well there are ways and it could be done
When we ran a “boarding barn” the one client we had was one of my companies which paid an outrageous amount to board its stock used in advertising
Through all the transfers, payments and tax benefits the farm did very and personally it was a tax shield for us as we leased all the land and buildings to the farm.
If you have to ask the question…
Same here, not realistic at all.
I’ve seen many boarding places fail because of inexperienced BO.
I have boarded at a fantastic small, private place that had inexperienced BOs. However, they also had a SUPER hands-on barn manager that lived there in exchange for running things. I boarded there for several years until she got married and moved on. So, it could work IF IF IF you got someone good to do the actual running of things. Otherwise, the plan makes little sense unfortunately. Especially in light of the size of the operation you have in mind.
We had two polish workers come to our barn to muck boxes, we have around 25 horses inside and another maybe 10 that live out year round. They came, worked one day and left in the dead of night to drive home, it was too much work for them. Now think about all that work plus your day jobs plus maintaining the property, fence line to those great fields and turnout/in for all those horses…
Agree with what is being said, but will note that building an indoor is a sunk cost you will never recover. It isn’t cheap with and have little value at resale. If the OP’s wife wants to have a horse, the cheaper thing to do is just buy one and board elsewhere. That will save money and headaches. On the plus side, we got a good price on our farm when we bought it 20 years ago and it has appreciated quite a bit. However, we are getting older so upkeep is harder and if it wasn’t for IF Jr. wanting to keep the farm, we would have sold it.
SO many COTH posts here on the subject.
Bottom line: commercial boarding operations break even AT BEST and that would not include paying a recently-acquired mortgage (ie, property purchased in the last decade or so.) A lot of barns get close to breaking even from board income for their basic operations, then make profit from training/sales/lesson programs.
It is also close to impossible to even break even if you hire legal labor (no bartering) and pay worker’s comp for your barn employees. You take a huge risk by doing labor stuff under the table these days, and don’t expect to get any kind of experienced or reliable barn workers for minimum wage.
Caring for 20 horses yourself on top of off-premise full-time jobs? Not possible unless you quit your job or only have big pastures with no daily contact with the horses and no mucking… which is not a nice way to keep horses and will not bring much money.
Don’t do it. Board dogs, board boats, board RV’s… but not horses. It’s a labor of love, and love won’t pay your mortgage.
The little money you’ll make, isn’t worth the headache!
Amen!!!
Don’t forget the extra liability of boarders, their friends, all of the vet, farrier, and supplier visits and deliveries. Where will you store hay and feed? Who will do mucking, turn out, blanketing, wound care, feeding, and monitoring turn out herds? Don’t forget the people who come with the boarders either, the relatives, the friends, the people who are letting their friends ride, and the people who will trespass just to see the horses. If you have barn hours, there will always be people who feel free to alter that, and the people who will drop in to your home. Parking, road maintenance, and will people be allowed to park their trailers there?
Honestly, someone’s idea of covered storage for RVs, boats, trailers, etc, with 24/7 access sounds a lot better. I know someone who has a huge storage unit facility, and she found the most profitable part is when they built the enclosed (except for the long side) high roofed storage for RV’s, trailers, boats, classic cars, car collectors, etc. The best factor for her is that there are a few plexiglass skylights on each row of storage, so they have no electric outlets in the storage (you have to watch for people who will live in their RV in the storage section), that really reduces fire hazard, and their insurance for the facility. The main gate has a card you wave (RFID I guess), so you can enter at any time. There are individual gates across each stall, and the tenant either supplies their own, or they get one (the locks are about $5.00 each, and cheaper in quantity) from the facility to keep. If a tenant loses the entrance card, they pay a nominal fee for another one, and the previous card is disabled. If the tenant loses the key to their padlock, they have to get a lock smith, on their own dime. My friend said there are people who have so many RVs, etc. that they rent an entire row of units, and that’s a very good income with minimal work, and with a credit card required for autopay, easy for the storage area owners.
After 47 realistic responses, poor couple is now buying a modest home on 1 acre and getting a dog. :lol:
I think we scared him off!
If so, he may some day thank his lucky stars he listened, after a few more years watching others try what he was intending and how that was working for them.
Most such attempts at being part of the horse world boarding as a business by itself end up diversifying from that model into something more workable or failing at considerable cost.
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