This has been an interesting read, especially hearing both sides, as a re-rider in a new area.
Like for example, I’m trying to decide if not feeding horses as agreed upon (grain 2x per day) is a deal breaker since this is now the second barn not doing that…… /s
I want good communication.
1, Something major with my horse I want to hear from you or someone that has permission to speak speak on your behalf.
2. If I am doing something that drives you nuts, even if it is something minor I want to know, don’t let the little things build up to something big.
3. Do not talk about me to other boarders, this is how rumors get started and things get out of hand.
4. If you can’t provide things that you said you could let me know. Life can happen, and I am okay if occasionally things get missed or can’t happen on time but I want to know so I am not upset when I walk in .
5. If I am not a good fit for your program for any reason please let me know so I can find a program that will be a better fit. This is especially important if the goals for your business change.
Oh, 2, 3 and 5. Years ago I was in one barn that was like high school all over again. I put up with it because I didn’t have the confidence to stand up for myself. All these years later, I’d split the moment any of those circumstances arise and aren’t corrected tout de suite.
Dishonesty would be my #1 deal breaker in a BO / BM. Saying the horses were turned out when they were not, not feeding the promised amount, using a boarder’s horse in lessons, etc.
Very close behind at #2 would be a lack of maintenance - broken fences, doors that don’t latch, unsafe electrical, everything patched together with duct tape and baling twine and never properly repaired.
#3 Treating staff poorly - high staff turnover means inconsistent and often inexperienced care for the horses.
Obviously treating horses poorly / roughly would be an important one, as is a lack of knowledge or experience with horses. I also won’t board somewhere where the BO / BM doesn’t live on site.
For superb care and a highly knowledgable BO / BM I am perfectly willing to overlook some personality quirks, poor communication skills, inconvenient hours (within reason) and some odd rules / preferences
Maybe this is region specific but in my area, high turnover is the norm and not necessarily due to being treated poorly. We have a college with an equestrian program nearby and there are usually a good chunk of students looking to make extra cash. Most of these students don’t last long at any barn they agree to work at due to work ethic and not being able to take feedback; many of them have the “my shit doesn’t stink and I know way more than I do” attitude. They often quit before they would be asked to leave.
I am only really familiar with my tri-county area and this is pretty much the same across the board. I just saw a local barn post on Facebook they aren’t taking on any new boarders because they can’t get the staff to keep up with more than they have. It runs the gamut from the $500/month places to the $1000.
With all of that said, PAY is likely the real problem as most places around here are at or below minimum wage and that is the norm too. So college kids are really the only ones that bite because it’s better than nothing or working a non-barn job.
I am too. And if you are with your horse for whatever reason, I will not interrupt you unless I absolutely must. To me, this is just common consideration! Yet I am surprised at how many people think I’m a flaming B… for not being more social. Geez people. You are paying good money for this lesson, that trainer!
Once upon a time I was looking for new accommodations. I had talked on the phone at length with a BO and was preparing to go visit in person. I also happened to have a vet appt with same vet this BO used. While I was there I asked the front office if they knew of BO and could they reference. This gal (miss her since she retired!) hemmed and hawed and wouldn’t just come right out and say it, but finally looked at me and said “(my horse) would not be happy there.” 'Nuf said! LOL.
That is a great professional response from the front office- not bad-mouthing their client but telling you what you needed to know. Well done her.
My dealbreakers:
Inadequate or poor quality hay, consistently dirty water buckets/troughs, too little bedding in the stalls, lack of attention to overall horse care (is Dobbin coming in with wounds, missing shoes, or chewed up from inappropriate turnout groupings?)
Staffing is another big one for me. I know many barns (like most every other industry) are struggling to find and retain staff right now. Inexperienced or untrained staff are a dealbreaker for me. A previous barn had a high school student doing chores. BM refused to take responsibility for supervising said teenage hire, who mis-dosed medications, left nosebags on horses all day (preventing them from eating or drinking), turned horses out in the wrong places, etc.
On the flip side, I’m now struggling with a new staff member at my current barn. She’s an older adult who was hired to fill the void while Trainer is on maternity leave and BM is juggling both of Trainer’s facilities. At first, I thought she was great - she’s attentive to the horses, and detail-oriented. The issue is that she cannot seem to grasp that she’s part-time barn staff, not Barn Owner, Barn Manager, or Trainer. She’s always attempting to overhaul the routine at the barn, misusing resources (i.e. used an entire 40 bag pallet of pellet bedding in 2 days for 9 stalls), and ignoring explicit instructions from BO/BM/Trainer).
