well, I’m NOT a psychologist, and I don’t even play one on TV. 
But If I followed the above suggestion, I"d say “That’s an option you might enjoy pursuing”. I’d take his deciding an ‘option’ for ME to do off the table.
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You have a vineyard. Do you do tours? Seeing the horses could be part of the tour, but no riding or treats. Otherwise, the horses are just pets. Maybe he would understand it better if you called them pets?
Both my hubby and I are self employed. My business is located 20 minutes away and his across the road. We have firm rules about his, it is done across the road. Period, no customers here, it is our home. SOME boarders have NO boundaries (especially inexperienced ones), they will come at all hours, expect you to be available at all hours, no matter the rules you post. My husband does Classic Car restoration, these guys are the same way. My only suggestion would be one or two Layup/ Rehab boarders if you have to have some income. The best thing a horse farm does to make money in my opinion is to create tax write off…
The adage " I wanted to make a small fortune in the horse business, so I started with a large one" comes to mind"
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while you want horses at home
and you have full time jobs
you appear to not be thinking this through
- safety is the most important basic with any and all horse barns and many of your statements are rather worrisome.
** start small … work the plan before adding boarders …
please be careful …
Good Luck
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He wants the horses to cover their costs, my husband is similar, so I know where you are coming from. However, boarders aren’tt he only way to produce money from horses, how about off setting costs with manure? You’ll have to do something with it anyway, and if it can go on the vineyard, you;ll save some money on not buying fertilizer, or ou can sell it to other farmers. In fact, let him market it!. That could be a way to have the barn defray costs, and still not have boarders. And it won’t cost much, since you don’t need insurance to move poo…
I like the “that’s an option” idea for a bit, until it seems he has forced the issue. I remember you already discussing (I believe it was you) already having the figure out how to build your barn and his barn combined so that you still have a shot at privacy from customers…
I work FT. I have a farm with mowing and gardens and chickens plus horses and wanting to ride. I literally don’t have enough time. Granted I live alone but my Dad is very helpful, he feeds about 30-40 percent of the time, will drag the arena and do tractor maintenance, today he drove 3 hours to pick up and bring back a horse I had out on lease because I’m on night shift - this means the 3 hours of daylight I was actually awake for was spent checking on the horse, moving jumps and dragging the arena, and riding a different horse before the sun went down. I have considered and rejecting boarding NUMEROUS times.
Neither my BF nor my Dad would disrespect me like your husband. Men can be clueless, yes. But a farmer as you say, if you and he share finances and he knows what you spend on horses, then he knows it doesn’t work like that. Somewhere, he knows.
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The one I would stop cold right now is the cousin. Since the pressure is coming from them, and not the husband’s offer. I can see the cousin thinking that they’ll dump some horse on you, and pay nothing.
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Well, you could certainly model all of this and then have a fact based conversation about it. Include all the variable costs (hay, feed, shavings, maintenance for arena, fencing etc) as well as a reasonable portion of the fixed costs for the property and facilities. If you are already working FT, I would also include the cost of LABOR - and then I would HIRE SOMEONE to do the work. Add in liability insurance. Then do a bit of research and identify the going rate for the services that this business will provide.
I imagine once all of that is factored in, there won’t be much - if any - profit to be made. But you will have done your diligence and run the numbers instead of having an emotional conversation on the subject.
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What are your husband’s hobbies? Golf, you say? Well, how much money does he bring in from tournaments?
Really, all you need to do is draft up a business plan complete with all the costs of running a boarding business. You have X number of stalls available (let’s say 2). If you’re offering full care, then you’ll need to buy grain, shavings, hay, etc. Upkeep on the stable and the arena. Extra parking areas. Insurance. Supplies (wire cutters, stall forks, hoses, lead ropes, etc.). Water bills. Budget X amount for repairs every year (fencing, water pipes, etc.). Did I say insurance? Don’t forget to include your hourly rate - 3 hours/day x $15/hour x 7 days, or whatever.
