It works great if you have a trainer that you like, who takes good care of their horses, pays on time, respects the property, and makes sure their clients understand that you are the barn owner, and if they have issues it needs to go through them. It’s fun to have people to ride with and socialize with. On the flip side, if you have disagreements with the trainer about standard of care, what to do about Mr. Horse that has broken the fence 8 times in a month, and constantly has issues with the footing, paddocks too muddy when it’s rained for a week etc it can be really draining. Add in disagreements with your husband on how to handle that situation, and it can be a nightmare.
I own two semi-retired horses and while I don’t go out all the time to see them, I am so grateful for my barn owner who takes care of them. I’m a real fairweather owner at the moment because I’ve just moved and it’s over an hour one way to see my horses. Winter in Canada means it’s always cold and I can’t handle cold for longer than a few minutes. With the bad roads, I’m only able to visit a few times a month when the weather cooperates. I trust my barn owner to take care of my girls and she keeps me up to date on them. That said, they’re in a field with a shelter and a couple other seniors and get free choice hay. Their only real maintenance is checking blankets and giving Previcox to a couple of the more creaky ones. I COULD move my horses to a closer facility and spend more time with them, but I value the care they’re given where they are and I trust my barn owner 200%. I like to think I’m a good boarder - always paying my board on time, or early, and leaving the place cleaner than when I found it. Not everyone picks up manure after they’ve come and gone, so I drag the wheelbarrow around and clean up. The BO jokes that she knows I’ve been there because the dirt in front of my tack shed is always raked in a criss-cross pattern (thanks to my track days).
This thread has been very enlightening for me, because my fiance and I are actually in the process of purchasing land. I’ve been waffling between buying just enough for my horses or more to board a few… and the insights here have shown me that I really don’t want to board other horses. I would start to begrudge the work for others, especially if the bills weren’t getting paid, and I’ve never learned how to play nice with others. I’ll miss riding buddies, but that’s what a truck and trailer is for. 
Multiple people on this thread have commented about how having boarders might “give you someone to ride with” or create a social environment for you. Let me just tell you right here, that’s not how it works. Your boarders aren’t your friends. You may like your boarders and enjoy seeing them, and you might have periodic barn dinners or get togethers, but ultimately it is–and has to be–a business relationship.
Your clients need to be on footing where they can tell you if they aren’t happy with some aspect of your facility or care. You need to be on footing where you can comfortably enforce rules and charge people extra fees for extra services or damages. Looking for friendship from your clients is a poor business plan. Good clients know better than to try to be your best friend–they know that it is more appropriate to maintain some professional distance. Bad clients will try to be your best friend and then ask you for “favors” (free services) or fail to follow the rules or forget to pay on time. If you board for people who are your peers–people you ride and show with–it might be hard for them to respect your role as BO or BM.
I have some clients that have been with me over 5 or even 10 years, you bet we go out to dinner together and are pretty close in a lot of ways. So I would say that there are some exceptions to this rule. But, FWIW, none of my “riding buddies” board with me. I’d have a lot more time to socialize with them if I didn’t have a boarding barn! My equine social circle is in large part based outside my own facility. Interestingly, for many BOs, your best “niche” market may not be your own exact discipline. You may be an avid h/j rider, but not really be set up for (or want) to run (and live at) a busy h/j facility.
Another thing to consider is that when you own or manage a boarding barn, you don’t have time to socialize. Not only has your to-do list exploded, you can’t just “relax and enjoy” your barn time because of the responsibilities you now carry. When at the barn, your clients are enjoying their recreational time, but you are at work.
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What BeeHoney says, plus NEVER do self care. I have seen some of the most abysmal self-care situations; failure to get feed or hay, failure to fill water troughs, theft of other boarders’ stuff, blanketing without checking on the blankets for days. I have seen farrier appointments skipped, vet visit skipped, and a general lack of responsibility. i am not saying all self-care people are this irresponsible, but for the last 50 years I have seem far more bad self-care situations than positive ones. I won’t allow it on my farm. I WILL be sure horses are fed, have water,and get routine care. I will not stand to see a horse suffer because the owner can’t put the animal first.
And you have to LOVE farm work if you want a farm and boarders. Yesterday we had gale force winds, so today is devoted to chainsawing trees off fence lines, fence repair, and cleaning the portapotty that blew over. Assuming the portapotty stays upright for the near future, tomorrow will be chainsawing and fence repair. That will basically be all we do for the next few weeks. We would gladly hire someone, except everyone who is competent is doing this work for others thanks to the regional damage. But I need to get things in order and my boarders expect that I will take care of the farm. And FWIW, both Mr. IF and I have professional jobs. The people we work with are shocked at what we do on our farm, especially the manual labor. It is like we have 3 heads.
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A lot of home truths in this thread.
I’m a BO now but for many, many years I kept a few horses at home (smaller place with modest facilities, not the full-serve place I have now) and I have had training horses at various barns in different states.
While there are many aspects I enjoy of having this commercial stable, profit and fun with my own horses are not two of them. It’s a break-even business at best, and it’s hard to enjoy my own horses here because I’m ‘at work’ when I’m in the barn and, rightfully, boarders have business questions when they see me.
If I knew then what I know now… I’d love to be a boarder at my place but I would have made a better financial decision for my family to not buy the stable.
That may ultimately change when/if I sell, but the boarding economics that make stable ownership dicey for me will probably apply to a new owner unless they are very wealthy, or buy the place for the land… in which case my (almost completely) lovely boarders lose their barn home.
The economics of owning a boarding stable almost never make sense… but sometimes that reality is offset by intangible values that cannot be found in a business plan.
This is what I do. And only for people/horses I know.
Here is what we do - have our 5 horses at home with a nice outdoor arena and plenty of pasture to ride on. I have a young woman who came here with one horse as a college student and is still here 6 years later. It is really, really nice to have someone other than my husband and me who can take care of things on the farm. It makes going out of town feasible, which is really nice. She pays for her own hay, grain and bedding and cleans her stall every day. She also helps out in many other ways. We really like her and it is nice to have another horse person around to ride with. She has bought and sold a few horses as projects, and I’ve learned a great deal from her. I actually bought a young horse from her recently.
We have had some minor conflicts over the years, but nothing we couldn’t work out. You have to nip things in the bud or else your “happy place” is not so happy. Also, try to be clear about what your expectations are. Some things you won’t think of until they come up - as long as you deal with it and don’t let bad feelings fester, you should be able to maintain harmony.
We definitely do not do it for income. It is more of an enriching experience and it feels good to share our place with her.
If she were to move away we would try to find someone else to have a similar arrangement with, although after all of these years she has become a good friend and would be very hard to replace.
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