Are you happy with how your staff handles the horses ?
Could the Staff benefit from better ground handling skills?
Are you personally confident with your ability to hand walk a stall rest or rehab case ?
Not sure where you are going with this but yes and yes.
Guess Iām confused because if someone wasnāt confident doing the above perhaps they shouldnāt own or run a horse business.
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Iām an experienced horse person and this question is so dependent on the horse.
Is the horse explosive? I know a horse who broke not one, but TWO very experienced horsemanās ribs while in the handwalk phase of rehab, despite heavy sedation.
So, to be frank, unless itās my own horse or a horse of someone I know very closely, itās a NO I do not feel comfortable with that part. And even with my own horse, Iām on high high high alert, chain shank on, whip in hand, horse ear plugs in, and sedation as needed.
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Questions like this are more likely to get a response that is useful if you give more information on what is going on, why you are asking.
Where I board the āstaffā (I use the term lightly, boarders doing chores or barn owner) does just fine with taking horses in and out daily.
More likely the horses could use some ground handling lessons than the staff.
I have, and I am sure I will again, hand walk my stall rest horse and I feel confident doing that.
Like was mentioned above, walking a horse owned by someone else that is on stall rest greatly depends on the horse.
Now, disclaimer, I have never boarded anywhere that walking the horse on stall rest is part of the boarding arrangement. It was on me to walk my horse, or to have someone do it for me. Staff might walk the horse from its stall, to the stall right across the aisle so the stall can be cleaned more easily, but other than that, the staff is not touching the horse on stall rest.
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I am the farm help and comfortable hand walking my own horses on rehab with zero issues. They are all exceptionally well behaved and I have no problem using drugs to make it safer for myself.
Other peoples horses, nope. Iām good, not worth the risk.
At my previous barn, yep loved the barn staff. They could easy hand walk take care of what ever came up.
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I too am the farm help or staff as it were. My SO helps. Do I feel heās competent or confident to hand walk a stall rest case? Well, it definitely depends on the horse. Quite frankly Iām grateful that he helps where he can and has a SAINT of a horse because he doesnāt possess the best ground handling skills. Iām fine with this because the horses arenāt his first love though his horse is his PET and he wouldnāt part with him. As a result, I would NEVER ask or expect him to take on such a task. Do I have confidence in myself to do the same? YES, I used to rehab horses for clients at my former ranch before I downsized. Iāve owned and handled stallions, I back and start my own youngstockā¦Iām a vet; so, between my lifetime of horses (coming from a horse breeding family) and my professional background I have multiple tools in my toolbox to get the job doneā¦I wouldnāt expect everyone to be able to do so. I think that would be unreasonable unless the barn advertises and solicits that type of service.
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Iām a boarder. I am not comfortable handling other horses because I donāt know how they will react. I know my horse. Sheās never been on stall rest so I have no experience with her. My gelding was on stall rest for 4 months and I had no problem with him. I absolutely trust the head guy at my barn to handle my horse. I trust the other guys on a daily basis but I donāt think they would be comfortable hand walking a stall bound horse. The barn manager, absolute trust.
The original post reads like the start of an advertising pitch! 
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It reads to me like there is a story and the OP is trying to see if her data fits what others think, but we do not have the details of the story to give an answer that fits the story, just vague answers.
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I think itās really hard to find people who will handle your animals your way. If I ran a boarding stable, Iād do the animal handling portion myself, or see one other person, max. Horses like routine. Too many people handling a horse can lead to trouble, especially with a nervous horse. The best place I ever boarded my horse had that exact policy. The manager/owner handled all the boarder horses herself. Students could handle the lesson horses. That policy could really help with liability issues. Whenever a horse is being handled, held for a farrier, or moved, the owner was right there and knew what actually happened if an animal was injured.
I thought sales pitch too, but now I think trubandloki is probably on to somethingā¦
Itās a bizarre question because what barn owner running a business is going to openly say, āas a matter of fact, my staff is incapable of handling horses and so am I!ā
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I can totally see a barn owner saying this about a horse on stall rest that they do not want to be responsible for dealing with. Maybe the owner is not willing to have the horse given anything to sedate it to make it more safely handled during their stall rest time.
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Yes, good point.
I think it takes a very smart, savvy, and secure barn owner to realize when to say no or to recognize when a situation is beyond their scope.
