Let me start this off by saying that I am not a horse person (as I think my question will clearly show…)
A few months ago I bought an old 1700’s era farm house. It was originally the areas dairy farm, but it is now just under 2 acres, with a 3,500sqft main barn and a 10 stall horse barn (center hall with 5 stalls each side).
5 of the stalls are “in and out” stalls that also open to the outside (3 on the right, two on the left).
Two of the stalls look like they were used for tack and storing hay/feed.
The barn has cold water and electricity though I likely could add a small HW tank. It is not served by sewer.
a 32’ outdoor riding ring is apparently in the ground in front of the barn.
A dumpster and port-a-potty are at the horse barn end of the driveway.
My property abuts 16 acres of town land with legal riding trails (we have a private gate into the main trail head), and on the other side of that are some 100 acres of other conservation/park land with trails that may or may not be legal to ride (I have not investigated this).
The horse barn needs some work.
2 inside stall doors need to be repaired
1 outside stall door needs to be repaired
1 outside hall door needs hardware replaced.
Some of the siding on one part of the barn needs to be fixed
A few of the lights need new bulbs
a 2x2 section of the roof needs to be patched
This work I could do in a few weekends when it gets a bit warmer.
The horse fences need quite a few repairs. You can clearly see where the back side of the property was cut up into 8 paddocks (I think thats the term? The fenced off areas…) plus the riding ring. I can hire a fence company to rebuild the fences for a few grand.
I have had 3 horse people knock on my door asking about renting the barn for “self boarding” horses. I have done a little research and in my area this is apparently going for $350/month/stall, so it might be worth doing. If I can rent out half the stalls, I will have paid for the repairs in under a year…
I have ridden horses a few times, but I have never cared for them, nor do I want to get into caring for horses myself.
Some of the stalls have wooden (2x12s) decking over the concrete. Other are just concrete. Two of them have rubber mat things. What should they have?
Is their any sort of guide on doing this sort of thing I can read before I decide if I want to get into this on my property?
What questions should I be asking?
Are their any groups I can go to to learn more about this?
I’m sure you will receive some very comprehensive responses, but I will note a few things.
2 acres for all the facilities you mentioned (10 stalls, 8 paddocks, a riding area) would be quite small. Are you sure the property is only 2 acres? A 32’ outdoor riding arena is extremely small. It wouldn’t really be useful for working horses. Dressage arenas are 66’ wide, but arenas for other disciplines are larger.
A barn with an aisle down the middle and stalls on either side is called a center aisle barn. Although I smiled at the reference to a center hall barn. The “in and out” stalls may be stalls with doors that open to the outside? Or are there openings with no doors?
Stall floors can be made of all sorts of material. Concrete, while easy to clean can be tough on the horses. If you don’t bed deeply, the horse can develop small sores from getting up and down on the rough surface. Most folks will put rubber mats over the concrete. Wood floors in stalls can be slippery when wet and over long periods of use will need maintenance. Mats over concrete are very common and probably what you will see in most new barns.
If you are considering renting out “dry stalls” you should consider who is your audience and what amenities you will offer. Right now, it sounds like people might board with you to have access to the trails. If the arena is only 32’ wide, that size isn’t going to be useful for boarders who want to practice riding in an arena.
Horses are large animals and they will occasionally cause damage. You should be prepared to perform some maintenance work. There will be broken fence boards that needs to be replaced, holes in the turnout paddocks that need to be filled in, etc.
As for costs, you’ll need to consider insurance and maintenance on the facilities among other things. You’ll probably have to pay to have manure hauled away.
Other things to consider are having a good legal boarding contract. People can be well meaning, but sometimes run into life difficulties. You’ll want your contract to address things like a boarder who gets behind in their board, someone who abandons their horse, someone who neglects their horse. You’ll want to spell out the rules of the barn which might includes things like hours of operation. You’ll probably also want to include a notice period, i.e. boarder or you can terminate the relationship with 30 days notice. Consider what could go awry and how you will respond when it does (and it will).
