I just moved to my first horse property after having boarded my horses all my life. I will be out of town visiting family over Christmas and am starting to think about finding a farm sitter. I’m new to the area and don’t know many people, so first off— any advice on finding a good sitter? Second— what should I include on my list other than the obvious (feeding, mucking, refilling water)? Would anyone be willing to comment with the list they give their farm sitters? This has probably been the biggest stressor for me so far in moving to our property!
Ask your vet if he/she has any staff member who lives near you who would do the job --second source is feed store, farrier --these people know who has horses and a good reputation. Most have seen the inside of the potential sitter’s barn. I get my farm sitters from the 4-H saddle club, but then I was a leader there for many years and know the families and who has kids old enough to feed for me.
PAY WELL —Find out what the “going rate” is and pay more than that --the pet sitters will find you!
Second, let your vet know (by letter) that you are going to be gone and “Mrs. Smith” may call with an emergency --you are going to pay the bill if that happens. My directions tell the horse sitter to call the vet before he/she calls me —I can’t do anything and the time is just wasted --so just call the vet. The vet can call me after he/she evaluates the situation.
Pay the horse sitter to come over and do chores with you once or twice --with teenagers, I usually do twice --I do it once while they read me the directions off the sheet. The second time they do it while I watch and see if there is any confusion.
Label your horses (names on halters) and/or leave pictures on the feeding instructions. I have two unmarked bays. Try telling them apart unless you know them well! Both have different brands, but could be covered with mud. Label your stalls (3x5 cards, markers). Unless it is a week or longer, I prebag my feed --label it AM and PM with horse’s name. That way no one has to deal with supplements.
Be clear in your expectations —if it is ok with you if the person brings a “friend to help,” say so. If you want no one on the place but the horse sitter --say so —“for liability reasons,” of course.
As to mucking --be reasonable —no one is going to clean a stall as well as you do.
Finally, if you have a neighbor who is horse knowledgeable, ask that neighbor if the horse sitter can call them in an emergency. There are 3 of us in the neighborhood who do this for each other --we won’t feed for each other (ok, we will in an emergency) but if there’s a loose horse and the sitter can’t catch it, we’ll go help.
1 Like
If you want someone for over the holidays you better find them soon. My guess is that most of the sitters are already booked.
To find someone ask your vet, farrier, feed store, etc if they know someone.
Are there any horse related Facebook groups for your area? That is always a good place to find something like this.
Instructions should be clear, including all the details someone who does not know your set up will need. The other side of that coin is, if they are too long it is not as likely they will be read all the way.
If any of your horses need what might be considered unique care, make sure that is noted and discussed. For example, if Dobbin tends to drink most of his water over night so make sure his bucket is totally full at night check, say that. Or if Dobbin does not typically drink anything in his stall over night, he prefers the trough in the turn out, tell them that so there is no panic when Dobbin does not touch his water.
Make the care routine as uncomplicated as possible.
Make sure you vet knows you are out of town and that this person has permission to call them for service and you will pay the bill.
I break it down:
House info (including address), phone numbers, itinerary. Vet contacts (small, large, emergency.) Neighbor contact.
House animal info. Description of animals, including age. Any quirks or specifics. AM routine/PM routine. Where to find inside animal food.
Outside animal info. Description of animals, including age. Any quirks or specifics. Barn layout diagram. AM routine/PM routine.
House info. WiFi password, weird light switches. How the TV works. Quirky stuff like the toilet that runs.
It’s about 8 pages long. Which I apologize for :lol:
But then I also have a hay board in the hay room with specifics on hay feeding, and a grain board in the grain room with specifics on feeding grain. Buckets are color coded to horses and grain board. Stalls have nameplates. Halters have nameplates.
And we do a walk through to review routines, meet animals, etc etc.
Don’t assume anything. Spell it all out, in a couple different ways, because people pick things up in different ways. Be DETAILED.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹
2 Likes
I owned my own farm sitting business for 11 years, left for a few and am now doing it again. This post is for mostly geared for finding an adult residential farm sitter. For once or twice a day outside visits only, teenagers are fine. For residential stays I would go with either older teens or adults. Here are some thoughts:
Finding a farm/horse/pet sitter: Call your vet office/farrier/chiropractor/local boarding barns/horse owning neighbors or show colleagues and ask at the feed store for names of good caretakers. Someone who works regularly at a good boarding barn may work out just fine. If you want them to be insured and bonded, ask about it. Have the person come over to meet with you, take them out to the barn so they can see your horses and go over the feeding/watering/turnout/blanketing routine and mucking with them there. Then back to the house for the followup concerning that.