Then figure out how much you’ll have to charge boarders for those two spare stalls to cover all your expenses. Make sure your husband knows that collecting that money every month is his responsibility.
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…or just say “No, I am not willing to board horses.” and expect him to respect that. OP should not have an obligation to prove the economics to his satisfaction (how much you wanna bet that he’ll dispute the #s, or the value of her labor), when it should be enough to just say No. If the OP feels like she can’t just call the two people he’s invited to board and tell them sorry, it’s off the table, then I go back to my original concern that there’s a respect / power imbalance.
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Start telling random people they can rent your husband’s side of the bed.
That should shut him up.
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:lol::lol::lol: excellent
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There’s nothing wrong with having a conversation about it. Horses are expensive. Building a barn is expensive. Owning enough acreage to keep horses is expensive. It’s reasonable to discuss finances here.
It’s also reasonable for OP to explain to her husband that there are safety, liability and privacy issues with boarders, and that they would need additional insurance.
It’s also reasonable for OP to remind her husband that she works FT and the horses are her hobby. She doesn’t need them to make money. And she doesn’t have the time or desire to deal with other people’s horses.
It’s a relationship and a two way street. I don’t think anyone needs to attack OP’s husband.
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This right here - you can’t just turn your personal barn into a boarding facility without lots and lots of modifications. My neighbor and I both have horses. She has her personal one, and some boarders. I have mine for just us. The amount of work she needs to do, the maintenance, the fixing things, the poop! and at the end of the day, there’s no way she could keep it maintained the way she would like, because a boarder comes through and puts wear and tear on it. I have piece of mind knowing I’m the only one opening and closing gates, latching stall doors, etc. Having a ring is nice (I hope Santa brings me one!) but having boarders tearing it up would completely tick me off.
I am sorry but that attitude of " boarding doesn’t make money" which is rampant on here is ridiculous. Of course it does for many owners or boarding barns wouldn’t be around. The barn where I boarded for 13 years was very profitable for the BO/ BM ( same person). I think the problem is that many people aren’t able to run a business profitably ( as we see in many other businesses that come and go).
That being said I think the question is–Is boarding the right option for you? Given your work load off farm and the size of your barn/ property I would say no. Maybe try to convince your husband that the money you save on boarding costs by bringing them home will be savings enough. Much cheaper to keep them at home then board, even with buying hay.
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@ Goodtimes : " It’s a relationship and a two way street. I don’t think anyone needs to attack OP’s husband." yeah, I didn’t see any of the return comments like that at all. The entire original post is : my husband says: and then outlines his ideas of how SHE can work to make money from having the barn/horses at home. I think had the entire post been : I’m interested in ideas to make money with my new barn, it would have been a COMPLETELY different thread discussion. Only ONE person slanted it towards her hubby! The original poster.
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Boarding can be profitable, but are the prospective boarders in this case willing to pay what it takes for all of the work to get done, and for OP to make a profit? No way.
Boarding can be profitable if you’re able to offer something that warrants a beefy monthly rate and/or some decent training fees - a resident BNT, a comprehensive lesson program, a roomy indoor, extra services for busy boarders, clinics - whatever.
A couple of stalls, however nice, on an ordinary amateur’s property are unlikely to make anybody rich.
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… especially considering his invites were extended to horse newbies who will not know the difference between a good BO or a bad one, or how much work is really involved. To them, it’ll just seem expensive.
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My husband makes offers like that. For him though, it is more a bit of a brag about the fact we have a barn/horses. Sometimes his friends/coworkers take him up on the offer to bring their kids to come meet our pony, but it doesn’t go beyond that. (we do board, but I am picky as to who we board for/teach).
Perhaps ask him if he is serious, and ask if he is going to modify the barn plan to cater to boarders, with things such as a washroom, lockers, parking spaces and such. It might just be talk.
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