I would argue that in OP’s case you are entirely correct, but in my case - and the case of about 99% of the boarders at my old barn, we were low maintenance, reliable pay boarders, the newest of which had been there at least three years, and others seven to 30 years. In fact, many of us did maintenance on the place that the BOs neglected to do. Not quite the same thing, although in OP’s case and my old barn’s instance, they are, of course, entitled to do whatever they want.
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I would definitely recommend a shorter time frame than 90 days. When I closed my small boarding business at my house to board my horse at another farm (made the most sense with my job, plus I was sick and tired of slacking owners), I was only obligated by contract to give 30 days. I gave 45 because I felt badly and guess what, at 45 days, still no plans had been made for horse to move. I kept getting the “it’ll be soon” treatment and finally I had to say that my horse was moving in two days to a new barn and my boarding business is officially shut down. If your horse isn’t out by then, fine, but you’ll need to be responsible for his care in the meantime. And sorry, he won’t have any friends there with him. You’d never guess who magically found boarding that afternoon and the horse was picked up that day.
Slacking owners will drag their feet and wait for you to swoop in and do the work for them, in my experience. I’d give as much as your comfortable with, but at the end of the day, you need your life back, stat.
Good luck!
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This. My prediction is that once they are all gone you will be asking yourself why you didn’t close up the boarding business sooner. Best of luck for a smooth transition.
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You are right, boarding serves many that can’t keep horses at home, but should it do that at a cost to the one doing the boarding?
Boarding in many barns is rarely more than breaking even, if not a loss leader, rarely a profit center.
Professional trainers make their living training and teaching and putting on clinics and camps and taking students to shows, boarding a part of all those other services.
Merely boarding is way too costly, just owning and maintaining the premises is hard to pay for with boarders, much less all the work involved, to make a profit.
We can’t keep asking part of the horse industry to support the others, as this one boarder, the OP and so many others are doing.
If they really charge where they can make a profit, then many of those boarders that can’t have horses at home because all it takes in finances and work will also not be able to pay that much more.
Boarding alone is just not a good business model in itself, as the OP is finding out.
As part of a larger horse business, yes, boarding only just doesn’t tend to produce enough profit to make it worth it, why the OP is considering closing shop.
If enough boarding only barns finally close, maybe more of the larger training centers will open up and service those boarders that now are enjoying all the advantages of owning horses at a low cost.
Some here over decades have formed riding clubs where they can board horses and there are facilities and trainers and busy horse activities to enjoy if they want to participate, the cost kept low by the numbers and memberships.
Those seem to work well here.
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If you can inform them in the next few days I would stick to June 1st as your closing date. No extensions, no keeping stuff past that date. Keep it business-like and offer no explanation beyond “decided to not do boarding any more”. I would offer what help you can in terms of trailering or prorating board, but otherwise stay out of how and where they move. Actually I would limit my interactions with them.
As a boarder this makes me sad, but I understand your issues. It seems that unfortunately many small boarding stables don’t start out with clear rules or understanding of the time and money sucks. Then it becomes really difficult to change things. I suspect if you choose to have boarders in the future you will have a much better idea of how to structure things.
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Humans generally only get 30-60 days notice to vacate rental or leased housing or that the rent us going up substantially, no matter how timely they have been with the rent or how long they have been tenents, why would boarding horses dictate changes in that long established business practice?
Reading past the horse issues, very much sounds like the boarding business here is creating exhaustion, physical and mental stress plus marital problems and I should think staying healthy and keeping a good marriage healthy should be paramount in OPs thoughts, not what her boarders will need to do to get moved in 60 days.
Question for OP…of these 6 boarders, how many have been slow or no pay? Those will be there the day you close and are why you need that “drop dead” date and need to be willing to actually lock the gate. Generally we say no pay, no take horse off property but in shut down cases, sometimes it’s better to just let them go to be rid of them and the expense of the horse staying racking up more board charges.
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Yes I would say shorter rather than longer.
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Honestly, I think that 30 days is fair and 60 days is plenty of time. These are not your horses. You are under no obligation to sacrifice yourself for other people’s pets. There is also the concern that people will cause trouble / retaliate in the meantime in passive aggressive ways. Giving too much time could drag out a situation like this if it happens to crop up. Hopefully not, but I would ramp up your security just a bit–keep your supplies and tack locked up, etc.
I will say this, in my years of running a barn, I only very rarely allow people to work off board. it is entirely predictable that most people cannot (for whatever reason) do barn work to an acceptable standard.
My other advice: in the meantime, charge for any extra services you provide. Grooming, hoof picking, medicating, etc. Put a price on it. And if it is something that needs to be done like medicating, or cleaning/treating the feet of a horse with thrush, then the owner has to either do it themselves or pay you–there’s no option to just leave it undone. Definitely charge for blanketing/ extra blanket changes.
Also, when you give notice, list a significantly increased price that goes into effect after the end of the notice date. For example, let’s say you currently charge $500/mo., then after June 1st (or whatever day), board will increase to $25/day (or whatever).
I think you will be very happy to have your place to yourself.
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I would send out notice IMMEDIATELY with a June 1st closing date. Your boarders will get more than 60 days notice. You may get some people who drag their feet about moving, so you get a 30 day buffer to July 1. You’re going to have to be tough - I’ve been through barn changes and there are always people who are unhappy and try to guilt you into changing your mind.
When you get to May 1st, any boarder who has not given you a firm departure date - start messaging/emailing them once a week with a reminder about the barn closing date. May 20 - every 3-4 days for messages. It’s not in the middle of winter - there is less pressure on boarding space this time of year. And regardless of the guilt any of them put on you - just slap that armor on and remind yourself every day that this is your property and you did not force anyone to purchase their horse.