Boarders are going to want to have some space to keep equipment. You’ll need a tack room and you may need to stipulate how much room each boarder is allotted. One tack trunk per horse is common. You may need to provide saddle and bridle racks. Some boarders may ask to keep their trailer on the property.
Do some searches on this BB for “self-care boarding”, you can learn a lot about what works and what doesn’t work from the perspective of the BO (Barn Owner) as well as the boarder.
If you decide to take this path, try to start small. Accept one or two boarders and see how it goes, allowing yourself the flexibility to expand or pull the plug.
2 acres is very small for horses. They will quickly eat all the grass and you will have dirt/mud paddocks and unless you clean the manure out daily they will stink. You will probably have to pay to have the manure and dirty stall bedding hauled away.
Find out how much to maintain as an LLC and the cost of insurance. Don’t forget to add in a PITA fee.
If your property is only 2 acres, how much is fenced in and how much do the horses have to eat grass on? They will have 2 acres turned into a dry lot in no time, which means every time it rains, it will be a mud pit. Then boarders will complain that they have to supply hay year round and why can’t you keep grass growing.
You couldn’t pay me enough to allow self care boarders, they never too many different standards and some think its ok not to clean stalls and forget feedings, run out of feed and borrow from other boarders.
Plus you will have other people on your property at all hours of the day and night. Prepare for them to hound you about everything.
If you still want to do it, I hope you find good people. Only take 1-2 at first and see how it goes. Charge what it cost you plus a tidy profit, I wouldn’t worry what other barns charge.
The property was once well over 100 acres (when it was a cattle farm). The barn looks to have been built in the 1950’s, when the property was about 20 acres. I didn’t buy it for the horse barn (I bought it for the stone work…).
One of the people knocking had 4 horses in the barn a few months before I bought it and it has apparently had horses in it for the last 20 years fairly consistently. Yes, the back acre and a half is a mix of grass and mud. Trail riding and kids lessons were done back their.
Yes, those 5 stalls have doors both to the inside isle and to the outside of the barn. Its clear where the fences for the paddocks were.
I can form another LLC easily enough, the filing fee is negligible. Insurance is something my agent is looking into now (should have quotes within the week) and I have found a lawyer that does farm work (thank you Natick Community Farm!)
Thank you for the tip to “self-care boarding” - that is proving quite an interesting read.
Insurance is really important, and the LLC might be the way to go…good that you are looking into this first.
In your situation I might consider leasing the barn to one person and letting them manage any other boarders, if you can find one person that would be willing to do it. That way you can remove yourself from the business of supervising self-care boarders - because you would ultimately be the one on the hook if they neglected their animals in some way.
I would never allow self-care boarding on my property after reading threads on COTH where horses were neglected or abandoned. Someone should be responsible to see that all horses on your property are being cared for to a certain standard of care - and if you are not experienced it might be best for it not to be you.
I know of a ‘suburban area’ boarding stable that’s on three acres – they house 20+ horses. There are no ‘real’ turn-out paddocks at all – only a smallish round pen and a mini-paddock where single horses are put while their stalls are being cleaned. There is also a huge outdoor ring (mud free stone dust) that is used for group turn-out (2-4 horses) in the morning while those horse’s stalls are being cleaned.
The place is full (probably still has a waiting list) because of the spectacular 1000+ acre park with riding trails which is right across the street.
I’m not offering an opinion on this type of boarding (15-20 minute daily turn-out per horse) I’m just saying that boarding can be done on limited acreage and that some people certainly don’t mind having glorious trails in lieu of pasture/all day turn-out.
You would be FAAAAR better off renting the barn for storage. Horses are destructive. Horse people are crazy–I say that with fondness, being one of them, but if you’re not “into” horses, I really don’t know why you’d sign up for our level of wackiness. Self care boarding OFTEN goes waaaaaaaaaay south, with people not feeding or cleaning or visiting or paying. On two acres and ten stalls, you’re looking at two acres of mud and a lot flies year round.