Case in point: She’s been repeatedly told by myself, BM, and Trainer not to change A-N-Y-T-H-I-N-G without consulting BO or BM first, who are in charge while Trainer is on mat leave. She proceeded to rearrange my horse’s buckets in his stall, leaving eye hooks exposed and his corner feeder awkwardly hanging from the wall. Had the “do not change” conversation again and explained that his buckets were arranged that way because he’s 7 and a menace who will flip an unsecured bucket (wasting expensive feed/supplements or dumping water all over the stall, making a giant mess).
I thought we had gotten through to her until I walked in last weekend and found that she had moved my horse to a different stall. Not normally something that would be a big deal, but my horse’s assigned stall has been fitted with anti-cast strips as a safety precaution since he has a history of casting. Had she asked anyone before she moved him, it would’ve been a “nope, full stop, don’t do that.” If this woman causes injury to my horse and leaves me with a vet bill because she cannot listen to explicit instructions to leave well enough alone, I might lose my mind.
I absolutely love this barn otherwise and so does my horse, so my saving grace is knowing that she’ll be gone when Trainer returns in February. 
I am so sorry that you are going through this!! Sounds like she should be gone right now and not in February.
Meh, I guess. But it’s really not that helpful unless you know the reference and they’ll be honest with you.
And one person’s pia boarder is another person’s dream boarder…
Or by omission, say when my horse gets loose and runs down a highway… And I only hear about it from a third party.
You can pay more or, in some instances, make the job easier to keep people.
If you insist things be done a certain way (using muck tubs instead of wheelbarrows or a tractor) that makes the job harder, and take longer… you’re going to burn through your good people even if you pay them well.
Yikes!
Very much agreed. Both place I have been at were set up pretty efficiently which is a good start.
Barn owners that can afford a new horse for themselves/ breed a horse but not wheelbarrows that wheel or enough pitchforks to pick.
Yeah, one barn I was at had a muck heap that required pushing the barrow up a long, slanted wooden board to dump it. I helped out at the barn doing that for a few days. Wow, that was a workout I’d never want to do again!
A point I’ve tried to make to one BO with chronic turnover is that minimizing the level of physical effort required to do the job will help retain help.
They have a mini-tractor and a gator. Both are parked and rarely in use. Use them both on a daily basis to take over as much wheelbarrowing as can be managed!
For way too long I was overly swayed by amenities especially heat (I live in MN) and large indoor arenas. After a lot of not great experiences I’ve found that I have two dealbreakers.
Communication. Especially from the barn owner/manager but also other boarders at the barn. Bad communication can ruin everything and good can make an otherwise not fancy barn be the absolute best place to board.
Feeling safe. Communication goes into this and of course it includes safe facilities. What I was missing for the longest time was actually feeling like I could trust people and trust that they had me and my horse’s best interest at heart.
I’m currently the happiest I’ve ever been after way too many barn moves with the most plain, not fancy barn with very few amenities because the two things above are wonderful at this place.
You’d be surprised. I happened to be driving by a barn one day at lunchtime and noticed a loose horse. No biggie, it happens. I stopped in to let them know (figured maybe someone had kicked a board down or something). As soon as I walked into the barn I smelled cigar smoke. It wasn’t faint, very strong. I was like wtf??? In the feed room was one of the workers smoking a cigar, I was speechless! 
Took me a couple of moments to tell the person there was a loose horse or there. The BO and/or manager HAD to know this was going on. Holy crap!
When checking out a new barn, maybe ask about smoking! lol
Don’t ask “is smoking allowed?” because they will always say “no”. Or explain about going X feet away etc. And then later it turns out that that person or someone known to them is the smoker and they didn’t count that for personal reasons.
Instead ask “does anyone smoke inside the barn?” They might inadvertently answer that someone does.
If the response is astonishment at the very idea of smoking in a barn, that’s a good sign. 
It is not a good feeling to be moved in and settled and only then notice that there is a smoker inside the barn. And probably get an indifferent explanation from a BM or someone that well, they are careful, they never drop ash, they this and that … it’s not a concern really … never had an adverse incident … 
The problem is that there is a small subset of smokers who have normalized the idea of smoking in the barn in their own minds. They were raised in a barn with a smoking parent, or had an earlier trainer who smoked in the barn, or whatever past experience that lasted years. Somewhere they got used to it and don’t feel it is a big risk. Or … they are high risk takers themselves.
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