The relief you are going to feel when you have your barn back to yourself will be so worth the stress you are going to go through for the next 60-90 days.
ETA - make a price list for everything starting May 1 - farrier & vet hold charges, sheet changes, hoof cleaning, And make it worth your time. But you need to be prepared to ignore things that make you crazy - mud covered horses, untreated minor wounds. Also - make sure your farrier/vet knows they should bill clients for not arriving on time.
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This is a depressing post and I feel bad for the OP whose burnout sounds totally understandable. I’m horseless by choice but would love to trade basic barn work for saddle time…wish there were convenient ways to arrange that with absentee owners. Although, tbh, sometimes they’re absentee because they’re intimidated by/fearful of their own horses and don’t want to admit it.
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Personally, I would not make this complicated. Barn closes June 1. Period. All horses and equipment need to be out. I wouldnt add extra charges at this point as it seems like a needless hassle for a couple of months after providing these services previously with the board. I also wouldnt give a price for staying past June 1. To me, that just gives the boarders the idea that staying is an option.
Of course you could take the opposite track and simply announce that board is raised 200% as of June 1. If they choose to stay you could hire good barn help with the income! :winkgrin:
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That makes sense here, keeping this simple is best.
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I agree with an above poster who said this is a depressing post. I am a long-term boarder. I (for the most part) like boarding. I’ve met some of my best friends that way, and learned so much. All things that wouldn’t have happened had I chosen to have my own property and keep them at home.
That said tho, I do have my fair share of stories about boarders who suck the life out and ruin it for everyone else. And frankly, BO’s too.
I guess it’s time for those of us who quietly mind our own business, take care of our horses without question, are responsible, respectful of the BO’s property AND time/private life, to raise our hands and say “Hey! We are out here!” and we’re tired of being tarred and feathered with the same brush these other folks deserve.
OP, I am sorry this happened to you.
Others, perhaps in your part of the world boarding is easy to come by. Here in the PNW, it is not.
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30-60-90…again, it really depends on the area and circumstances. I was given 60 days notice, in early winter. I quickly investigated available options, found NOTHING in the immediate area that was suitable or affordable, wait listed myself for the best fit barns, and ended up moving to a very inconvenient barn, but one where I could trust the care, even though it meant seeing my horse less. That was a temporary fix. It took NINETY days before a good situation opened up and I immediately moved AGAIN to the more convenient barn. So moving on short notice isn’t always all that easy.
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That’s why it’s up to any boarder to have a plan B in mind and a bit of savings to cover moving expenses and/or board increases. Many, if not most, barn closings are not voluntary and you don’t get 60 days. I got zero a couple of times, barn was siezed by the courts or bank/lenders. One long time BO died. One was padlocked without notice and we had to prove we owned our horses and equipment to get them off the property ( ended up at the fairgrounds for a week). One place was seized by the ATF/DEA a week after I decided to exercise plan B and did the classic mid nite move…I was paid up and afraid of recently divorced BOs new boyfriend who was now managing the place. Week later place was raided and they were in prison by the end of the year. Fires, floods, tornadoes, snow caused roof collapses, zoning changes…whatever, you need to keep that in mind when boarding a horse. It’s a business that is not going to be there forever without at least many changes and board increases. A business that’s not responsible for what you do with your horse outside their business any more then a daycare provider deciding do shut down is responsible for child care after the closing date.
People have a right to close any business whether it’s convenient to clients or not, particularly if it’s affecting their health and family relationships. No need to guilt OP here for caring but needing to get out of boarders and their horses. It’s worse when it’s operated at the owners home, they can’t lock up and go home. It’s ever present when it’s in your backyard,
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It is depressing, but the OP here is working two jobs - an off farm job and the entire boarding business without hired help. The labor is boarders working off board, which can be a nearly impossible arrangement.
To the OP - I think 30 days is fine. I board one horse, and yes, I would scramble because I’m not just on a wait list just in case. There also aren’t a lot of options where I live. However, I could always move anywhere safe temporarily and realistically could easily visit the barns in a couple of weeks. I’d say get yourself out as it’s clearly too much. Get back to enjoying your own horses.
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There is an alternative: Bump the board $250/mo. and hire a hand to take care of the “heavy lifting.” This would not get you “out from under” but it would make what you’re under a LOT lighter.
If you just want “out” then just get out. If you’re just tired then this would be a way to reduce your work load.
G.
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This isn’t the OP’s problem though. Perhaps if her boarders had been more considerate, she wouldn’t be closing up for business.
Having a boarding business is hard. I remember I orginally started because half decent boarding with any type of facilities was so hard to find in my area. I kept it affordable and always went out of my way to help people with extras. It nearly cost me my marriage because people who were supposed to be friends, took advantage and I was constantly stressed and doing things mostly out of my own pocket. The relief of having my own horses to deal with and no one elses was incredible. No more late nights, no more phone calls at ridiculious hours and best of all, no more dealing with people who think they deserve the boarding without payment.
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Oh, I agree, not OP’s problem. Just saying, even for a good boarder, short notice can be really problematic. I’m sorry both OP and you had to deal with bad situations. I really can attest that almost everyone at my old barn was a good, low maintenance, steady pay boarder. The ones who were NOT were asked to leave in short order. We had several transient types that had bounced from barn to barn because they were not good boarders, but they were outta there pretty quickly. I had my gripes about where I was, but the convenience and reliability mitigated against complaints about the (minimal) arena lights and the fact that I (and other boarders) had to maintain the paddock(s) ourselves or they would have been a sea of mud in the winter.