Make clear the length of your absence, including dates and times of departure and return, and where you are going.
Make your list of farm chores clear. If this is a simple HWG situation, fine. If more needs to be done, spell it out including if you want the barn swept out each and every day, etc . Meds, hay nets, water (warm?), grain(s) and how much, feeding and turnout times, blanketing etc. A computerized or handwritten sheet they can take out to the barn with them as a guide is priceless. Place your cell phone number and your horse vet’s telephone number and name of practice along with any other horse emergency number on the sheet. That way it is already out there with the sitter if a problem comes up, saving valuable time.
The home: Clarify with them if they are bringing their own food or if they are welcome to eat yours. Some homeowners leave a $50 gift card to the local supermarket so the sitter can buy food as part of the plan, some don’t . Your choice. If the sitter is taking care of pets (cats, dogs, etc) allow her to meet them, go over those arrangements there, and leave a sheet for their care with your cell # and small animal vet # and name of practice on it, as well. Ask your sitter to bring in the mail each day and water any plants, and tell her to leave on the porch light if you are returning at night. Also show the location of the vacuum cleaner so she can get the sand up off the floors, and show her the location of the washing machine if this is a long stay and she is expected to run the sheets and towels she has used through the laundry. If you have a newer machine, go over the operating instructions with her if necessary. Cover the heat temperature you would like to keep the house at if it is not automatically set. If you are allowing the sitter to use your wifi password provide it. Clarify if you are allowing the person to use pay per view movie access or just stick to the channels you are already paying for. You don’t want any surprises when you get home. This can all be done in the care sheet(s) you leave for them in the house.
It sounds like this is more work than it should be, but if you are thorough and plan ahead, you will limit nasty surprises when you return.
Good luck!
Great advice here already :encouragement:
I post a list of ph#s in my barn:
Vet
Shoer
Hayguy
Farmsitter (in case neighbors notice anything NQR)
My cell#
I also call my vet to tell office who is authorized to call in an emergency.
With my vet of 20+yrs, he would bill if needed.
He retired his equine practice last Fall.
For my new vet, I’d expect to leave credit card info.
First and foremost - start looking/find a farm sitter NOW. Holidays book up their time fast and early.
Yes, vet and farrier are good resources to find a good farm sitter.
There is no such thing as too much information. For the below, I both email or Facebook message the PDF to the sitter (whichever they prefer) and I have a hard-copy in the barn for them.
For the horses, I provide a PDF that starts with my phone, my boyfriend’s phone, vet and farrier names and phones.
Then I have a table with each horse’s name, physical description, owner name and phone number, and their AM and PM feeds, and special instructions when applicable. I also provide the AM and PM feeds and special instructions on a white-board in the barn.
Under that I write out my typical schedule/order of duties performed as a numbered list, provide other instructions (park here, close all gates, etc.)
Then I have a Paint-drawn photo diagram of the farm layout, stating which horses go in which field. My fields are labeled (A, B, C, etc.). My white board in the barn also has this info.
Then I have a Paint-drawn photo diagram of the barn, stalls, and location of light switches and water shut-off valves.
I don’t have animals in the house currently. When I did, we would have someone stay at our house. We’d provide them food/snacks per their request, the WiFi password, Netflix/HBO password, and a list of instructions/information for the dogs.
Please, please, do the farm sitter a favor and simplify your daily routine. If not for yourself on a regular basis, at least come up with a simpler way for them to do things for while they’re taking care of your farm. Put them in close fields for the week, don’t make the sitter walk to the opposite end of the property. If a horse has 15 supplements, pre-bag them. Also, make sure to provide detailed descriptions of them. I once fed for someone who had two bay mares turned out together, and the description written down for each was “Bay Mare.” Gee. Thanks. Helpful. I always provide age, sex, height, color, and markings if there’s two same-colored horses together.
I think we need an FAQ on this topic, and also a companion document about How to Farm Sit. Lots of good advice here and more in other past threads!
What does the acronym HWG stand for?
Just be sure to have an overview, which should easily fit on one page, and then the detailed supplement in case they have questions. If it’s really long it might be a good idea to include a table of contents or index. 
I would also look at maybe boarding them for the time you are gone? With it being over Christmas and you being new to the area it might make things less stressful for all. Probably won’t be any more expensive. Does your previous boarding barn offer this ( or a reliable one near you) ?
Can’t stress this enough.
I had someone feed for me once who didn’t realize that “Smartpak” meant the entire strip of four wells with feed in AM. They were opening one well each morning. SMH.
