Boarding barn tradeoffs

[Alterration]

Full disclosure, I’m a BO.

Trying to prioritize renovations in our barn this year and I could use some help understanding what people are looking for. We are in the Midwest, less than 20 miles from a downtown major metro.

What we have:

Amazing care. We provide hay 24/7 in slow feed nets, I balance all diets and feed whatever the horses need at no charge. I have put weight and dapples on 30 year old horses that have never been good doers.

Top notch farriers & vet care but you can BYO if you want to. Ours shoe across the country, only the best.

12+ hour turnouts in groups or singles depending on the horse’s needs. Unfortunately no grass, but again, hay provided ad lib.

Supplemental alfalfa at no extra charge.

220x110 outdoor sand arena. Freaking huge. Sand needs work but very rideable.

Nice grooming stall. Full building for tack. Needs some work, but dry and safe.

Newly replaced electric and water. Stall fans. Heated water buckets. Slow feed nets in stalls as well. Blanketing and boots etc also included.

Knowledgeable owner onsite, BHS certified, 30+ years in the industry. BYO trainer but several highly qualified already come to the barn. 20 minutes from downtown metro.

Renovations on the slate:

Footing. I want to add tru Tex or foam. Our sand is ok…but eh, I’m picky. Large expense, unsure of the payoff.

Our aisle is stone dust. Looks kind of ugly. Want to concrete or paver. Might make a better impression?

Wash stall. We have outdoor wash rack and we plumbed for indoor but haven’t concreted and finished it yet. Very few in my current boarder group show other than me, so it hasn’t been a priority.

Some sort of cover, either partial or full, on the ring. For now we only have the outdoor. We do live in an area where it’s only not usable for a couple of weeks, but still, I recognize it’s a deficiency.

Tack house needs a good Reno. It’s ugly. Dry and solid, but it feels kind of hideous.

So - from a customer perspective - what influences you? What do you look for first? The people who are here love our barn but I know everyone claims good care. The image has to go along with it. We are “expensive for just boarding” in the area, but the barns that are just boarding generally are horrifying, and the other barns require you to be in their training program.

Thanks for any thoughts you can provide.

[sheltona01]

Which city? It does make a difference

[clanter]

I would upgrade/improve the tack room first… add a lounge area?

[Alterration]

St Louis. I know it does.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

When can I move in?

Footing (if poor even occasionally during high wind or dry spells), followed by covering the arena to reduce flooding and freezing over. Followed by wash stall for medical as well as aesthetic reasons, then improving barn aisle footing. Tack room last.

[Alterration]

Hey you are always welcome!

The longest it is ever “not wholly rideable” has been 2 days for ice. But even when it rains, at least a good 80x100 is dry the next morning. Would you still say footing/indoor? Just clarifying! I don’t know which way to lean. Some days I’m like yes! But some days I think “that really isn’t that bad, I’m whining”

[FjordBCRF]

My top vote would be for arena cover! I struggle with direct sun and if you could still ride in inclement weather, that would be a big selling point. Care sounds wonderful!!

[lenapesadie]

I don’t see it mentioned, but is the ring lit? If not then lights would be my first priority. After that, indoor wash rack and tack room. As a boarder, I’m ok with the arena being rarely un rideable when the weather is horrendous.

From a work out of the barn perspective, concrete aisle.

Personally I think the arena work is such a big investment that it’s harder to say without more details… Does your competition have better arenas?

[Alterration]

Most of our competition is further away, by 20-30 minutes. They do have indoors with nicer footing, but a drive. Our benefit (other than care) is the proximity to city center.

The ring is lit, but no one seems to come out after dark. Seems a waste!

[Viranh]

It’s generally dark when I leave work in the winter, and the weather in the Midwest is challenging, so I would not consider a barn that did not at a minimum have a covered and lit arena. I am in the same area as you, and the outdoor arena at places I have boarded has only been intermittently usable from about November to March. A covered arena was a little chilly, but workable. I would absolutely prioritize getting the arena covered if your target market are folks who ride year round.

[kaya842]

Being from the St. Louis area, I wouldn’t board somewhere without a covered or indoor arena. I have never, ever seen an outdoor arena that is useable throughout the spring and winter as much as I need in order to ride no matter the footing or the build. It gets too sloppy or it freezes solid so roof would be the first priority. The the tack room, wash stall, aisle, then footing last. Great footing is really nice but nearly everyone can make do with “just okay” footing (heck I’ve even been places with just dirt arenas that were worked regularly and were fine and wouldn’t have paid more for the same place if they added GGT or something). I no longer board as we have our own place so I’m no potential client, but cover that arena! Especially if you can swing covering the whole thing you will have a huge leg up as so many indoors here are teeny tiny.

[LookinForSpace]

Fencing. No barbed wire, preferably no tensile wire or electric fencing. Board fencing with a hot-wire on top would be ideal to me.

Water. Heated buckets (which you said you have) are very nice. Auto-waterers in stalls and fields are another huge plus.

An indoor Hot water wash stall. Needed for basic grooming care (gelding needs his sheath cleaned Frequently, and does NOT care for cold water), not for showing.

A bathroom for boarders would also be a plus, especially if the current situation is a portapotty.

