Those people fall under the they will ever get category and they can some of the most difficult to deal with. I never moved my horses home. I could afford the land but I could never afford everything else that went along with it ( tractor, truck and trailer ect).
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They are in for a huge surprise!! They think the only charge is for the feed and such. Have not considered who will look after an abscess in the middle of winter, an emergency vet call the farrier, and so on, with just a shed for the horses. They are building quite small paddocks, so the horses still will need to be fed well. We are in Ontario. Itās still cold here and the grass is just beginning to come in. I worry for the horses.
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Hugs to you ! Itās a crappy position to be in, you care about the horses but the owners are clueless. And I canāt help but feel they would be the type that wouldnāt get it even if they sat down with you and went over everything.
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You are right!! Their horses are accessories. Both cheap OTTB s that they hardly visit. Like months at a time, yet expect to find them with manes pulled and tails banged. I think they think they stay that way. They think their 14 yo daughter who loves to cook will love feeding the horses. Yet the child refuses to come to the barn. And I donāt meant to insult that the horses are cheap OTTB. I only mean they have nothing invested in them. And she goes to the tack store and buys white gloves with rhinestones to ride in daily and has a bow on her helmet. They will be so astonished when the beautiful new 4 board fenced paddocks turn to mud because the horses are hungry 
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I am so so sorry.
There was a woman who trained with my trainer who was shocked to discover her horse was fed more than once a day, and that stalls were cleaned at least daily.
Shocked.
At horse shows we all pitched in to pick stalls through the day when we had down time. She just put in more shavings. It never occurred to her to actually remove manure and wet bedding.
Some people shouldnāt own horses if it requires they actually take care of them.
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Well theyāre going to be surprised at the cost of fencing and run-in sheds, and maybe trenching to get some water to the barn area. Tack room? Thatād be another shed.
So these folks are going to probably spend close to $20,000 to set up a place at home for their horsesā¦ have to do all the labor and have all the responsibility themselvesā¦ because they wouldnāt spend another $2,400 a year to have you take care of everything.
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Wow, that sounds like a disaster. I know that not all OTTBs are the fragile-hooved, ulcer-prone, suicidal, fence-impaling stereotypes, but SOME are. I do know some clueless people who kept some shaggy, hardy little scrub ponies on their property with almost no knowledge, but yikes.
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Yeah- my neighbor was an AQHA pro for forty years and one day she just said āwhoa, no more horses.ā She went to the dogs.
Kennels have their own challenges but bottom line is she makes in three days boarding a dog what I (hope to) make in 30 days boarding a horse- and with a lot less stress.
We have been known to have a glass of wine together in the evenings and swap stories about boardingā¦ in fact we joke that, between the horses and the dogs, thereās fertile fodder for a reality show weād pitch as āBoard to Tearsā!
The very biggest difference, says this friend who has done both dog and horse boarding on a big scale, for many years, is that the dog owners go away. A horse owner dreams of spending all day hanging out at the barn, but dog owners drop off their pups for boarding or daycare, then leave- she doesnāt have to be āopenā to handle both animals and humans simultaneously for 12 to 16 hours a day
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Iām not sure if Iād say dog boarding/daycare is less stress. There are less overhead costs, and it takes up way less land. But dog owners can be so weird. Iād actually say it takes more time/energy than horses (Iāve worked both). Itās also a highly competitive business right now.
No one expects you to go out into the horse pasture to entertain the horses all darn day. But dog owners do expect that. They expect that their dogs have very little down time and are always ādoingā something. And that something must be supervised at all times. The dogs get maybe an hour to 2 locked up in their separate areas at lunch time for a break. Besides that you always have to be āonā.
On top of that, even though horses can and do hurt each other, they usually donāt mean to. Not true with dogs. If you have a dog boarding situation where the dogs interact (which is usually the only kind that dog owners want) then you have to be super vigilant of that, and even then you will have incidents where they bite/attack each other. 99% of the time itās not a huge deal, maybe someone got too much into anotherās space, maybe it was just play that got out of control, but you must have good insurance that will cover vet bills for the owners.