Oh, one other thing: if you want to be contacted for questions BE CLEAR IN THAT. Say it a few times. Write it down.
Apparently some people go away and don’t want to be bothered? I don’t get it either.
A few misses that stand out:
Pretty sure one left the dog outside. I didn’t explicitly say she was an indoor dog. Now I make that clear.
Heard about some blanketing questions from a mutual friend, rather than the sitter. No harm, but made it clear that I am ALWAYS available for questions. Please, bother me.
One fed the wrong hay, despite detailed, clear written instructions and discussing on the walk through. Don’t think she was a big reader. Added a hay board in the hay room, instead of having that info on the grain board, in a separate space.
Stalls not cleaned is kind of a consistent thing. I use pellets, some barns don’t remove pee for pellets? Make sure to discuss. Sometimes it’s still an issue. (I don’t expect stalls to be perfect by any means, but come on, take the pee out.)
Pretty sure one didn’t stay over despite paying for overnights. Arlo cams on the exterior of the house provide immediate info now.
Something else I include in my write up is my usual routine. I don’t care if it’s done in that order, but figure it can be helpful to see how I piece it together. I also include rough info on how long it takes in the morning and evening.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹
I also prefer to trial sitters before we go a long way away for multiple days. A close by overnight is helpful for finding holes in understanding or deciding it’s not a good fit.
When I have sitters back for repeat stays, all adjustments to the printed doc are a different color, and big changes are called out in the hand written note that’s left. That way they don’t have to read through the whole thing to find out the dog is getting less food or whatever.
And I take requests on food and drink, and stock the fridge. I don’t expect anyone to vacuum or do laundry, that must be unique to Chief?
Type your documents on your computer so that you can easily
- organize the info
- correct the info
- add to the info in the appropriate location
- and print it out for each subsequent absence requiring a siitter.
Include a page of general home/farm stuff:
Where is the water shut off? Where is the electrical shut off? Do you have a water softener that might need refilling? What’s the trick to using the TV? etc.
More info is better than less, but make it findable. Have the animal care routine and feeding instructions together, but include feed info on a separate page with each animal’s info. Yes, that is repeating information, but makes it easy to find.
As a sitter I need to know if things like “didn’t finish feed” is call the vet or normal (provided no other red flags). I own one of each myself. 
I need to know the things your vet is supposed to know - like horse A must not have X drug, or horse B must be twitched for any needles. Write it down.
I need to know where the blankets are (even if you rarely use them I will need them if there is a sudden cold rain/wind that makes your horses shiver), where your spare halters, leads, buckets, etc are. Write it down.
Where do you keep your tools like hammer, pliers, wrench and supplies like nails, wire, insulators, snaps, duct tape, etc. Write it down.
If your broom is worn out or your muck fork is missing tines replace them before you go. If the wheelbarrow has a flat tire, fix it before you go. If that gate post is wobbly and mostly rotted through at ground level it will probably fail completely while you’re gone - fix it or solidly patch it or designate that field as to be kept empty while you’re gone. Generalize what else is likely to break soon and deal with it.
DON’T toss out all the old baler twine before you go - that will guarantee I’ll need some.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹Where are your first aid supplies? Write it down.
Where are the tractor keys? Or contact info for someone who will come if a tractor is needed.
Full contact information for your vet (name, phone, clinic address).
If you have a company who does your HVAC maintenance leave their contact info.
Do you have a house cleaner who will be coming while you’re gone? Leave date, time and contact info.
Don’t tell me how you usually do things if you want me to do it differently. But if you let your horses run in loose at feeding time and you want me to lead them in individually you need to establish that routine with your horses (and work out the order) for at least a week before you leave.
The worst thing as a sitter is needing a piece of information and not having it written down because you figured X wouldn’t happen. A close second is needing a tool that either can’t be found or is broken.
1 Like
@Simkie I will vacuum to keep the dog dirt under control, but I usually just strip the bed and leave sheets and towels in the laundry room (to go in with the vacation laundry) before I leave the last day.
One thing no one mentioned is a petty cash envelope. Leave $20-40 in case I need to get something - the note should tell me to leave the receipt in the envelope. It’s not come up often, but I have had to go pick something up.
You’ve gotten some great responses!
I have house and barn sit for many - usually no charge because we work it out in trade. I barnsit for my current barn. Yes, look NOW!
Finding a good sitter: You can contact your vet but I’d also contact other barn owners and ask them who they use or would recommend.
