Should I charge extra to feed/administer Regumate?

[NobleNova]

So I have a small scale, outdoor boarding stable with an indoor arena (it’s a nice barn, but I keep things low-key). I have everything set-up to be low maintenance (round bales, auto-waterers) b/c I work and want to spend my time out in the barn actually riding and enjoying my horses. Plus I think it’s healthier for horses to be turned out with friends and have 24/7 hay. (That’s a whole other forum topic. )

But anyways, my question is: Should I charge extra to give a boarder’s horse Regumate? Since it’s going to be a hassle for me, should I give her a discount to switch to 12 day injections? I’m thinking I could get another hassle-free horse for the same money (but I’d rather not b/c I like the owner lol), so my thought is naturally I would charge her more for the potential risk & hassle. Has anyone else done this? If so, how much have you charged or how much should I charge?

I’m leaning towards telling her it’s going to be $30-40 extra/month or she can switch to the injections and obviously, I’d waive the fee. The cost difference between the daily and the injections is only $40/month, so essentially, I’m saying she’s going to pay the same price either way, might as well switch to injections. I don’t want to nickel & dime, but for the reasons below I also don’t want to deal with a contaminated barn.

My concerns are:
A) It will be a hassle to give orally or to mix in feed b/c I will have to wear gloves and I use cashel feed bags, so there is a potential for the Regumate to leak out and contaminate other horses, feed bags, or me/my help. (There’s been reports of people simply touching things the regumate has touched and being affected) If I feed it in a pan, there’s the potential for the other horses to get into it. If I bring her into a stall to feed, that defeats the purpose of me doing feed bags to keep things hassle-free in the first place. And I have limited stalls, so again it could contaminate the stall feeder for other horses.

B) I have broodmares and it could potentially mess with their cycles if they come into contact with it, hence why I’m worried about contamination. Also my own cycle could be messed with, and I’m sensitive to progesterone already.

C) It would create extra work for me to be hyper vigilant about either not contaminating the barn or having to clean the barn if contaminated.

[Garythesquirrel]

You need to double glove and wear long sleeves and goggles when you administer Regumate.

Years ago I had a horse on Regumate, it was a hassle and a concern (horse was eventually switched to the Norplant implant pellets. I have no idea if those are even a thing for horses now).

If I were in your situation I would refuse given the risk to both you and the other horses.

[wsmoak]

Absolutely you should charge more for anything that is above and beyond your standard board offering.

This mare may not be a good fit for your barn however. (The feed supplement is problematic if the mare doesn’t have a designated stall to limit contamination, plus the risk to yourself and your broodmares if anything goes wrong. Is it normal for a barn owner to be giving injections? Aren’t you taking on MORE risk in that case, since there are sharps and there could even be an infection if you make a mistake?)

[appendix100]

I don’t like dealing w/ regumate. Why is she giving it? Is there a real medical reason or just because it will be more convenient for her to show a mare that isn’t cycling.

Personally I would tell her if she wants the horse on regumate, she needs to administer, & needs to take all materials off your property (gloves, syringes, the med itself etc). Since regumate can be absorbed through the skin, it is accidental dosing of people at your barn is possible.

[LilRanger]

If you don’t want to do the Regumate, charge her MORE than her cost for injections. Otherwise if its the same to her, she may pick you, then you’re stuck with it. If you’re stuck with it, you need to charge enough to cover not just the cost of gloves, goggles, disposal and all that, but costs to your broodies reacting and barn, possibly new feeding bags/systems, etc.

Let the right thing (injections) be easy and the wrong thing (you doing it) be hard!

[joiedevie99]

Yes. I expect full care training/boarding operations to deal with whatever the horse needs. But at most ordinary boarding barns, I would expect to pay extra for daily medication that can’t just get tossed in the grain.

I suggest you charge enough that you won’t hate having to do it every day. If that’s an unreasonable amount, just level with the owner and perhaps she’ll be happy to talk to her vet about alternatives.

[TMares]

Charge 100/ month (3 dollars a day) to give regumate daily OR charge 20/month to keep up with and give a shot every 12 days. I hate handling that mess.

