Boarding question: Providing own Hay

[McGurk]

How exactly do you know this? Do you know what the BO pays for hay? Do you know how many horses or employees their are in this facility? (The larger the facility/more employees, the harder it is to have a horse on a special diet that requires an alteration in the routine.) Do you REALLY understand the extra work in preparing soaked feeds or having a horse that takes much longer to finish his meal than his buddies?

Certainly seems like not.

Pretty much everyone else posting in this thread, including a bunch of BOs/BMs, a bunch of people who are taking care of senior/special needs horses, have said that the extra work is a wash for the savings on the extra hay.

Wonder why you’re the outlying opinion?

[Djones]

The price of the hay is only a part of the total cost equation. There is a cost to the effort involved in the exception to the rule.

[carman_liz]

No comments on cost except that in this weather totally understandable for an extra charge.

Just here to really say for all the horses you take care of:

Thank you and you are one BADA&& WOMAN!!!

[NoSuchPerson]

I hope you feel better soon.

I was at the barn last night and I really wish every boarder would have come out to see (and understand) the heroic measures, I mean, really above and beyond, that my BO was taking to ensure that everyone stayed warm and hydrated and had hay in front of them all night. I help out some at the barn and I get to see what really goes on and it really ticks me off when a boarder complains about how much the board is. My BO earns every penny - and then some.

And finally, back to the OP, we have one boarder whose horse is ancient and requires special feed and alfalfa cubes, all of which are soaked. He also gets lunch. She provides all her own feed and alfalfa cubes. And yes, it really is extra work to have to deviate from the feed assembly line. The hot water for soaking is in the bathroom. After you dump his feed, the buckets have to be rinsed out, left to dry, and retrieved later. You have to rinse or wipe out the feed tub because there are always bits of mush that he leaves stuck in the corners. Whatever little bit the BO saves in not feeding him hay is more than offset by the additional labor.

[fordtraktor]

@carman_liz Aw, thanks. I try! And it actually turns out I have COVID. Fun…it was a windchill of -34 when I fed this AM. With COVID. Miserable! My husband came out and helped, bless him.

I know the some of my boarders would come help but I don’t want them out on the roads unnecessarily, or exposed to my COVID germs. It’s fine and I’ll be OK. Soon it will be just another story that’ll be funny, the Siberian COVID Christmas….

[candyappy]

@fordtraktor

What? So your 2 options have NO credit for the work done that is outside normal routine. None. Your option 1 has no payment for any time spent at all! That is great — for the boarder and if you don’t value your time.

I notice you said “did.” Not that you “do.” Guessing you don’t board horses any more. Not worth it?

They are paid to feed and supply the feed . Isn’t that what you all desire in full board? Honestly, you act like it takes tons of extra time for one horse.

As a BO are you charging boarders more when it takes more time/ bedding to clean certain stalls where a horse may be extremely messy?

I have my horses at home. I did board for 13 years at 1 barn and I worked there ( as barn help) for years and worked at a dressage trainers barn as barn help when we needed some extra income many years later.

In both cases we had horses with special feeding needs and those needs were taken care of by us . I didn’t get paid more and I never thought about it or felt taken advantage of.

[NoSuchPerson]

You’ve lost track of the core conversation.

One of the original questions was should the OP ask for a reduction in board because her horse can’t eat hay right now. The overall gist of the responses to that question has been that she should not because the additional time/effort a special needs horse requires offsets any savings from not feeding him hay.

I don’t think anyone actually suggested that the OP ought to be paying extra. That was kind of the point - the savings in hay covered (sort of) the extra cost of the additional labor.

All the rest is just the usual COTH forum digressions, expansions, and theoreticals. All the stuff that makes the forum even more interesting and educational.

[candyappy]

@NoSuchPerson

You’ve lost track of the core conversation.

No, I am just answering people who have objected to my view on the subject.

@NoSuchPerson

I don’t think anyone actually suggested that the OP ought to be paying extra. That was kind of the point - the savings in hay covered (sort of) the extra cost of the additional labor.

I don’t agree with that either, which is why they disagree with my view in the first place. Pretty simple to deduct the cost of hay off the board bill and add a small fee to cover the extra labor? I don’t agree they are the same value to just do an exchange.

[awaywego]

Agreeing with everyone who says that the added labor of a special needs horse = no reduction for not eating hay.

It’s a helpful reminder that there are people out there who don’t realize how much the extra work adds up for a special needs horse. They are the reason I don’t want boarders anymore

[fordtraktor]

So you have never boarded horses for others, you just used to board your own horse. You have no experience running the books of a boarding facility.

That explains a lot.

You have horses at home. What does hay cost you per month per horse annually? Don’t just use winter, do year round including grazing months, because that is the relevant amount for daily labor year round.

