What do you look for in a boarding barn?
Knowledgeable & honest caretakers, A LOT of turnout (24/7 with access to stall, or at least all day or all night turnout depending on season), plenty of good quality hay (ideally free choice hay), ability to have my horses on the feed of my choice, at least 3 grain feedings a day (ideally 4), good footing, ideally 12x12 or larger stalls (because my horses are big) and I LOVE dutch doors or the ability for my horses to hang their heads out of their stalls. I HATE dark stalls.
I was very thankful for the last barn I kept my horses at for 2 years before moving them home; they did offer all of the above.
What do you absolutely have to have in a boarding situation, regardless of the price of board?
See above.
What are worthwhile “extras” (for example, a grooming/wash stall, heated tack room, blanket changes/dewormers/vet or farrier holding included in board, massage/alternative therapies, etc)?
Hot/Cold wash stall, blanket changes if needed. I am always present for farrier/vet/etc. so don’t need someone else to handle these services. However, certainly would be nice in case of an emergency when care needs to be administered immediately.
How do you feel about barn hours, if reasonably set?
Back when I boarded my horses, I liked seeing hours from around
6:00am-ish to around 10:00pm-ish and was very careful to mind the hours. I could deal with 9:00pm closings, but much preferred 10:00pm. I absolutely could not board at barns with very limited hours. Of course I would expect full access in case of emergency or shows.
Is the physical appearance of the barn important to you? I’m not talking about safety or cleanliness, but just the “niceness” factor of the barn. (And be honest! I sure think it is, but everyone’s opinion differs.)
Short answer: Good care/feeding/turnout trumps the “niceness” factor any day. Long answer is below the next question.
What would you want/expect out of barn that charges 400 for full care board? 500? 600? 700+?
Here is my experience with 2 barns at either end of the price range you gave, and this also expands on the “niceness” factor: A beautiful barn is beautiful, however, the CARE, feeding, and turnout are of the utmost importance and will make me happily accept a run down, plain barn. I’ve boarded my horses at very fancy, gorgeous, huge show barns, and I’ve also boarded my horses at farms where the barn was a 100 years old and was nothing pretty to look at. What set them apart?? The fancy huge show barn fed very limited hay (of inconsistent quality) and had extremely limited turnout. The 100 year old run down barn had unlimited (high quality) hay, 12 to 24 hour turnout (whichever you preferred) , and excellent care by an attentive and knowledgeable manager. My horses looked amazing while living at the 100 year old run down barn and were very relaxed and happy. They were agitated and needed weight supplements at the fancy, gorgeous show barn. So based on my experience, I could care less what the barn looks like because It’s ALL about the quality of the care. The fancy, gorgeous show barn was almost 700 per month, per horse, and in addition to that, they would nickel and dime you for anything they could think of. The 100 year old run down barn with excellent care was 450 per month, per horse (no nickel and diming).
The beautiful show barn had an endlessly changing stream of feeders (working students & lesson students) who would make mistakes when feeding fairly regularly and often did not check for moldy hay or levels in water buckets. The 100 year old run down barn had the SAME person feeding nearly all feedings for the 2 years my horses were there. She made sure that anyone who fed in her absence know exactly what they were doing. In my mind, the board fee charged by these 2 particular barns should be reversed.
What do you pay for board currently, and what services are provided to you?
The above answer probably answers that question.
I am very thankful that I am now able to keep my horses at home.
On the flip side of the above question, what services would you LIKE that aren’t provided?
When I was boarding, the service I would have liked at the beautiful show barn would have been more consistent feeders, more turnout, higher quantity & quality of hay fed, and for the staff to have been valued more by the barn so that they stuck around longer! I like having staff care for my horses who have been around long enough to get to know my horses quirks, so that they are better able to determine asap if something is not quite right. At the 100 year old run down barn, it would have been nice to have amenities like a bathroom or a hot water wash stall, but honestly I was fine with not having those things because my horses were so happy and looked fantastic, and I felt confident that if anything was wrong with them, it would be noticed right away.
How much control over your horse’s diet, turnout, etc are you willing to hand over to the BO (reasonably speaking, here)?
Well… not a lot. That is why they are at home now! That being said, I had a lot of trust in the manager who ran the last barn I boarded at (the 100 year old place) and she & I had like-minded philosophies as far as turnout/feeding. She made good decisions on my horses care, so I was comfortable with her having a fair amount of control over feeding and care, but she was very good about communicating & discussing changes with me. I think problems quickly arise when there is a large staff and information and care protocols do not stay consistent as they go down the chain of command.
How do you feel about other sorts of animals being housed on the property separate from the equines? Chickens, goats, beef cattle, etc…
I do not care if they are housed on the property at all, as long as they are being well cared for.
Anything else anyone can think of would be so much appreciated! I have always felt that the horse’s happiness and health is the single, most important thing in a boarding situation, but sadly that has rarely been what I’ve found as a boarder…anyway, have at it!
In my experience, it seems like many beautiful, fancy barns start out with the right intentions, but then they get so focused on their training, lessons, competitions, sales, (whatever), that the focus of the barn becomes how to make more profit in all of these different areas, and how to manage & create an image for all of these areas, or whatever it is they are promoting. The barns who remain true to focusing on the care, feeding, turnout, and happiness of the horses (and make a profit while providing good care) are very valuable to me.
