Should I Board Horses?

[Tory]

I let my friend “board” her two horses on my farm and it was a disaster.

They were both retired and she lived only a couple blocks away. The plan was for her to mostly do self care, but if she set up food (she bought her own hay and shavings) I would throw it to her horses when I fed mine.
We also agreed to help each other out (I didn’t want to nickel and dime for everything).

Well, long story short, she and her horses basically trashed my farm. She could never take her garbage/recycle to the main bins from the older barn where she stored her stuff (imagine smart pak containers everywhere), her one horse ran constantly in my neatly manicured paddocks and churned every manure pile into mud, hoses left uncoiled, pitchforks and wheelbarrows never put back, couldn’t clean up after her farrier came out, etc… get the picture.

This was MY house, MY yard, MY farm and someone else was turning it into a dump.

It wasn’t worth the few hundred dollars I was charging her. I had worked as a BM before at other farms and I knew how messy some boarders could be, but I didn’t realize how it would effect me when it was MY property.

I would never do it again.

[maunder]

I know a young and energetic woman who did this recently. She worked a full time job and decided to rent a farm and then take on boarders.

I think she lasted about three months. It was just too much. As others have said, she couldn’t be two places at once and the boarders were left without care until late at night as she tried to juggle work, her own horses and riding and the boarders.

She very quickly burnt out.

[ryansgirl]

Absolutely not worth it as others have said.

[S1969]

I have boarded a few horses before and it worked out well. I’ve also had a couple of boarders that weren’t great.

You won’t “make money.” But you can cover some of your expenses. And, depending on your boarders, you may have company and/or someone to help care for your horses so you can go away - which was the best bonus to boarding, for me.

It really all depends on who you choose. A boarder you hate won’t be worth the trouble. But a reliable boarder, maybe one who is not a “best friend” can be really great.

[fordtraktor]

If you had your own horses at home I might consider it. But NO WAY if your own horse is going to stay boarded. You’ll never see yours again because you’ll need to be home taking care of everyone else’s animals. maybe if you have no other job or children to take up any time?

[luvmyhackney]

I actually did a spread sheet last week regarding boarding horses. I was trying to talk my husband into purchasing a boarding farm in NoVa. Lovely facility with indoor and outdoor, trails, etc. I couldn’t do it less than 800.00 a stall. Not sure the market here could handle that an hour from the city. Insurance is expensive. Unless your doing lessons and training, to make profit, you don’t cover your time. I have a very high standard of care and if I dropped it, I could get boarding down to 600.00 but couldn’t provide the amount of hay and bed as deeply, maintain pastures and arena like they should be. So I nixed that idea and looking at small farms just for me. I will not board horses at my personal place.

[danacat]

I second all the NO’s – for all the reasons everyone explained. It’s just not worth it. Murphy’s Law will rear its ugly head.

[Guilherme]

[QUOTE=nthesaddle33;9003526]
Mostly for company, have horses at my place with me since mine is boarded elsewhere, and possibly make a little on it (nothing for a business since I have a full time teaching job haha).[/QUOTE]

You don’t say where you are but in everyplace I’m aware of once you start taking money to provide a service on a regular basis you are “in business.” That will affect your taxes, your zoning, your overall regulatory status, etc. Staying on cash basis and not trying to take tax advantages will go a long way towards staying “under the radar” but it will take only one mishap with a horse and an angry owner to “blow up” the whole enterprise.

In a low regulation state like TN you can get away with a lot. In high regulation place (like most everywhere else) you’ll eventually run afoul of the Alphabet Soup and the consequences can be serious.

G.

[gumtree]

“I’m used to doing about 30 or so stalls when I work at the place I board so I wouldn’t mind 5!”

Did you do this 7 days a week, 365 days a year? Rain, sleet or snow? No, ifs and or buts? Feeling bad or feeling good?

Sorry to be redundant but as 2dogs said and I will repeat.

Do you have a full time job that is very flexible about when you can show up in the morning? Most days go as planed especially with only 5 horses. But there can and will be days when when any numbers of things don’t go as planed. Water is out, frozen, pump failed, electric is out, a fence is broken, a horse has issues and you have to wait on the vet, etc.

the MD/PA line is a long one. How close and how readily available are service providers? Scheduling a farrier for a small farm is almost always set to their schedule and convenience not on one’s day off.

