Did we board together 
Only mine blamed it on the accountant who apparently logged into her email, raised the rates, and sent the notice.
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Multiple horse discounts can make sense.
A 10 stall barn with 10 owners and the same barn with 2 owners who each own 5 horses is indeed less hassle, at least in the paperwork category. Only 2 owners to bill instead of 10. 2 to chase for payment instead of 10, etc. Anything that needs to be communicated goes to fewer people. And for barns that won’t turn out in groups except horses owned by the same person, it can mean reduced use of paddock/turnout areas. It’s also easier to coordinate riding, lessons. No matter how many I own I can only ride one at a time. 10 owners can all show up at the same time and be annoyed to have to share the ring.
And, as others mentioned, it’s easier to fill the stalls if you have a few clients with many horses. They’re more likely to stick around.
There can be economies in multiple horses owned by the same owner. Depends on the barn and the program.
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Yes, but when the owner with multiple horses decides to leave you are stuck with lots of empty stalls to fill, not just one.
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that is my thought also, the risk would greater when multiple stalls are filled with a single owner especially if this single owner’s share of the total barn’s income would be the tipping factor between profitability and loss
Back in the old days of marketing Sears would manipulate its suppliers by at first buying a little amount of product then increasing their orders to the point that Sears was the primary customer for the vendor… then Sears began dictating pricing …sort of like dealing with the Devil since the manufacturer did not have any other customers since they ran off the little guys in order to fill the need of this Large Customer, who became hell to deal with as the margins were erased.
True, but advertising to bring one more multi horse owner is less hassle than a bunch of individuals. All I’m saying is that there are reasons why under some circumstances a multi horse discount makes sense for the farm owner
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Be professional Two different barns I was at raised board, they handled it very differently. You can guess which was accepted with minimum fuss, and which resulted in an outcry.
Barn # 1: Notices sent out with board bill, two months in advance. Stating rate increase, amount increased, and why the increase (insurance had gone up, feed had gone up, no increase in 5 years). Then, notice posted on doors leading into and out of barn. Then website changed. No one could miss it, people had time to budget, and those that could not afford it, had time to make other arrangements. Minimum fuss, no one ended up leaving.
Barn #2: General email sent to boarders, month before rate increase, rate increase taking place in December, no explanation. Huge outcry, 5 left barn. Increase was only $30 a month, but the way it was handled made people angry, and it was the last straw.
Be professional, send notices with adequate warning to your current clients, then announce publicly. You may lose a client or two, but being professional about it pays off in the long run.
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I boarded with one owner that if you had 1 horse you had to give 30 days notice and two horses you had to give 60 days. It was in the contract that wy. And if you did not give notice she would pursue you in court. She did twice and won both times.