If you’re really wedded to this idea–seriously, reconsider!–then find ONE PERSON who would like to rent the barn and manage it. Let her rent the whole thing for a lump sum. She manages it. Define, exactly, what property maintenance you will do and the level of care you expect from her for the property. Protect yourself with an LLC.
Just adding be certain you address liability insurance - for yourself & anyone you might lease the barn to.
Any person or animal injured on the property becomes an issue & the cost of insurance to protect yourself can be a huge expense.
Frankly, it is a headache I would avoid altogether.
Horsepeople come in all flavors of Nutz.
Do some searching on this BB for Boarding & be prepared for issues that will curl your hair.
Perhaps that barn can be re-purposed for something less u lcer-inducing than boarding horses?
I have horses at home and love it, because they are mine. I would never take on boarders. Especially if I wasn’t a horse person. I only have 2.5 fenced acres, and have a pony and a mini. Together they are under 1,200 pounds, and they still tear up the pasture, especially when the ground is soft, which it will be for many months a year here.
There will be more work and cost associated than you can even imagine. Trust those of us that own horses, they can be gorgeous to watch grazing, but it takes hours a day of maintenance. Unless you get an amazing single boarder that wants to rent and maintain the barn and pastures, you will likely lose a lot of money and possibly your sanity.
It really pains me to say that, since access to trails is a great asset and selling point. If you had horse experience it would be a different story. But you don’t know what you don’t know, and jumping into boarding is a recipe for disaster.
Self-care often turns into a distaster: people not providing adequate care, people abandoning horses, people not paying…
I second the suggestion to rent it to one person with an extensive contract regarding what they can and can’t do.
I’ll also add that you need to consider the traffic in and out of your driveway from 6 am to 10 pm daily. If you allow said person to run a lesson program, consider the substantial increase in traffic and whether you want to limit hours - for example, no lessons before 9 am.
DON’T EVEN CONSIDER A SELF CARE BOARDING BARN. And I say that from experience of having boarded in
full care, nice, high dollar barns and 1 self care barn. In general, most people looking for a self care situation are
looking at them due to not wanting to spend the money for full care.
As the others have said, you will be run ragged with all the many problems self care boarders bring with them. They
drag their little kids out and turn them loose on your property. They bring their wild dogs out and turn them loose.
They steal whatever is not tied down including tack and feed and hay from other boarders. They may decide to have
a party on Fri. or Sat. night at your place and invite their druggie, drinking friends. They may abandon the horses
when other life problems take priority. They basically create a living HELL for you the property owner.
JUST DON’T.
Another thought is that - in general - boarding is a “break even” gig. It’s unlikely to turn a profit, or if it does, it’s not going to be much.
Not to discourage you, but something to think about. Will it be worth it?
For those of us who keep horses at home, sometimes a boarder or two can offset the costs we have already incurred - fencing, insurance, land, etc. Also, a boarder can sometimes give us some extra hands on deck to help with our horses if we go away, etc.
In most commercial operations, the profit is made through lessons, training, shows, etc., and not on the board.
Well if you want lots of drama in your life, then by all means fill you barn with a self-care boarding business. You will be doing non-stop maintenance/repair and be brought into every possible issue. You will gain all sorts of new skills in horse handling especially if one or two get abandoned at your barn. And the joy of having people on your property all the time – you will never be lonely again! But do be sure you have a thick hide because you will hear complaints about how expensive board is and all sorts of excuses about paying it. Debt collecting can be very entertaining.
Seriously, when you have a group of experienced horse people telling you that you should not do it, please heed the warning.
Renting to one person is not the solution unless that person wants it for storage. Anything involving a horse boarding business, regardless of how may people are involved will be bad news for you. But again, it you are lonely and like drama…this is definitely the way to go.
I love that we’re all like DON’T DO IT ONLY CRAZY PEOPLE HAVE HORSES.
But that is so, so true :lol: :lol: :lol:
(Srsly, though, rent the barn for storage. People pay good moolah to keep their toys out of the rain–more than you’re going to make with horse people, especially when you figure in the cost of the liability policy.)