If it is 6.5 acres total I assume around 5 acres can be or is fenced. 5 horses on 5 acres is going to take a quite of bit of land management to keep it from turning into basically dirt and mud. You most likely will end up having to throw hay year round. A expensive fixed cost. You will want/need auto waterers with electric in the paddocks/s

DO NOT factor the possibility/rely on extra income to offset the cost of carrying the purchase price, the R&M and capital improvements of the property. Only buy if you make enough, have enough disposable income from your “real job” to carry the expenses and the work for just your own horse/s.

Do not expect to be able to find reliable part time help for $10 an hour. Expect to have to cancel a vacation at the last moment because that reliable help just quit. Or the swing person can’t swing it.

Finding boarders is not as easy as it sounds. At least not the kind that will pay realistic money that leaves enough “gravy” left over to justify the exercise. Especially with limited to no facilities.

With such a small property not having a ring will make it very challenging. You will have to dedicate at least 1± acre for on farm riding. We in the same retaliative area. Plenty of rain which will turn any grass riding area into a muddy mess. IMO a small property has to have a decent size ring that is made well enough to stand up to daily use in all kinds of weather. This is not cheap to have installed.

Running a boarding operation or just deciding to buy a place to “bring” ones horses “home” having always boarded is not something the majority of people are cut out to do. No matter how many years they have been “around”, working with horses at other people’s farms.

[Obsidian_Fire]

S1969 - thank you; at least not all these posts are negative. At the moment this is the situation I am in, I board with “friends” but they are not close friends. It’s a back scratching arrangement as when they need (or want) to be out of town, they know they have somebody trustworthy and competent to take care of the farm.

Also, all these negative comments - and believe me I understand them - really hurt people like myself who are (and always will be) lifelong boarders - but more importantly are GOOD boarders.

But the sucky people in this world, cause all of us to put on our skepticism faces and paint everyone guilty until proven innocent…

It hurts.

[findeight]

Before you go any further with planning, you need to check your deed, zoning and local ordinances as well as your insurance agent on the subject of commercially boarding horses.

Don’t count on cash only, under the table operation and hiding it from the IRS. All it takes is one gate left unlatched and loose horse in the road, one boarder getting hurt on your property and the most common way these operations get outed, nosey neighbor who doesn’t like the increased traffic, flies, smells etc. or the fact it’s running outside of any legalities.

Pasture is great but how many months a year can you count on it and how many bales/tons of hay will you project over the winter to compensate for no suitable grass?

You can’t supervise if you are at work and if your help is a no show, no call you’re screwed. Also, so many suggest retirement boarding if you lack facilities to compete with fancier boarding barns. How are you with managing end of life decisions and physically being there? Know a couple who have tried that not realizing those horses don’t leave upright.

Watched many who think it sounds like a good idea to run a small boarding business. It’s really not for most.

[findeight]

Oh, I have been a boarder since circa 1970. Been in some barn set ups like OP is proposing, they started great but created plenty of problems for the boarders including food and water when the help didn’t show or surprise evictions when the owners had to cease and desist due various legalities they were unaware of or ignored. And if you are an owner? Don’t even think about a vacation.

Its not a sideline, a hobby or a way to meet people. Its a business, legal it not. Same responsibilities and liabilities.

[Libby2563]

[QUOTE=fordtraktor;9003846]
If you had your own horses at home I might consider it. But NO WAY if your own horse is going to stay boarded. You’ll never see yours again because you’ll need to be home taking care of everyone else’s animals. maybe if you have no other job or children to take up any time?[/QUOTE]

I agree with all the other reasons people have given but wanted to second this especially because it was my first thought. I’ve heard people say they take in boarders to subsidize their own horses’ care (and even that doesn’t always work out as planned). But to buy a horse property, not keep your own horses there, then take in boarders? NO WAY. Not worth the money, labor, time, hassle, loss of freedom, etc.

Take money for example. Not all your costs in boarding/horse care are “variable costs” (as in, they go up or down depending on the number of horses you have). There are “fixed costs” like property/equipment maintenance and a minimum amount of daily labor that you will incur whether you have 1 horse or 5. If you are taking in boarders to subsidize the fixed costs your own horses generate I could see how that might make sense. But to take on those fixed costs just for boarders…not worth it in my opinion.

I have my own small place (more acreage than yours but possibly less pasture and fewer stalls) and I would not take in boarders even though people have asked. I tell them I just don’t have the space but the full truth is that I also do not feel like dealing with other people’s BS, or their horses’. I currently have freedom to structure my horse care in a way that best suits me and my own horses, and I would not want to be accountable to anyone else.

That said, good luck with whatever you decide!

[hunterrider33]

Sorry I’m another no

You say you are a teacher, how will you have the time to feed, clean stalls, turn in/out (if they live inside), clean up the barn, blanket horses, etc, on top of all your everyday duties - including going to see your own horse who won’t be living there.