Divide that by 30, average days of the month. What is the result?

Bet it’s pretty small and in the range for what my time is worth for the extra 15 minutes a day the special horse care costs, in horse time too but definitely in “real job” time!

[fourfillies]

Since it’s too cold to do anything but opine on the Internet here’s my 2cents. Boarding is a losing proposition in many areas of the country exacerbated recently by crazy labor costs. For decent care and decent amenities in my area I have limited options. My BO feeds a crappy sweet feed. If you want anything else you pay for it. That’s her business model. It’s not contentious but it’s not negotiable. Her hay is good and plentiful and the care is good so I deal with it.
The OPs hay situation is analogous. Unless there a lot of on par local options to board I’d buy the supplemental product and offer to fund extra labor costs. It’s a tough boarding landscape. And getting tougher. I’m at home happily only worried about my little barn of retirees and my BOs is worrying about 30 autowaterers freezing and the welfare of 30 equines. On Christmas Eve.

[candyappy]

@fourfillies

Since it’s too cold to do anything but opine on the Internet here’s my 2cents. Boarding is a losing proposition in many areas of the country exacerbated recently by crazy labor costs.

Every barn will do things different depending one who is running it. The important thing is that your horse is well fed, healthy and happy.

Working at a BB is kind of like working at McDonalds or other fast food, or similar jobs. Never meant to be a way of supporting oneself, more like a way of picking up some supplemental income. Maybe that is why the BB I was at was profitable for the owner.

@fourfillies

My BO feeds a crappy sweet feed

There again is a matter of preference? Sweet feed has been a long standing feed for many , many years and horses managed to thrive on it . It used to be whole grains and molasses, not sure what it is now.

Very rare was IR or the metabolic issues we see today despite all the wide variety of specialty feeds. Plus most horses consumed their feed with gusto day after day.

[Jump314]

@candyappy

Very rare was IR or the metabolic issues we see today despite all the wide variety of specialty feeds.

I think these issues were just as common “back in the day,” we just didn’t know to look for them.

[fivestrideline]

Horses foundered a lot more, if I recall. Now it’s much less common in “reputable” programs as far as I’m aware. The founder cases I see, even just on my contacts on social, are generally rescue pulls or very mild and caught early. Because we know more, and have specialized feeds and farriers to keep them comfortable.

[endlessclimb]

@candyappy

Never meant to be a way of supporting oneself, more like a way of picking up some supplemental income.

Yeah except it’s a full time job. Those two things - supplemental and full time - don’t jive.

[candyappy]

@Jump314

I think these issues were just as common “back in the day,” we just didn’t know to look for them.

I don’t doubt it came up under certain circumstances but the way horses are fed today is a direct contrast to how most were fed " back in the day".

That I think is a huge contributor .

[Scribbler]

I feel like as a teen I fed my little horse mediocre hay and a gallon (?) of sweet feed every day, with a salt block. But I galloped everywhere, rode efery day, 5 6 8 hours on weekends and vacations from school. I don’t have the time or stamina to ride like that now. Longest I manage is 4 or 5 hours on camping trips.

Back then you could get sweet feed, whe oats, crushed oats, and mystery pellets. There was one feed producer in town

I couldn’t feed current horse like that on her workload.

[fordtraktor]

You think how we fed horses back in the day was BETTER? That is absurd.

We know so much more about horses thank we did 30-40 years ago. Animal science is a science…why would we NOT take advantage of the information?

I can name so many horses from my childhood that would easily qualify for Cushings/IR/PSSM/etc, and would have lived longer, sounder lives if modern management had been available. It’s sad, but also I am so glad to have better information available.

[mmeqcenter]

@candyappy

I don’t know what OP is paying for board but I can guarantee the money they save on hay does not equal the time it takes to feed her horse soaked feed. OP should be credited something on the board bill.

Let’s say they live somewhere with affordable hay:
$120/month budgeted per horse for hay.
On the low side, an extra 30 minutes per day (on top of normal feeding of regular hay) to feed the owner-provided soaked cubes/pellets 2x/day. 900 minutes per month = 15 hours. You do not think the BO’s time and effort is worth $8/hour? Not even considering the need for additional storage space, additional buckets, extra water usage.
Even $200/month budgeted for hay = $13 hour.

Sheesh.
It’s no wonder why boarding barns are closing left and right.

[Warmblood1]

I boarded at a lot of boarding barns when my husband was active duty.

IME, some barn owners wouldn’t budge on custom requests. Most of them charged extra for special requests, even if it saved them money some how.

I don’t think I could have gotten any of them to chop hay themselves.

I also managed a lot of facilities myself. I personally wouldn’t chop hay either, I might feed cubes if it worked with everything else, and I’d for sure charge for the extra time and inconvenience. Why wouldn’t I?