BOs - Things you never thought you had to tell your boarders NOT to do......

[PaintedMare]

[QUOTE=Bigbutt;7906291]
I’m wondering about this one. Now the barn I’m at now, I’m both boarder and employee (as I work there daily Sunday - Friday) to work off some board. But I’ve always treated the barns I’ve boarded as as my second home. (Although my hubby would say its more like my first home some days) I try to stay out of the way, but I will find things to do (pick stalls, clean paddocks, watch lessons, chat with parents) I don’t believe I’m a PITA to the b.o or b.m or trainer. I try to watch a couple of lessons of fellow riders to learn from them - this is encouraged by my coach… so not sure why this would be an issue. I wrote a posting once on how important your barn family and barn support is - if I was only there to do the required pre-brushing, ride, post-brushing… it seems rather industrial and cold.[/QUOTE]

There’s a marked difference between those who are comfortable at the barn, help out when someone needs it, relax there for a few hours cleaning tack or chatting or auditing lessons…

…and those who wander aimlessly, look like they’re in another world, bother everyone, micromanage everything, give unsolicited advice, etc. I think the difference is in whether you ENJOY being at the barn (in which case you’re usually a pleasure to be around), or you need AFFIRMATION from the barn (in which case you want a voice or sense of control in how the barn is run, or how boarders care for their horses.)

Two ladies at my barn are “linger-ers.” One fits the former category, one fits the latter.

[bathsheba8542]

“Please don’t show up at midnight on Christmas Eve because you wanted to see if the animals really did talk (they don’t!) and have me have to get dressed and haul my butt out to the barn to see what is going on.”

OMG loff this so much!!! Made me laugh the wine out of my nose!

[skyy]

We have a Boarding Horse Procedures sheet that has like 36 barn rules on it. And every single one of them was written as a result of a boarder doing something stupid that anyone with an ounce of common sense would not have done.

[oldernewbie]

[QUOTE=skyy;7907042]
We have a Boarding Horse Procedures sheet that has like 36 barn rules on it. And every single one of them was written as a result of a boarder doing something stupid that anyone with an ounce of common sense would not have done.[/QUOTE]

Please, please post them…:lol:

I am the sole boarder at an Arab show barn, run by a lifelong trainer who used to manage multimillion dollar horses during the roaring 80s. He is thinking about taking in general public boarders… wonder if I should send him the link to this thread??? :eek:

He may decide working as a greeter at Wally World is a much better idea!

[Stushica]

I have some really good ones!

DO NOT tie your horse to the land owners trampoline. (I told the guy this because I could just sense he was going to, he did it anyway and when I inquired what the eff did he think I had just said he told me verbatim “But he wasn’t tied, I just had him tethered there”)

Please don’t strip your own stall, your horses stall is cleaned 2x daily (usually stripped once) and removal of poop is fine but if you feel the need for your (stall trasher) to get more bedding you may purchase it yourself. She was later found digging a hole in my leveled clay/ limestone stall and cheerfully told me “wouldn’t it be just great if I could find cement?!” There was no cement anywhere at the barn???

Your dog has killed three of the land owners 9yr old child’s chickens unfortunately I’m going to have to ask you to leave her at home. She threw an absolute fit and ranted on about how her dog would NEVER!! and how she was the best dog ever… during this the dog comes flying in and pins a chicken to the ground I freak out and try to grab the dog and angrily ask her if she believes me now. Her reply “But she was just playing with it! Honestly! she would never hurt anything!” Sure

Please don’t use the pallets out of the burn pile to load your 16hh horse into your friends cattle trailer.

Please don’t help yourself to my biothane halter bridle and then disassemble it because it had an english band and you wanted to use it on your western horse. (and loose pieces)

Please don’t use the other boarders horses to let your friends ride. ever. ever. ever.

please don’t clean the other boarders horses sheaths… even if you think they like it.

please don’t feed the raccoons.

Your horse must get it’s vaccinations, it’s in the boarding contract you signed. (But you’re filling her with poisons!!!"

Do not feed the horses an entire bucket of grain. Ditto for full buckets of apples and carrots.

do not “tame” the horse in training because she just put someone in the hospital for biting them but you know she would never hurt you.

Please don’t turn your horse out in the neighbors field because there wasn’t a horse there and you didn’t think they would mind. They do mind.

Please don’t take a halter from another horses stall when your being evicted because you can’t find yours and this one looked safer. Besides it’s ok you’ll return it eventually when you find yours.

Ditto on the previous post that you cannot put both of your horses in one stall and only pay for one horses board.

I have to quit, I’m going to have an anxiety attack if I keep going……

[Kiwayu]

Please don’t pee in the stall directly in front of the live barn cameras that DVR and where many people have the camera app on their phones/computers. No one wants to see you pee…

[myrna]

• don’t let your 14 year old daughter drive your van on my property past the 30k trailer that belongs to another boarder…take her to a parking lot,not my private property.
• don’t bring all of your friends kids with you,and then play frisbee in the indoor arena when someone wants to ride.
• this is not a public park.come ride,enjoy your horse,then go somewhere else for your party.

[yourcolorfuladdictio]

Please don’t wash your horse’s fresh pile of poop down the drain, that’s what the shovel and bucket are for. If I catch you again, it’s your turn to clean it out with a ladle.

Please don’t borrow tack without asking. If you get permission to borrow someone’s tack, it should be cleaned before it is returned. There is nothing worse than scraping dried horse scuz off your nice tack.

Please don’t give your horse extra food without permission. It’s already obese, one close trim and that sucker is going to sink and rotate.

No I don’t board livestock. Just because I have guinea hens doesn’t mean I want to house your goats.

[yourcolorfuladdictio]

Please don’t wash your horse’s fresh pile of poop down the drain, that’s what the shovel and bucket are for. If I catch you again, it’s your turn to clean it out with a ladle.