What happens if a horse collics while you are at work? What if someone starts running like an idiot and slips and breaks the fence letting himself and the others out of the paddock (had this happen at my old barn).

Would someone else be home all day to help? If not you’d likely need to hire part time help to at least assist you or check on them since I’m assuming your gone from 730am-4ish PM? I would want to know my horses were checked on at least once during the day.

I think it “sounds” like a good idea but I think your going to cause yourself a huge headache! Oh and you’ll never be able to go anywhere unless you had help

[S1969]

[QUOTE=hunterrider33;9004114]
Sorry I’m another no

You say you are a teacher, how will you have the time to feed, clean stalls, turn in/out (if they live inside), clean up the barn, blanket horses, etc, on top of all your everyday duties - including going to see your own horse who won’t be living there.

What happens if a horse collics while you are at work? What if someone starts running like an idiot and slips and breaks the fence letting himself and the others out of the paddock (had this happen at my old barn).

Would someone else be home all day to help? If not you’d likely need to hire part time help to at least assist you or check on them since I’m assuming your gone from 730am-4ish PM? I would want to know my horses were checked on at least once during the day.

I think it “sounds” like a good idea but I think your going to cause yourself a huge headache! Oh and you’ll never be able to go anywhere unless you had help[/QUOTE]

For all the reasons I might not have boarders, this is not one of them.

The chances that a stalled horse will colic or get hurt are at least as high (if not higher) than a horse turned out in a well-fenced, pasture or paddock. The only time I’ve ever dealt with a colic is when my mare was boarded. (Knock on wood, of course!)

Right now I am home, but I can’t see any of my horses. I’m sure they are fine. I put out hay and checked their water at 7am. When I worked outside my home, I never worried about them.

Obviously - this depends greatly on the setup. Mine is safe, flat, well-fenced and horses have ample hay, heated tanks and 24/7 access to shelter. One big issue with bringing in new horses is making sure they can be turned out safely - so, for that reason, I would not take on boarders without having at least enough paddocks you can separate horses if necessary.

[S1969]

^^ that said, of course you should carry insurance. You may need more than standard homeowners insurance to guarantee coverage should horses get off the property.

[fjordie03]

Don’t do it. I’m not saying don’t buy the property (a nice place to bring your own horses home to maybe?) but don’t board. And if you don’t EVER plan on bringing your horses home, don’t buy a farm because what’s the point?

I had 27 years of horse and barn experience (as a working boarder, barn worker and instructor) and a solid business plan in place before DH and I bought a small farm seven years with the intention of bringing our horses home and having a few boarders. We did bring our 3 horses home but never opened our farm up to boarders because the insurance costs could not be covered by any income we would get from boarders (so much for my thorough biz plan), never mind wear and tear and the PIA factor boarders bring, no matter how saintly they are.

Stall cleaning is literally the easiest part of my day as a farm owner and most days, I would gladly trade cleaning 30 stalls for the rest of my chores as a farm owner. My Christmas morning was spent treating 2 paddocks & all walkways for treacherous ice and solving the skunk-that-died-in-the-barn-aisle-overnight problem. A fun Christmas morning for sure. Of course a dead skunk is much better than a live skunk (which is what I found on Christmas eve at night check - I decided to shelve that problem till the morning and bingo! I got my Christmas wish and it died, in the open dog crate for easy handling! And didn’t spray!!! Rejoice!)

I have a small set up like the one you are considering and in retrospect, I wish I’d stayed a boarder because not having a proper ring with footing is something I dearly miss. I thought I would be fine using our farm internal roads, the fenced paddock, or the lovely 2 acre field but come mud season, I want & need proper footing. And the time to drive/ride my horses in said ring because as a farm owner, I have little time.

[fourfillies]

With only an acre per horse in your area (Im close by) you will spend a lot of time managing your turnouts (seed/lime/mow) AND/OR a lot of money making up the difference in hay and grain and establishing dry lots to save the grass. If you live there you won’t want to look at a sea of mud 8 months of the year. Either way unlikely a break even proposition. Get your horse person interaction at your current barn and enjoy the quiet of home. Maybe get a mini donk or two?

[scrbear11]

Boarding horses and simple should never be used in the same sentence.

[candyappy]

have you ever kept horses at home, or have you always boarded them?

You might have some interest if you take on a couple of retired horses ,maybe.

With just 6 acres 5 horses would leave you with no grass most of the time and I don’t consider electric to be proper, safe perimeter fencing.