Questioning a board price increase - yes, I understand inflation

[kirbydog]

A LOT of money has to be put into running a higher end facility in the form of the best hay, multiple types of good grain, and bedding, that you will immediately turn around and throw away, and have to pay a good amount of money to remove for starters. In other words, feed-eat-poop/pee-clean stalls

Skilled, knowledgeable manual labor, paid a living wage to work 7 days a week, on call 24/7

Infrastructure costs, to keep the place running beautifully, while the horses are actively trying to destroy the place. Wood appears to be a natural part of their diet, even when given great grass turn out.
Have you ever purchased a tractor and drag? We need to have 2 tractors to keep things running smoothly, as well as 2 dually pick ups, one with a snow plow. 2 horse trailers, also, both with air ride
I think we’ve repeated all this stuff, ad nauseum. The only profit a barn truly makes is through lessons, training, and showing. And even then, the margins are really thin. It’s a labor of love

[MsM]

Regarding grain: I am OLD and am familiar with boarding stables going back about 55 years in the North East. “Full board” always included grain. In the early years it was generally “sweetfeed”. Rarely any choices. Over the years the grain offered by the barn changed. Now There are usually at least a couple of choices from the line the barn offers. Most barns I knew of always had an upper limit of how much they would feed.

It was, and can still be, more difficult to find a boarding barn offering enough good quality hay than including grain.

[OfCourseItsAnAlter]

I am as old as dirt and all the stables I remember from the '60s and '70s fed grain. The only one I remember that didn’t feed grain was a big farm that didn’t have stall board at all - didn’t actually have stalls at all - horses were out in large pastures and grazed in the summer and got fed hay in the winter.

We kept our ponies there when I was a kid. I remember swiping an ear of corn out of the corn crib to use for bait when I went out to catch my pony.

[trubandloki]

@candyappy

I doubt it is regional. More like the amount of time that has passed since I boarded.

Seems like all barns feed grain now. That is a huge cost on the BO that we did not have in my days of boarding.

The no grain thing is something I learned about on this forum, and in some areas no grain included is typical, so yes, it truly is a regional thing.

Like some of the other posters, at least not in my part of the world, it is not a time thing. 50 years ago the boarding barns included grain (like others said, it was sweet feed, which back then was the premium grain, oh the things we have learned).

[2bayboys]

Well let’s see.

Running a boarding barn is different from running any other business because:

Seven days a week without fail.
As the business owner, I don’t have the choice to just close up shop and go to Disney for a week.
If I have supply chain problems, I don’t get to just say “out of stock, sorry”. I go find the feed and hay to keep the horses alive.
Oh and on that note, the prime customers of my business, the horses, try to die on a regular basis.

Just a few thoughts off the top of my head.

[McGurk]

More than doubled in my area. We’re not fertilizing the pastures this year, which means we’ll be spending more for hay.

[DawgLady]

@FLeventer

I worry that my barn owner will just sell and wipe her hands of the trouble of dealing with boarders. She would walk away with a nice tidy profit and I wouldn’t blame her. How could I? I sold my farm last year.

I think a lot of us live with this fear. My barn is now surrounded by tract housing. I know the developer will bring an offer. BO could take the money (which is more than she’ll ever make running the barn), retire, and live happily ever after. It’s a wonder she hasn’t already. So basically, when she says “jump,” I say “how high?”

[McGurk]

I am gratified by all the responses in this thread from people who actually understand how the boarding business works, and often, doesn’t work.

I did sometimes get polite inquiries from boarders about pricing, and I would try to answer. I got the question about how much grain cost from a boarder with an easy keeper, clearly wondering why her cost was the same as a hard keeper. When I broke down the actual costs, that labor was the biggest chunk of the pie, followed by hay, bedding, diesel and routine maintenance she was shocked.

My favorite clueless horse owner story was a neighbor who wanted to board her horse at our home. I explained very carefully about how I already had the max number of horses I felt the property would support caring for the horses and pasture the way I saw fit. She looked at me, perplexed and said “Why don’t you just put out a round bale?”

I also appreciate the folks who pointed out that boarding is often a loss leader for lessons, training, coaching and other services; that most barns are hoping to break even on board and make money on the other services. Which means that if you are a pasture boarder who uses no other services, it may be immaterial to the BO whether you stay or go. She may well be losing money on you at the current price point.