Dogs are supposed to go home at a certain time, but just like daycare, the owners tend to not show up on time. Pretty much at least once a week someone would have some sort of emergency/excuse/etc and you have a dog that was supposed to leave and hadnāt been picked up. So you have to try to charge the owner for that. Itās a pain. It happens both in dog boarding and doggie daycare situations.
The amount of times people have boarded their dog and then just donāt come back is astounding. Like, youāve paid $500 to keep this dog here and now after a week of vacation you decided you donāt want your dog anymore? So do you take the dog to the pound? Do you wait and hope they show up?
Fido must be kept in a climate controlled situation, of course. The fenced area must be at minimum 8ft tall and impossible to dig out of. Many places have and indoor arena are for the dogs to play in bad weather. Some have dog pools. So startup costs can be higher. And for some reason people think dogs need televisions, so be prepared to have cable in every room for each dog. Speaking of rooms, owners donāt like the look of chain link kennels, so each room must use something different; many now are drywalled with doors.
Fleas/disease problems. Dog comes in with fleas? Great, now you have to flea bomb everywhere. And dog owners are weird about vaccinations. Some donāt want their dogs to get them because they think itās a waste (Fido doesnāt go outside without me, he doesnāt need rabies/kennel cough/etc) some donāt because itās a hassle (Iām sure this went up even more during the pandemic) some believe itās bad for their dog.
Neutered/Spayed. A intact female is usually no big deal, you just have to make sure you donāt have any intact males. Maybe a little bit of blood cleanup. A intact male can be a terror. Mounting everything in sight, peeing on everything in sight. For some reason about 3/4 of them never have any manners.
Dog poop. You canāt just leave it or drag it into the ground. It must be picked up and because the dogs are somewhat nervous itās common for them to have diarrhea.
Lastly, I can say a horse has never peed on me, bit my ankles, tried to mount me, pooped directly onto me, or dug out of its pasture 
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My county has learned to do those incremental yearly tax rate increases, just like some BO are learning to keep the rates up to the market. 
This area is steadily going up in property value. About 8-10 years ago the county woke up to this and got some proper appraisers on staff.
But they couldnāt do the full merited increase all at once without a homeowner outcry taht would be heard loudly among the politicians. Itās taken 6 years to work the property values up to roughly 80% of true FMV. Now they are keeping up every year! Meaning taxes have nearly doubled for some people over the last 6-8 years.
This is why I will probably be a lifetime boarder. Because I do have an inkling what is involved in barn ownership !!! God bless those who do it and especially those who love it.
YES. Part of boarding is the ability to travel as needed. I am so grateful to those BOās and their helpers who were there for my horse at difficult times when I was out of town or blocked by weather from getting out there.
I once got a cellphone call while on the interstate on a Sunday evening on a long drive home āgo straight to the vet clinic, your horse will be there, we are taking him right nowā. For a sudden colic that did prove to be serious, but not fatal or surgical because they took action so quickly. Without the alert and caring BO & staff, no knowing how that would have turned out.
I will watch this show! You gotta do it! lol
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Had a family sort of like this at my last barn - they kept telling BO/trainer they were going to buy a horse for their (8yo, timid, w/t only) daughter, put up some fencing at their house and keep it there.
BO told them OK! Build all the fencing, shelter, everything - then buy a couple of little ponies to keep out there and buy a horse for your daughter to keep at the barn for her to ride/lesson on. When they get frustrated with all the work of keeping the ponies, lack of a ring, no lessons, etc. sheād help sell the ponies 
The parents were the type to drop kiddo off at lessons and wait in the car (or leave to run errands), knew nothing about horses and had no desire to learn but apparently had dreams of darling little daughter happily running to the barn every morning and evening to care for her gallant steeds. They were also divorced, which only adds to the logistical issues.
