Oh man! Y’all are just out there. No one is asking for a breakdown, or an exhaustive itemization of costs, but why can’t someone ask? Hey, board went up 5-10-50%, may I ask why? Maybe I come from a place that I feel OK asking those types of questions, but I’m certainly not indulging in an emotional outburst from it. It’s just a question. Like if someone asks you why, how would you answer? If the BO answered me in an emotionally charged way, I might be concerned my horse was under their care. So overall a good fact finding mission, right?
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Of course it doesn’t. Increased cost may well be offset by increased expenses, and right now, they very likely are. Prices are going up so quickly it’s almost impossible to keep up.
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Well the BO should ideally be building that into their board increases. Wages/raises are included in cost. I know there’s been some pedantry going on here so we could get into accounting principles, but do we wanna go that far here?
@Alterration, you are not the only BO with a story like this and I hate it because this is the kind of thing that leads to burnout and the eventual closing of boarding facilities. Please take care of yourself.
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Working on it! And thank you!
I see it too, which is why I’m fighting so hard to keep the farm open. 
I want to be able to have friends here to ride with and I may always do that. But I’m not advertising for, nor do I want, new boarders.
Boarding economics are just not pretty.
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I am puzzled that anyone would be puzzled by a board rate increase right now.
I’m sure most BOs who are raising rates are explaining that it is “due to increased expenses,” but even if they don’t, in the current climate it should be easily inferred.
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Frankly, if someone asked me why my prices went up right now I’d think they were a complete idiot.
My farrier raised his rates this year, I didn’t ask for an explanation.
My hay guy is charging more now, I didn’t ask why.
My feed bill has increased a lot in the last year, I didn’t ask to speak to the manager.
My vet is charging more for the same services as they did two years ago, I didn’t question the bill.
So if someone asks me why my rates go up, I’m just going to say it’s because it’s costing me more to provide this service. End of conversation. Nothing emotionally charged about it.
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I think BO’s should be able to charge whatever they want, with no explanation, as long as increase is given sufficient notice. It’s their time, investment of property, insurance would definitely be cheaper if they only kept their own personal horses on their property.
I would rather them charge to sufficiently care for my animals than to go to the barn and see them without hay, not enough bedding, unsafe footing and turnout. Charge the money to cover your stuff… don’t cheap out on bedding and hay especially. Pay your staff good money, so they are good staff… invaluable.
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“LOL! Increased cost means increased income for the BO too, doesn’t that go without saying?”
This made me LOL myself. How does that math work?
If my profit margins per horse are, say, $100/month, and my costs increase per horse by $50/month, I am now making $50/month per horse. It isn’t hard to understand.
If I raise board by $50/month, I am simply returning to my baseline margin. No increased income.
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I guess to those who want to hate on barn owners would say that going from $50 to $100 (back to $100) is an increase, even though it is simply them maintaining.
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Yep. That’s crazy. That is doing all the labor of caring for their horse for less than they spend at Starbucks for a cup of plain coffee…$1.60 or so. Sometimes I wonder WTH am I doing this for….
Then to be faced with snark because I dare to ask to be paid $3/day per horse for all my labor is sometimes just a bridge too far. If boarders wonder why BOs get a little grumpy about that, it isn’t them spending their Sunday mornings trudging through the snow and mud while water slowly seeps into my boot through the hole that developed there recently, and I am too worried about upcoming costs to buy a new pair of boots right now……just sigh.
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I calculated once that I was making -$5/day per horse. 
I only did that calculation once. Now some of that is because we are doing repairs on an old barn and the up front costs won’t be recouped for 10+ years…but it made me a little green around the gills.
There will have to be a massive adjustment in attitude and willingness to pay of boarders if horse barns are to survive in the coming years.
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Read it as condescending when it was suggested that BOs just increase their income stream. Like adding an indoor or running a Summer/Pony Camp. Comes off like “Let them eat cake”. Text is very hard to communicate in sometimes.
Would do well to remember we all have a tendency to assume everybody has the same choices and deals with the same challenges as are common in our own circle without realizing its not the same elsewhere.
And, really, assuming your barn gives staff annual raises so most others do is…well…naive.
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So you are saying that if say, you had increased costs of $50 per horse, you wouldn’t raise board by $60-75 to build in a raise for yourself? If not, then that’s your problem. I mean, I would pad in a raise for myself, but that’s me. I know y’all just want to argue but I’m not running your business so you do as you see fit.
You have obviously never worked in a professional capacity in any sector of the horse industry
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Agree, comes off very judgmental as well.
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Your posts are very much “business class textbook.” Life in the real world of the majority of boarding facilities in this country is far from your perfect textbook environment.
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well actually you are not factoring inflation …just comparing recent dollars from 2020… to have the same $50 value today you need $54.81 (and I would bet that figure is low as recent month to month inflation is just staggering)
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Please tell us what type of response from the barn owner would be a good one if asked the reason for a rate increase. What would be acceptable to you?
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Are you saying the barn owner shouldn’t charge enough for board to make money at it?
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