Boarding barn & hay choices

[Scribbler]

I’m in a rather special purpose built self board facility, where each stall holder has a loft the same size as the stall, 11 by 11 feet, right overhead. The lofts have doors and padlocks. You can get about a ton and a half of hay maximum in there and several feed stores or hay growers deliver.

I can’t imagine having a self or part board situation where my hay and feed wasn’t sequestered. Ok, under lock and key, paranoid as that sounds. The temptation to “borrow” would just be too great. Maybe even for me

I count my bales and weigh my feedings and know exactly how long a bale in a particular batch will last and my cost per pound. It would make me crazy if there were constant borrowing even if folks asked.

[vxf111]

My horse was diagnosed as allergic to alfalfa and timothy. The place where I boarded him happened to be feeding grass hay at the time anyway, but would have had no problem feeding my own hay had I elected to buy it. They would have given me a space to store it. This would have been at no cost to me but I would not have expected a reduction on board and I would have had to buy/supply the hay. I consider that fair in light of the added hassle of storing and feeding separate hay.

I brought him home and retired him so none of the above came to pass.

[scrbear11]

I have a small boarding barn (specializes in retirees). A boarder wanted to feed her own alfalfa. No problem. I cleared out some storage space for her hay, reminded her to re-stock when she got low, and fed her horses what she wanted me to. But I DID NOT give her a price break for providing her own hay.

[dressager]

Interesting that this arrangement has been only seen in smaller facilities. The places I’ve done it have all been 60-70 Horse facilities. Not huge, but certainly not small. All professionally owned and managed.

[PonyPenny]

My barn has no problem with people supplying their own hay. You can have a Rubbermaid storage unit to store it and the guys feed it based upon your instructions. You get a reduction in board if you supply your own hay.

[Peggy]

My barn does the same as PonyPenny’s barn. If you’re in a training program, they will deal with the ordering and storing and putting out of the hay for a fee. IMHO, easier than dealing with it yourself, but there are a few people that do that. No reduction in board, but our board is kind of scary cheap for So Cal. At a previous barn, you ordered your hay and arranged it in laundry baskets, one feeding per basket, which the feeders took, stacked rather precariously on a golf cart type thing, and took around to feed. There you got a reduction of, I think, $50.

[PonyPenny]

@dressager

Interesting that this arrangement has been only seen in smaller facilities. The places I’ve done it have all been 60-70 Horse facilities. Not huge, but certainly not small. All professionally owned and managed.

My barn is huge with five hunter/jumper trainers, two western trainers, one dressage trainer and a therapeutic riding program. Not sure of the total number of stalls. The barn will feed cubes, alfalfa or timothy hay if you want. Price of board depends on type of hay and quantity. People who provide there own usually feed orchard or bermuda.

[Libby2563]

@Scribbler

I’m in a rather special purpose built self board facility, where each stall holder has a loft the same size as the stall, 11 by 11 feet, right overhead. The lofts have doors and padlocks. You can get about a ton and a half of hay maximum in there and several feed stores or hay growers deliver.

I can’t imagine having a self or part board situation where my hay and feed wasn’t sequestered. Ok, under lock and key, paranoid as that sounds. The temptation to “borrow” would just be too great. Maybe even for me

I count my bales and weigh my feedings and know exactly how long a bale in a particular batch will last and my cost per pound. It would make me crazy if there were constant borrowing even if folks asked.

Neat setup!

Wasn’t there a thread a while back about suspected hay thievery, where the OP ended up putting in a webcam or something?