Questioning a board price increase - yes, I understand inflation

[midstride]

I do feel you on being done. I’m priced out shows of any level, even lessons. I have my horses and ride and train bc I do love it. I’m coming to terms with selling my showing accoutrement.

Having said that, I will also mention where I live, land is going fast. Boarding farms selling to developers, and people need somewhere to go. The competition for spots will also drive up a spot. You might not want to pay say $50 more a month, or a $100 hay premium a month, but someone else will. Not saying anything good/bad, but competition for resources is just getting worse.

[IPEsq]

Do the pastures get fertilizer? My hay growing friends are shocked at the increase in fertilizer costs among other things involved in maintaining their fields.

It sounds like there is a flat dollar amount increase across the board but your base number is half of stall board. Is that right? So, it’s a higher percentage increase to you. I think there’s really not a lot of money to be saved in field boarding. But if you do not have access to some amenities, then your discount already is probably the difference in upkeep of those amenities. The base board is likely where the cost is. Taxes, hay, feed, utilities, diesel, grass maintenance, fence maintenance, weather mitigation (snow, mud, ice, erosion, etc), and labor, with field board horses often taking as much or more labor time than the average not too messy stalled horse depending on your setup. Run-ins or paddocks picked? Water checked and de-iced and scrubbed? Hay waste removed. Pastures dragged.

[Arlomine]

The increase was divided equally among all boarders. That makes sense to me.

The proportionate difference between the full board and pasture board remains the same. That’s the primary point to me.

[Jealoushe]

There are also supply costs, fencing costs, insurance costs, facility repairs etc. It sounds like BO is getting ahead of the crunch so they can afford to keep things going.

Pasture board is more than just hay and grain. There are a multitude of expenses in keeping horses, even in the pasture.

[trubandloki]

Here is a question for the OP. How far does one have to walk to grain your horse in pasture board?
How many horses on stall board could they feed in that amount of time?

That is just one of those things that goes into a pasture boarded horse costing more than one realizes.

[clanter]

@fatappy

so I’ll grant that there may be additional taxes, but those haven’t increased recently.

maybe not the Tax Rate but suspect the Appraised Value has gone through the roof in effect raising the tax burden… I have seen over a $200,000 appraised value increase on my place in two years by the property tax district

[Wilish]

It’s her barn and her policies, and while you can certainly question it, I’d have a place in mind you want to go to. She may be strategically trying to move field boarders off the property because you do not bring in incremental revenue to her (in the form of lessons, services, etc.) and therefore by raising field rates more, she’s making it less enticing for you to stay - on purpose. I’ve known several barn managers who have done things like this because the field clientele does not match the culture or participation of barn boarders. Something to think about

[clanter]

@Wilish

She may be strategically trying to move field boarders off the property because you do not bring in incremental revenue to her

where I am we are limited by zoning to a max number of horses

[lenapesadie]

Which drives up insurance costs too.

[lenapesadie]

Nitpicking rate increases tends to piss of BOs. In general they are vastly under paid.

If it was me, I might, maybe reach out to BO “hey just want to clarify that the recent board increase applies to my field rate? Was a little confused since I was on the group text with the stall boarders”

I’d only do the above if the group text was vague. If BO already clarified that yes the board increase does indeed apply to the field rate, then it’s pay the new rate, move the horse or sell the horse.

[OfCourseItsAnAlter]

I’ll apologize in advance for the rant, because you’ve touched a sore spot here.

I think the idea that a BO has to justify her board rate and board increases to boarders is ridiculous. Even a little bit offensive. Running a barn is a business. The BO charges a fee for the goods and services she provides. You can choose to pay that fee or you can take your business elsewhere. It’s as simple as that.

If, as a BO, I decide that I want to start taking nicer vacations, or wear better clothes, or have a little more money left over at the end of the month to put in my retirement account, I can raise my board rates to cover that. If I want to raise your board because you’re a pain in the ass to deal with, I can do that. And it’s none of your business why I choose to raise my rates. Your only input here is to decide whether you want to stay and pay or take your horse elsewhere. You don’t get to decide whether what I’m charging is “justified.”

If I want to raise my board rates so high that I can roll around in my vault of gold like Scrooge McDuck, that’s OK. As long as I can find boarders who are willing to pay it, then it’s a perfectly reasonable rate for the market I’m in.