What to include on your list: If possible, have them come to your farm and show them stuff in person/have them come at feed time. Show them how YOU approach your horses, where the feed is, etc. A good farm sitter will want to visit first. Explain how you feed your horses in detail: who do you feed first? Who do you expect to be pushy and needs to back off before you dump feed? Who needs to be fed separately? How much hay do you feed? What do YOU consider two flakes to be? Leave a list of who gets fed what. OR, you can pre-baggy your food with a name and AM or PM on it.
On your list, have your farriers number, your vet’s number, and your numbers. Are they watching cats and dogs, too? Put that information and maybe a little bit about their personalities. For example: Shingy has to be fed outside because she’ll steal everyone else’s food -she can come in when the other dogs are finished. Do you expect the housesitter to stay at your farm? Again, tell the person all of this when the person comes out ahead of time.
I’d stock up a little with food and drink, but I don’t expect the owners to feed me for all of the days. I have a “leave no trace” motto - I don’t want people (esp friends) to come home to a mess. I make sure the laundry is done, the place is reasonably clean, the dishes are in the dishwasher and the dishwasher has run.
Text them while you’re gone: How are things going? This gives them an opportunity to say “Is Dixie always such a slow eater?” or “Barbie isn’t very interested in her food” and you can respond that these behaviors are in the normal range for that horse. Or “Barbie always eats her food-something must be wrong” and go from there. I often text pictures and will send a detailed update every few days. Owners like to hear this and reassures them that you are paying attention to detail.
Most importantly, lay your expectations out. My barn owners recently had another boarder watch the barn and thought she’d stay the night, but she didn’t. They came home to the smell of dog pee because the poor dogs couldn’t hold it for 12 hours. Don’t make assumptions, lay it all out.
I would also leave cash for emergencies and ask for receipts.
I really think you’ll get a feel for the person when you meet them. If anything, make it really clear that they can call, text or email you with questions. Really, make it clear that they can contact you if they have any questions.
Good luck!
1 Like
People have been very forthcoming here, so I’ll just add one more thing:
-----> Don’t just tell the person things; be sure to ask them about themselves and their methods too.
I once hired a sitter who, unbeknownst to me, was an avid Parelli devotee who just loved to practice her magical methods on her clients’ horses. My guys were no different, so, in the six days she was here, she decided to “desensitize” my sweet old QH, who, according to her own mad system, had “issues with his ears.”
Needless to say, this poor guy had no “issues” whatsoever before this crackpot arrived, but somehow ended up with a case of head shyness it took a good month to train out again.
She also let a couple of houseplants die and tried to sell me a lame, pregnant mini, but that’s a whole 'nother story.
If you have house plants that will need water while you’re gone move them all into one area so none get missed.
Make sure to list things that you might not care too much about, but your animals might, such as which order you feed them in. To you it’s just a habit, but to your horses or dogs, doing it in a different order may be distressing. I recently horse-sat and when the owner checked in the second day, I asked her what order she normally fed them in, because they were clearly telling me I was doing it wrong.
I know it’s tempting to leave a long narrative, but try to keep it in bullet form or quick instructions, at least on an overview sheet that can be quickly consulted day to day. If you want to leave lots of details and the back story, do that on other pages. I would read them all the first day, but would appreciate a quick to-do list to refer back to on subsequent days.
Yes, keep the instructions very simple. Bullet form is great. Use larger fonts for anything to be posted in barn and read in dimmer light.
Simplify your feeding routine. Pre mix all grain in baggies each with horse’s name and date in it, like Fluffy Monday breakfast. Try just one grain feed a day. Feed just one kind of hay if you can.
Don’t rely on any spoken instructions without back up print.
Make sure once you have given an instruction you don’t change it dither or hem and haw.
It isn’t until you have tried feeding for your friend at your own barn with their Speshul little routine that’s almost like yours but totally different that you will understand how mind numbingly impossible it is to follow someone else’s incoherent instructions
I would seriously suggest making a check list with room to check off each item for each day. Especially if the person has morning and evening chores. Guaranteed in Christmas Eve/ Day they will forget if they did waters in the morning or not.
Honestly if you can give your horses a round bale or square bale in a huge nibble net, do that.
Also have your winter frozen water problems solved. And make that idiot proof. If the water needs to be turned on and off at the house to keep barn pipes from freezing or similar absolutely your sitter will leave it on one night and everytjjng will explode.
Lock up your valuables in the house and lock up your tack gear in barn or house. Just leave out what sitter needs. You may trust the sitter but there’s nothing to destroy trust like thinking they might have ridden your horse or stolen your ear rings, even if they didn’t.