Needless to say, BO knew it would never last long. Fortunately, I donāt think they ever jumped on the idea.
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My horses never bark. Itās fantastic.
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Oh gosh THIS. I forgot about the incessant barking. And whining. And if a husky came in? Letās just say I know more about different brands of earplugs than I ever wanted to.
I think if I owned a dog boarding place it would only allow golden retrievers, because they seemed to be the only ones that didnāt bark and didnāt fight. Though one did knock me off my feet once on accident.
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On the incremental property tax assessments, thatās ideal but the example from my area, 7 years ago most of county was marshland and most of the complaining residents there less then 5 years, some less then 2. This was the first incremental increase.
This is relevant to barn owners as long undeveloped tracts of rural land nearby with few services and not much to tax nearby suddenly mushroom into higher density communities requiring roads, utilities, police, regular fire (not volunteer) etc. No secret when developers buy that property and public hearings get the zoning changed, BOs should be aware whether they own or rent/lease and should be sure boarders do too. That is info that should be shared by BOs. IMO. And shared BEFORE it hits the fan.
IMO, would be sensible to plan for that and do what other businesses do, modest yearly, incremental increases.
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These 2 are in the fragile nervous never learn category. They have their own paddock because one weaves at the gate, the other poops and pees at the gate or in his hay. The weaver then weaves in the mess. The smell is horrible and the paddock is ruined. The wife wants them
Moved to one of the pristine paddocksā¦ I guess she thinks everyone else want their horses in the ruined paddock. I sincerely worry about the health of the horses, since they are the fragile type. One had quite a case of lymphangitis this winter and a) they would not have spotted it, b) they would have no clue how to look after it. They never ever once asked about how the horse was coming along. The other is abscess prone. I all truth, Iāll be pleased to see them go.
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Iām pretty sure they can afford itā¦ itās the actual time you have to spend to keep horses healthy and happy they have no clue about. Nor do I believe they have the constitution to do the job multiple times away in inclement weather
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Great points about dogs vs horse boarding- theyāre both a challenge! And itās so often the owners, not the animalsā¦
My friend that boarded and trained horses for 40 years first, probably shortened her kennel learning curve exponentially though: no intact males, meet and greets with temperament assessment for all new dogs before any boarding reservation is accepted, credit cards for all dogs, vaccine and health info submitted before boarding, dogs segregated by temperament for all play yards, excellent help, her lifetime of experience training horses, dogs, and humansā¦ sheās good at the boarding game!
Yes thereās a lot of places that board dogs, but sheās got a whole spacious (former) horse ranch full of barns, pens, and arenas for the dogs to have lots of space to play, rest, and do other dog sports, which is more attractive for many owners than the boutique pricing, smallish kennel and little fake-turfed play yard that many of her competitors offer. And bottom line, thereās at least 10X, maybe 20X or more, the potential dog boarding business than horses.
Stuff still goes wrong sometimes with the dogs but the 100# scale (versus 1200#) of the problems, and the upside of a profitable business model from day one, have my neighbor pleased with the move from equine to canine boarding.
And we still enjoy getting together for that glass of wine on her porch to talk about the crazy/maddening/entertaining/funny things we experience being Board to Tears.
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As a previous boarder, previous BO, and now again a boarder, I think that boarders can do their own research and maybe develop some common sense to come to the realization that horse keeping costs more than just the hay and grain. The last time I thought of my horseās costs that way was when I was 17.
Might the electric company answer when you ask why the electric bill went up? Sure. But letās be real. How often do people actually ask that? How often do people look at their electric bill and think āman, the electric company needs to budget their expenses better and cut back on xyz.ā Do you tell the family owned restaurant that you donāt want to pay $1 more for the lasagna, and ask for their budget so you can tell them where to cut back? Rinse and repeat for literally every other business in existence. It will never cease to amaze me how many above-and-beyond expectations people have of BOs that they donāt have of any other business owner. Itās incredible.
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^^^^ This in spades.
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