As a final note; this year and next are going to cause big shakeups in horse ownership and the horse industry, except for the very, very high end. Anyone who depends on a paycheck or has to keep to a budget is going to have to make some hard choices in the next 18 months. Hay and grain are going to go way up because of the cost of fertilizer and the cost of fuel. Labor cost is up, lumber cost is freakin’ outrageous. A lot of barns that run on skinny margins (that is, most of them) will have to close or dramatically change pricing, and a lot of hobby owners are going to be forced out.

[LazyA1]

McGurk is right, and about that hay… as she said fuel and fertilizer costs are rising. Plus decreased yields with drought.

[lenapesadie]

Sad to say, but in my area I expect some of the more “low end” facilities to cut costs as they try to stay afloat. Ya know them places that keep horses on skimpy hay rations? I predict some extra skimpy rations. In public and private barns. I expect others to fold, particularly if the market for development RE stays strong. And for sure others will have to raise rates. Quality boarding is already short supply here.

Glad I have mine at home, that I only have two and that I have good pasture.

TBH when I’m pouring the TCS feed to this old retiree I adopted, I say a little prayer for the horses I’ve moved on in the past. Praying karma is real and someone is feeding those horses I sold that are getting older now. With the current situation with costs I’m worried about those horses.

[awaywego]

I suspect with increased costs raising board prices, we’ll see even more owners looking to save money on boarding by looking for field board. And unfortunately, as the OP has found out, field board is not necessarily a huge savings over stall board, and not an option in many areas as land prices continue to swell at astronomic rates. In the past month I’ve heard from 2 people inquiring about field board - nope, we do not offer field board, and nope, you will not convince me that your horse standing in my field 24/7 will cause me any less work or cost less money.

I guess that’s an owner vs renter point of view: maintenance of field, fence and sheds are an owner’s problem.

[touchstone]

@BITSA

Every bigger trainer I know says they don’t make money off boarding, whether they own their own barn or lease a place, and very little on training. They make money on commissions and shows.

I also believe this to be true. But seems like a bad way to run a business that may lead to a lot of the ethical issues we talk about on this board all the time. I would prefer to be a customer at a barn where the owner could make a living providing standard services, like board and training, and did not depend for their living on me buying an expensive horse or going to a show when my horse was not ready or sound.

[Rhythm_Pace_Impulsion]

I understand the crazy inflation we are all experiencing and how hard it can be but I want my barn owners & managers as fat happy and content as I want my horses to be. In my area a safe barn with knowledgeable staff, good turnout & safe footing starts around $3k. Yes that’s a big number, at least to me but like I said I want my BO as well cared for as my horse so that’s what it costs. As for the necessary $ increases, as a customer I would really appreciate a 30 if not 60 day heads up for any increases but understand the price increases of everything are putting us all in a crunch. Thank you to all of those who have chosen to care for horses, it is a HARD job.

[McGurk]

I priced pasture board at the cost of full board minus the cost of bedding.

The run in sheds had fans and had to be mucked regularly, all other costs were the same, and the pasture boarders had access to all the amenities.

So cost of bedding was truly the only difference in cost.

[ladyj79]

My horses are field boarded, and yes, that’s the difference in my costs.

[NaturallyHappy]

Drought or too much rain!

[luvmyhackney]

100% this. My hay guy said if I could buy hay for all year now, it would save me an insane amount of money. He is sick over how much his hay is going to cost just to cover his cost and a little bit of profit for him.

[fordtraktor]

I’ve got 600 bales coming Sunday. I told my hay guy I’d buy all he has to sell, for the same reason.

[McGurk]

I also have a friend in the commodities/grain sector tell me it would be wise to stockpile long shelf life items like beet pulp, hay pellets and hay cubes. It’s gonna get ugly.

[awaywego]

@McGurk

I priced pasture board at the cost of full board minus the cost of bedding.

The run in sheds had fans and had to be mucked regularly, all other costs were the same, and the pasture boarders had access to all the amenities.

So cost of bedding was truly the only difference in cost.

Heh, I had written out a longer reply that basically said the same thing: shavings are the only savings in field board