There is an OCEAN of difference between a BO seeing the owner as an “afterthought” and endless “hand holding.” Being “involved” does not mean “continuous contact” regarding routine matters. It means you will be informed of items needing your attention. Routine, weather related alternations of normal schedules don’t fall into that category.
If you can’t trust the BO do perform their contractual duties in a proper and timely fashion then move. I’ll say it again: move. This will make you happier and likely the BO, too.
As to scenarios such you postulate (horse in multiple days and you show up to ride) all you have to do is ask if there have been any changes to the normal routine. Then act upon that answer.
You’re trying really hard to force together two things that are not at all mutually inclusive.
An “involved” horse owner really doesn’t mean they need regular texts on the status of their horse’s turnout schedule. It simply means they’re more active in their horse’s care than someone who maybe comes out for one hour twice a week and expects the BO to take care of everything from how to shoe and when to schedule the vet.
I was the exact same boarder you described yourself as. I always paid on time, I was typically at the barn 5-6 days per week, I helped with chores often (cleaning stalls, feeding, etc.) with no reimbursement, I never touched other people’s stuff, I never expected a BO to hold my horse for appointments, I always did my own care for injuries/illnesses, even driving out three times a day 30+ mins one way with a full time job, etc. I was an “involved” horse owner. Yet never once in 15 years of boarding did I get a text to tell me if the horses were not turned out due to weather, and never once did I expect it. I REALLY don’t see how this makes the owner an “afterthought,” and find that statement to be quite rude. Most people choose to board at a barn because they trust the care and judgement of the BO. So why would you need a constant status update if you trust the BO? If you have the type of horse that needs a lunge before a ride if they’ve been stuck in, well it’s usually fairly obvious upon arrival, at least IME. If not, you can ask upon your arrival. I currently have one of those, that I boarded as well, she’s an absolute nightmare on the ground and under saddle without turnout.
It’s 2019. It’s really easy to check the weather in other zip codes.
Agree to disagree. Apparently this is another question to add to the list (when it pops up in the forums) of “What to ask BO when looking for new barn.”
The owner doesn’t need to know, really. If you’re that involved and your horse is “family” then you’re there everyday, right? I can tell if my horse has been turned out based on what I pick out of his hooves and if there is dirt on him. He can act strange whether or not he has been turned out because he’s a weird guy. If I were to be in doubt that he hadn’t been out in 3 says (and I guess that means I haven’t been there in 3 days?!) I’d lunge him or whatever and let him get some kinks out.
My weather app defaults to the town where my horse’s stable is. So I can generally have a clue as to what is going on. Turnout here is limited and inconsistent in the winter due to a lot of rain (horses would ruin the pastures/grass) and sometimes ice. We all live. There are many serious riders at the stable, and it’s not a back yard leisure place. We do have a group we can communicate through, but the topic of turnout doesn’t come up. It’s not that none of us care, it’s that since most of us are serious, we are there everyday anyway, so the horses are exercised. We also trust the stable owners judgment on turnout.
In my area sand paddocks are quite common for the winter time. If a horse is kept in a stall, I feel responsible to make sure the horse is exercised daily (at least horse walker or treadmill), no matter if the weather allowed paddock/pasture-time.
10+ years ago I was assistant manager at a pretty big boarding facility and one of the morning duties was to change the outgoing voicemail message to say, for example, “Good morning, today is Monday November 10th. The weather is lovely and the horses are going out!” or “It sleeted overnight so the morning horses will be staying in,” or whatever. Boarders could call in to hear the message. It really was not a big deal and took less than a minute. I didn’t think boarders were unreasonable for wanting to know either. Many would pay staff to handwalk their horses when they stayed in, or make a special trip even if they didn’t have time to ride.
Now this barn uses Twitter. There was and I think still is a cell phone that stays with whatever manager is on duty, so I imagine it has the app and it still takes less than a minute. It’s infinitely better than fielding messages from boarders wondering if they should make sure their horses aren’t stuck inside all day. The desire to know doesn’t necessarily reflect lack of trust in management.
. My sentiments exactly. I have 10 customers. My general rule of thumb is each of the horses need 1 hour a day for good care. One requires more than that, robs time from the others. In this case the owner has 2 choices, pay a surcharge or help out. Or in only 1 case, asked to leave, since they thought they were paying for ALL of my time…
No, you can’t always. I’m not sure why it’s a big deal to tell boarders their horses haven’t been out in 3 days. Maybe they’d make an extra trip out to handwalk? Or show up and lunge before riding when they normally wouldn’t.
I’m not sure why a barn giving boarders a heads up about turnout is such a pain, most barns here do it on their FB page. I also don’t know why you think that would mean an army of handwalkers during lessons? Or why that would even be an issue?
I guess they aren’t intelligent enough to think about lunging or handwalking during iffy weather and need to be specifically told that the horse has not been out. My bad. And most people are not at the barn daily because they work or go to school during the day, and are usually at the barn in the afternoon or evening when their schedule permits But I guess some barns would have those who stop by after work or school to hand walk do that out in the rain/snow so the riders in the indoor dont have to navigate around the hand walkers.