Lights on the outdoor ring would be nice if you don’t have that.

As for the stone dust aisle, what about putting stall mats down over it? I prefer matting to hard concrete or pavers, both for the horse and for my back/joints standing on it for long periods of time. I boarded at a barn that had stall mats laid over a plain dirt aisle and it worked beautifully.

[Alterration]

Ours really is amazing because of the way it drains - it has a slight slope and never freezes completely over - but that’s the way I keep leaning from a perception point of view. I have more issues with it in the summer with heat

But great points!!

[173north]

Have you asked your boarders what they’d like? Has anyone who has recently left for another facility indicated why? I think it varies so much based on your clientele and location. And I think all boarders have a little personal list of facility improvements they’d like to see that they probably don’t suggest because they don’t want to seem difficult.

I’m a footing nut so I would vote footing, but maybe your folks are happy with your footing as is. After that I’d want cover on the arena, then indoor heated wash rack, then pavers in the aisle.

Tack room can be spruced up on the cheap, maybe? Paint, new hooks and fittings, get some nice rugs from FB marketplace…

[Alterration]

None of our boarders have left since our initial purchase of the place and the resultant shuffling, but that was all within the first couple of months.

But we will have some attrition due to elderly horses soon passing on, hence the question. Our boarders highly value the care and community, and say there’s nothing else like it here, but a new person just coming to the barn wouldn’t see that unless they were referred.

To answer other questions- fencing is safe, no barbed wire, but it’s either pipe, board, or ramm depending on where on the farm you are. It’s just not pretty atm.

Tack room is probably the easiest. It’s just very 70s cowboy feeling. I want to move a washer dryer into there and update the fittings. But it might be overkill. I have high end tastes.

[Warmblood1]

Riding amenities were huge when I boarded. I wanted space to ride inside and outside the arena. Wanted at least two good arenas to choose from so one did not become over crowded. Night lights were essential in an outdoor or a quality indoor because I did often ride after dark. Would like riding equipment such as jumps/cavaletti provided or the ability to bring equipment in for use.

I echo fencing. Safe fencing was a must. Not big on electric fencing due to the possibility of it not being hot.

Preferred individual turn out. If not, in very small groups. If on a dry lot, imperative that hay would be available 24/7, would need to be covered. Shelters in fields were ideal.

Ample parking space. Trailer space.

Good tack rooms. Climate control. Did not need a big lounge but needed a space to be able to safely store leather. No rodents that could damage tack.

Security of some degree and knowledgeable staff.

Obviously good footing that is regularly maintained.

Good deworming and vet schedule. Boarders expected to give routine vet care.

Holding for farrier services if possible.

Feed quality hay, quality feed. Not skimping with cheap feeds.

A facility that had accepted quality boarders. A BO that had the ability to weed out bad clients.

General maintenance and upkeep. Mowing/seeding/spraying pasture if needed, dragging pastures, maintaining fencing, maintaining stalls and safe spaces. Keeping a clean environment.

Plenty of room for grooming and bathing. Several grooming stalls, ideally more than one wash stall. It sucks when you have to wait or things get claustrophobic.

[atr]

I guess it depends on the type of boarder you are hoping to attract. Do you want more dedicated training and showing riders or more recreational and therefore probably less demanding types .

For me, bearing in mind that you have the care side of things down already, I’d be most interested in upgraded riding facilities. Better footing and a cover over at least part of the arena. I dont really care about an ugly tack room as long as its dry and clean and secure.

An indoor wash rack with hot water is very nice as long as your boarders are going to be respectful of its use. If its going to be a bone of contention, I’d do without.

I dont really care about the aislway as long as it isn’t slippery.

An acceptable human bathroom is an absolute must for me nowadays!

[Fiesta01]

Agree. Footing first, then arena covering.

[Impractical_Horsewoman]

Yeah, I should clarify and say that I consider footing and covering to be part of one and the same priority–if I have a horse, I want to ride the horse over winter, and you’re in an area that gets serious winters. At a barn I rode at without an indoor, one big snowstorm (or even winter rainstorm), made the arena unrideable. Everything froze over, and the arena couldn’t be dragged properly. Even at some places with bad footing with indoors–leaking roofs, freezing over ponds in the indoor from leaking roofs, divots from overuse, clouds dust, wildlife taking residence, using the indoor as turnout–could still make things challenging.

I admit that I’d be dubious as a prospective boarder if I was told that an outdoor uncovered arena was fully rideable throughout a Midwest winter–I believe you when you say it is, but I’m saying that if I was considering a facility, I’d be wary, because many barns I’ve ridden at told me beforehand that both outdoor and indoor arenas were in great shape and fully accessible throughout the year, and that wasn’t always the case.

Re: the nicer wash stall-I’m biased because I rode a pony with a hoof issue (his hooves had to be cleaned, treated with medication every day) and having the ability to clean a wound and treat it in the most sterile conditions possible would be a big plus in my eyes.

[clanter]

@Alterration

Tack room is probably the easiest. It’s just very 70s cowboy feeling. I want to move a washer dryer into there and update the fittings

and Can be done now

if you as close to downtown as stated, more than likely you will require permits to build a covered arena and that can be a drawn out affair to hell and back