him his emotional support animal- my horse. I found them out grazing cheek to cheek, happy as clams because they didn’t have to share each other with their field mates, and I didn’t have the heart to bring my guy in and ride. I know they would do the same for my guy if the situations were reversed.
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Some serious no-gos: No turnout. Bad fencing. Barn that smells so much of ammonia my nose hairs are burnt (yep, been there) or really musty smell. Random crap in the indoor. Unsafe footing in the indoor or the outdoor. Weird barn hours. Can’t bring my own vet/farrier/trainer/etc… Horses aren’t allowed to run around outside.
A personal no-can-do: Managers/BOs/trainers that are short or rude with the teenage help or the grooms. So rarely is there a reason to be nasty to your employees, especially teenagers. Seeing managers angry with grooms/workers that barely speak English (usually at shows) makes me angry and having people around being short or yelling makes me nervous.
Something I dislike but can live with if it doesn’t really affect me: turnout/feeding/stall cleaning routines that don’t make sense.
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One of my horses had to be PTS by a BM randomly changing his T/O schedule without running it by me. BM put the horse out with a young horse shod with boriums on all four (for those not in the north, boriums are full time studs nailed to the shoe used for grip in the winter - NEVER turn out horses together with hind boriums!). Young horse kicked my horse, punctured his stifle joint, and we had to have him PTS on Christmas Eve. It was a shitty situation all around. I felt most sorry for the horse and his leaser, who loved him absolutely and had no control over the situation. Everyone left in tears that day. The vet, the vet tech, the leaser, the BO, me.
Always be your horse’s ambassador with turnout changes. BOs and BMs should never change a horse’s T/O without explicit permission from the owner… and owners… make sure your horse’s turnout buddies don’t have hind studs on, or even hind shoes at all if you don’t know the horse or his compatibility with herdmates. This was a hard life lesson for me, I assumed that BMs in general knew not to put horses in hind studs in group turnout – now, if I ever board out or lease out again, it’s one of my first questions, and I make it known that I would rather my horse go alone then go out in turnout with horses that have hind boriums.
The rest of my dealbreakers are in line with CMC’s and Texarkana’s. I can put up with a lot of idiosyncrasies - just give it to me straight and if something happens, tell it to me like it is and I’ll do what I can to make it work.
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I’m really sorry that happened to you.
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See this is so dependent. If your horse is being a jackass to the other horses in turnout, I’m not ASKING you what to do, I’m going to tell you what we’re going to do. You don’t get an option.
Same if you have a horse who is coming in injured all the time. The BO can and should make a change, and tell the owner what must happen to prevent the injuries.
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I see what you’re saying and I do agree that BOs and BMs should be the first to pull a horse from an arrangement that isn’t working and put the horse in the stall and let the owner/boarder know. BOs/BMs should act in the best interest of both their client and the horse there. That’s different than just putting a horse in a new group without informing the owner.
At the end of the day I believe the owner should be the one with final say on whether their horse goes out with other horses, new horses, horses with shoes, etc. Th owners are the ones that would be paying the vet bill. BOs/BMs seem to have a much higher tolerance of risk when it isn’t their horse or wallet on the line.
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I don’t disagree with the premise of what you’re saying - with the understanding that the turnout situation is the turnout situation. If individual turnout is not readily available, it shouldn’t be expected to be fabricated to support a jerk or injury prone horse.
Outside of the initial 3-6 months of owning the horse, the horse owner should know what turnout situations work, and find a barn that provides them. The BO still has the final say in who goes out where. Again, I am talking an experienced BO - they have eyes on the turnout situation FAR more than the owner does, and can make the choice to pull one out if it isn’t working.
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Terrible hay. My horse can’t live there if they are feeding cow silage.
The whole subject of hay is a science, not an afterthought. A BM must learn about hay to be able to provide good service to boarder horses. Not everything packaged up in some sort of bale is adequate horse nutrition.
Also, hay storage and handling is a sort of science of quality preservation, safety, pest control and hazard prevention. As well as convenience. Some barns seem educated about hay storage, others don’t seem to be.
Yes! I have been so surprised from time to time to find a BO/BM who smokes in the most hazardous places.
If in the mix of boarders, workers, accompanying family members, anyone, the BM has a non-learner smoker, please lay down the law to that person. Then let them quit or leave if they are that relentlessly non-compliant. Or kick them out if they don’t make that decision themselves. Be aware of the ones that say promise words but aren’t trustworthy. Doesn’t matter how ‘valuable’ they are.
Hopefully smoking in a horse venue is a rare problem because smokers have more sense. But it’s astonishing to see a barn here and there that has one or more smokers who just smoke everywhere. Next to the hay, in the barn aisles, while teaching lessons, everywhere. And boarders don’t always know this before they move in.
This is the thing that is so true for employers as well. One problematic personality can cause great damage throughout a group. They are financially costly, but sometimes it’s hard to define the specifics with a cost number for each specific. The major one is turnover as others leave because of them. As true in boarder barns as it is in companies.
Any group with changing people is going to have one or a few of these from time to time, and they have to be managed. An alternate form of ‘pest control’. 
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Oh, amen.
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I had the weirdest situation come up with the opposite problem. The BM had moved the herd to a new pasture – but not my horse. My horse was in the same pasture, but with a new crowd of unstable, aggressive horses who were giving my horse a very bad time. The new horses were a trailer-load of cheap auction horses purchased by the BO’s new girlfriend to “retrain and sell and make money”.
I didn’t know this and didn’t come out for 5-6 days due to a work project - they knew I wouldn’t be there. When I got there my horse was badly bruised and bitten all over. Couldn’t ride because of the bites and bruises, in addition to what the horse was suffering.
The BM said “We didn’t want to move your horse to a new pasture without asking you first.” (“We” – he meant he and his new gf. Previously he would have said “I” because he had the position of decision-maker and was the one responsible party over the horses.)
I was furious – why hadn’t he called me to tell me my horse’s herd was moving pasture ??? that new horses were going in with my horse ??? that it wasn’t going well, wasn’t improving, and my horse was on the receiving end ??? he just stood there and watched it and did nothing ???
My horse was immediately moved to the new pasture with his old herd. He healed quickly.
That was one of the strangest situations with a BM who had previously been one of the best I’d ever had and respected. When the new gf moved in this BM’s behavior and attitude underwent a sea change to one of constant negativity and a total loss of common sense. He was not the same person. He hired her to be his assistant. She was an idiot with horses but thought she knew all, was a self-serving manipulator and I suspect an outright con artist.
What was previously a peaceful and consistently good place rapidly became untenable and I ended up moving my horse after just a couple of months. So I guess that’s another deal-breaker – some sudden change in the BM’s life that has a profound negative impact on the horses in his/her care.
This gf took over this man’s life and dismantled it. Within months after I left he ended up getting fired by the property owner, who was also bemused by the change in him. Gf loaded up her auction/retraining horses and took off without the now-former-BM. The guy was left with no job and no gf.
By then I was settled in a new place and never went back.
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1000000000%. Those sort of operations thrive on drama. And if they can’t find it, they manufacture it. Run for the hills.
Lots of little things and lots of big things, but some that jump out to me personally…
I do not want to board at a barn with a child lesson program, lots of kids, etc. I prefer peace and adult interactions.
I do not want to board at a barn that has a large staff. I prefer the couple people that see my horse daily and know him.
I want a barn that is mindful of feeding times and routines.
I want nice footing, manicured pastures, and well maintained and cleaned facilities.
I want to be able to not have to worry about my horse if I miss any days. That’s a big one.
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