[Zu_Zu]

Honestly this sounds like it is causing an inconvenience that you’d rather not have at all.
Please think about this in terms of maintaining your happy barn life - it’s not your responsibility until you accept the assignment. I would not take this assignment on at this point in my barn life at my private barn for extra $ nor for a delivered Starbucks every morning. Seriously - enjoy YOUR BARN !

Sorry if I sound like a bitch … I would not ^ do it !

[mmeqcenter]

I wouldn’t do it, myself, not even if she were willing to pay $200/month for the additional service.

If it’s absolutely necessary, I’d require that she use injections, and I’d require that she administer them herself. When I was a boarder, this is what I would have done if my mare had needed it, I wouldn’t have even asked a BO to administer such a harmful substance daily.

[Simkie]

@mmeqcenter

I wouldn’t have even asked a BO to administer such a harmful substance daily

This is my vote, too. I’d just never ask this of a barn owner when I boarded. If every other option had been exhausted, and I was absolutely unable to dose it myself, I’d expect to pay a whole lot more than $40/month to cover the risk.

[Gardenhorse]

Although I have been at several boarding barns that regularly administered Regumate to boarded horses, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that it’s something you are not willing to offer or that you will charge more for.

[leheath]

Having had a horse that absolutely needed Regumate for a medical condition, I see both sides. My boarding barn had no problem administering it, but I made it very easy and the set up was completed different so the risk was much lower. I added the regumate to her pre-mixed feed in plastic containers. The barn staff just dumped the food into her pan in her stall. They knew not to touch the inside of the plastic containers or her feed pan. No one had any issues and I didn’t pay extra because it was no more onerous than feeding her grain without regumate.

That said, your set up is really not conducive to this administration method and the risk is much higher to you and the other horses. I’m not sure charging extra can really compensate you for those risks, so I think it would be reasonable to require the boarder to switch to the injections (administered by you or her) or move her horse to a different facility that can more easily accommodate her horse’s needs.

[TheJenners]

I was told by a vet that you practically have to bathe in it. Sure there is risk but I don’t know that it is as bad as some people say, I think it has grown with time. Feel free to tell me I’m wrong

[No1]

You are not wrong. I am unconcerned about giving Regumate, and have never had any issues. I know many people who give it without any kind of gloves, never mind double gloved. I’m not sure how that works with the OP, though, as she says she’s very sensitive to progesterone.

Regumate will also not negatively effect in foal mares. It is often given to them when progesterone is low.

That said, OP, it doesn’t sound like you are really set up to do it. The feed bag would probably absorb or leak most of the Regumate, making it ineffective. If you won’t dose the mare directly (super easy to do in most cases), it just plain won’t give the desired effect to give this horse Regumate. I’d tell the owner to try the altrenogest shot.

The ‘depo’ (actually progesterone) shot that has been widely used in the past has become pretty controversial. There have been several instances of horses dropping dead from it. I’ve actually known one to do that myself. It’s also been disallowed for USEF.

[Weezer]

I also run a very low key boarding operation. I selected my boarders carefully for low maintenance horses and owners. I think if they asked for care that was a daily PITA I would try to find a gentle way to explain that there is no room in my daily routine. It doesn’t matter how much they’d pay because it won’t magically buy more time in a day. There are already a few chores that make me grumpy, taking on more risks pushing this lifestyle from passion to burden.

[NobleNova]

I would not give the injections, the owner or her vet would. But that way the horse is getting what she needs without contaminating my barn. I do not give injections to any horses other than my own for exactly that reason.

[NobleNova]

I don’t know the whole story, but I believe the horses has enlarged or painful ovaries. She doesn’t show. The vet said her options were to suppress estrus, breed her, or spay her. I honestly think spaying would be the most effective and affordable option long term, but it’s the owner’s decision.

That’s also what I was thinking of doing. And that way she may switch to injections anyway, just b/c of the inconvenience the daily dosing would be on her.

[NobleNova]

Good idea!

[NobleNova]

You don’t sound like a B at all! This is honestly exactly what my husband said! lol

[NobleNova]

I could see that… But I’m incredibly sensitive to progesterone to the point where I have to be on a low dose BC pill or my Dr is even thinking of switching me to estrogen only after this trial period of BC is up.