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To me, my mare can seem a bit pushy, especially when there is Grass. Everywhere. But at every barn weāve been at, sheās been a favorite for her good manners. At the last barn, it was only when I gave notice that I found out that if the BO was around when it was time to bring horses in, BO always brought her in rather than staff, because of her good manners.
Anyway, the point is, when I have handled othersā horses, Iāve realized how lucky I am. Iāve done a little handwalking ot other horses in an arena, but in general I leave other horses to their people.
(ETA this includes months and months of handwalking her, at first with a little Ace. At times it felt like I was flying a palomino kite - but we got to know each other really well.)
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I agree @Texarkana!
Even full service boarding barns, I can see them not wanting to deal with a hand walking a horse that has been on long term stall rest. There are barns set up for this stuff, if the owner is not able to take care of it.
Small backyard barn owner here, I do the work solo. I am very capable of rehabbing/handling stall rest. However, my barn is not my primary source of income and is on the same property as my home. I am very selective of the horses I will keep here. A current boarder aggravated an old injury shorting after moving in. He was on stall rest most of the summer. The plan was if he was a danger to either me or himself he would need to find a new situation. Iād hand graze him if my schedule allowed, but otherwise it was on his owner to come and do something with him. Fortunately he remained a grass motivated, good boy who worked up to hand walking, then short small turnout, and is working back towards full time turnout, although he has had his moments. I charge the going rate for retirement board and since the owner was willing to help out as much as she could I wouldnāt charge extra.
When I had a farm sitter for a few short work trips, he stayed in unless his owner came to handwalk him. Having someone else take care of my horses is risky enough without adding the complexity of expecting them to handwalk a rehab case.
In general, I would not expect most boarding barns to manage rehab cases that require extensive (30 day +) stall rest and gradual return to turnout.
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When my mare was on extended stall rest/handwalking, I did not expect anyone other than myself to hand walk her. Even with reserpine and ace on board she was a ticking time bomb. Iād go out at six in the morning to make sure I could walk her when there was no one around to make a peep and set her off. The BO did walk her for me when I had to go out of town for a few days and said āwow she can go airborne FASTā. I mean, she handled it, but sheās in her 60ās and shouldnāt have to.
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I pay āreducedā full training board while my horse is rehabbing ($1200 vs $1500). I also pay for all of the drugs that my trainer would like him to stay on while heās rehabbing via the vet. Keeps him safe for her, safe from himself, and increases the odds of a full recovery.
I wouldnāt expect a regular boarding barn to handle a rehab case. Mine right now is on his third round of stem cell treatment for a minor DDFT tear. Heās been on stall rest since mid July. He is treated like a training horse - tied up in his stall for a couple of hours a day just like ānormalā, taken out and groomed, has gradually increased his āworkā from none, to hand walking 1x daily, to now hand walking 2x daily. He still has a āfull timeā job and is still in his normal routine for the most part; itās just not under saddle or incredibly strenuous. If I was not in a situation like I am where I have full faith in my trainer and the vet team behind her, Iād probably have him in a specialty rehab facility if his long term prognosis was important to me.
I donāt ask anyone to take care of more than the bare minimum for my horses if they arenāt fully offering that from the jump. House sitters - throw hay, make sure they have water, and call me if one is bleeding or limping. Boarding barn - Iāve always handled blanket changes, wound care, etc - though I do ask them to fly spray before turn out. Farrier and vet - Iām there to hold and ensure everything goes to plan.
My only normal exception to this is my full time training horses - but I specifically pay for that and itās the expectation in exchange for the money expended. Specialty facilities are the only ones I expect to have services above and beyond āmake sure theyāre fed, watered, and not dead or aggressively dyingā.
I have to say that I am normally happier with my āstaffā than I am with my boarding horses. I hope to move every horse every day. I donāt board a lot but my biggest boarder(has 8 horses) came in and her horses were a challenge to catch. after a year here they are pretty easy to catch and I (not my help) lead 2-3 at a time. I donāt have any rehab horses here now but I have a walker that I feel confident I could handle just about program a horse needed. I guess it boils down to setting expectations, and keeping them realistic. donāt ask anyone to do anything beyond what they are comfortable with, and make sure your equipment and facilities are up to the task.
This is a strange and broad sort of question. Yes I am happy with the staff at the barn. As a boarder, I am confident in my skills handling horses, even when rehabbing. And I trust my trainer and barn manager and groom implicitlyā¦ not only are they great with the horses, but they wonāt let anyone who isnāt experienced handle the tough cases.
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