It is not the fault of a BO if you are getting priced out of the market - and I’m speaking as a retired person who has a very definite upper limit built into my horse budget. But I have no right to expect my BO to ensure that my expenses don’t exceed that limit.

[Jo]

@OfCourseItsAnAlter

If I want to raise my board rates so high that I can roll around in my vault of gold like Scrooge McDuck, that’s OK.

[Jackie_Cochran]

I no longer board and I no longer own a horse.

This week I am going to tell my riding teacher/BO that she will HAVE TO raise my lesson rate. I have already told my husband it is inevitable and we are budgeting for it. She probably should also raise the rate for my “homework rides” too.

Many years ago I stopped buying new horses because I saw this coming. The human population has increased so much and the weather IS changing, I could not foresee any way in which the cost of owning a horse would not skyrocket. Economics is the “dismal science”, after all.

So now I just ride lesson horses. At least I can afford an increase in my lesson rates.

[Amy3996]

There’s nothing wrong with having a conversation with your BO about it. If you go into it with the attitude that they owe you an explanation, though, you’re asking for trouble.

My barn, like most, increased rates in January. In the letter from our BO, she stated that the increase was “due to increased costs of feed, bedding and labor.” While she didn’t have to spell that out, it was nice to know.

That said, she also doesn’t charge different rates for stall board or straight pasture board. Horses on pasture board get hay, grain and blanket changes like everyone else. Paddocks get mucked daily, horses looked over. There’s really no tangible difference between the resource use and labor costs between stall and pasture board.

YMMV, but that’s my $0.02.

[endlessclimb]

Hear, hear.

[AskMyAccountant.17]

I opened this thinking it may have been a boarder at our own barn as our board prices were also increased this weekend.

My largest issue with the inquiry is the assumption culturally we have for the care of our horses. In my corporate job, I have an annual review and raises periodically. If I want to make more money to buy a nice car, a nice house, pay for botox, I can do this by seeking more money, maybe turned down, but it doesn’t make me a bad person for seeking to make more.

Yet with our barn owners, not only have grain, feed, electric, labor prices gone up, but their own cost of living, groceries, insurance… Aside from this, what if they want a nicer house, car, new things. As barn owners is it shameful to want that?

I think the OP has every right to approach a barn owner to inquire if they COULD maintain their prices or work something out, just as they have a right to leave to see if they can find a better deal. However, the thought that its unfair or rude of a barn-owner to increase prices for any reason she wants is outrageous.

(I just had my BO in tears all weekend, afer one adult boarder not only immediately declared she was leaving, but had her mother call other boarders, said she couldn’t believe that their friendship was over… board prices went up $50.)

Come on guys

[horsepoor]

I’m another one that believes the BO doesn’t owe you any justification for the price increase. Ask at your own peril, and certainly not with the attitude presented in the initial post here. I am acquainted with a BO in my area that raises the rates on people they don’t like in order to get them to move on. You might have one boarder at that barn paying $650 while another pays $850. Like it or lump it.

[hoopoe]

@lenapesadie

If it was me, I might, maybe reach out to BO “hey just want to clarify that the recent board increase applies to my field rate? Was a little confused since I was on the group text with the stall boarders”

I’d only do the above if the group text was vague. If BO already clarified that yes the board increase does indeed apply to the field rate, then it’s pay the new rate, move the horse or sell the horse.

totally agree with this
while we see what we perceive as the hard cost; how much the horse eats, what part of the farm we can use, we dont appreciate the less obvious cost, many which have been related here

insurance costs on property values, liability insurance, taxes on running a business. pay for employees, maintenance of grounds including maintaining the driveway parking area and property lines. Water power sewer, manure disposal and feed delivery , both linked to fuel cost.

ask, as lenapesadie thoughtfully said, but accept there is a lot more hidden than visible.

consider, too, your cost of being at this barn. Does the option of moving come with an increased driving or time cost? That alone would be a huge deciding factor to me

[Angela_Freda]

@clanter

maybe not the Tax Rate but suspect the Appraised Value has gone through the roof in effect raising the tax burden… I have seen over a $200,000 appraised value increase on my place in two years by the property tax district

Where I am this can easily be looked up, on the county website, by anyone.

[LovieBird]

Are there other viable boarding options? If so, it might be time to go.