Please don’t borrow tack without asking. If you get permission to borrow someone’s tack, it should be cleaned before it is returned. There is nothing worse than scraping dried horse scuz off your nice tack.

Please don’t give your horse extra food without permission. It’s already obese, one close trim and that sucker is going to sink and rotate.

No I don’t board livestock. Just because I have guinea hens doesn’t mean I want to house your goats.

[Jingo-ace]

Please don’t trap small animals in your suburban neighborhood & re-release them “to be free” near the barn.

Please don’t bring your sick bunnies & release them “into the wild” on the trail beside the barn.

Please don’t bring your child’s science experiment - breeding of white mice - to the barn & release them.

Seriously? What part of RODENTS EAT YOUR HORSES GRAIN don’t you understand?

(All three situations - I had to trap & remove said critters - NOT my idea of fun at the barn! And sick bunnies scream horribly - like something out of a Stephen King novel)

J

[Jingo-ace]

[QUOTE=Kiwayu;7907283]
Please don’t pee in the stall directly in front of the live barn cameras that DVR and where many people have the camera app on their phones/computers. No one wants to see you pee…[/QUOTE]

Oh my goodness - THAT had me laughing so hard my hubby wants to know what I read that was so funny…

There are several of these “please don’t do XXX” rules that are unbelievable, 1) that they have to be said & 2)that they actually happened…

Thanks for sharing!!
J

[pacific_jumper]

[QUOTE=Jingo-ace;7907376]

Please don’t bring your child’s science experiment - breeding of white mice - to the barn & release them.
J[/QUOTE]

Seriously? You have got to be freaking kidding me.

Everyone at the barn knows that I will kill any rodent I see… Mostly with a shovel. Mice are cute, but their poop is not very cute when it mixes with my horse’s food.

[Kiwayu]

[QUOTE=Jingo-ace;7907384]
Oh my goodness - THAT had me laughing so hard my hubby wants to know what I read that was so funny…

There are several of these “please don’t do XXX” rules that are unbelievable, 1) that they have to be said & 2)that they actually happened…

Thanks for sharing!!
J[/QUOTE]

It was a male farrier no less! I do have signs everywhere that this property is under 24 hour supervision with camera pictures but I guess people don’t take them seriously or can’t read…

[copper1]

Wow, this is intense! Our place is small and somewhat exclusive and for the reasons above! As BO/BM I will not tolerate this kind of behavior and offenders will be corrected once, asked to leave the next. I am “god” and all my people are wonderful, obey the rules, respective of others, take good care of their horses. Anyone who wants to linger is more than welcome because they are the “good” kind. When boarders sign the contract, the rules are pointed out, especially the one that says they are on probation and if they don’t fit in, out they go! WE have been very picky on who we accept which helps narrow it down somewhat and I can easily fill a stall if someone leaves. Horses are dangerous when everything is done right so makes foolishness in excusable. I would also suggest that BO’s start billing boarders for damages that are the result of stupidity! Gives the horse owners smarts real quick!

[Bluey]

Don’t bring to the barn the extra cats and kittens you have.

There is a reason we don’t have any here, a very territorial bobcat.
None will make it past the first night, do euthanize your excess cats.
I guarantee you it is kinder to them than what nature, here the bobcat, does to them.

[sid]

[QUOTE=oldernewbie;7907085]
Please, please post them…:lol:

I am the sole boarder at an Arab show barn, run by a lifelong trainer who used to manage multimillion dollar horses during the roaring 80s. He is thinking about taking in general public boarders… wonder if I should send him the link to this thread??? :eek:

He may decide working as a greeter at Wally World is a much better idea![/QUOTE]

:lol::lol:

[MistyBlue]

Oh good, I’m not the only one who had to deal with someone stuffing a second new horse into their stall with their other one to avoid two board payments.

THAT was a fun find…not! Went through the “Oh crap, two got caught in a stall” to “Wait, who the hell is this horse?” to “Well now what do I do with this random horse?”

When we bought our current place, we had to clear and build all of the horse facilities on the land. Which was visible from the road. During the building, especially once the barn was up, I had random people driving up the long driveway or leaving notes in our mailbox at least a couple times per week asking if we had stall open for boarding…Absolutely not! We were not building a new Insane Asylum…I mean boarding facility, LOL!

Now I’m not pretending I’m sane…not by any stretch. ALL horse people are nucking futs and I’ll be the first to admit to it.
The problem is finding other horse people who share the same Equine Insanity you do.

[dotneko]

I’ve only had an extra horse appear once - we had a horse in training from a 1/2 mile down the road. He went home after a month and broke out that night and ended back at my place in time for breakfast

[McGurk]

Please don’t hard tie your horse to the stall fronts when there isn’t a set of cross ties available.

Please don’t act surprised when I ask you to pay for the damage when horse breaks the tie.

Please don’t ignore that set of cross ties I hung in your stall for exactly this reason and hard tie your horse in the aisle again.

Please don’t drop your 11 year old off at the barn to ride unsupervised and expect her to babysit her 8 and 5 year old sisters all at the same time.

Please don’t set the dryer in the tack room for 50 minutes on high heat and then leave the barn.

I could go in but I won’t.

[dotneko]

If I tell you it is OK to leave your trailer in the parking lot because you are getting home late from a show and want to park it in the daytime, please don’t wait until 3 the following afternoon to get yourself back to the barn. Also, please don’t sweep it out into the driveway.

If you are hacking your horse around the farm and he leaves a load of manure in front of my garage !? (why were you even over there??), please have the courtesy to pick it up.

For the love of all that is holy, please change the empty paper towel roll and toilet paper roll. The extras live exactly 3 feet from where you used the last sheet.