Yep. The delivery alone isn’t an insignificant price. I guess I could buy my own dump trailer so another chunk of change plus my time to go pickup.
Not worth it
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And you have to then have somewhere to park said dump trailer. Which for some people (like me) would be a challenge too.
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I agree…I never thought I would hit this point, but i have to be realistic. Property prices have gone sky high in this area. As everyone knows, everything for horses has gone up and will continue to do so. I make well into six figures. I live every frugally. No vacations/smoking/drinking/excessive shopping. My only vices are old broken down horses and feral cats! I could stop eating, I suppose, but that wouldn’t be a good solution for me, the cats or the horses.
I’ve had to cut back on my cat rescue as well for the same reasons. It breaks my heart, but I’ve had to start saying no.
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I’m new to the pellet game but they seem to be working out well for me. Like sawdust in a more convenient package.
I’ve been using the local TSC brand but may try the brand that the feed store carries, just for science.
Right. Plus build another driveway to the shavings storage area.
Don’t have time, money or space for all that!
Fwiw, I hate TSC pellets with firey passion. 
There’s one brand in a red bag out of Canada that’s worse, but otherwise every other brands is better, imo.
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Dang lemme go get some of these other pellets ASAP then! Lol
Well the TSC pellets are still cheaper and easier than shavings so there is that
Laugh, and this is where personal opinion comes in.
I prefer the TSC pellet bedding over any of the other brands I have tried. (I don’t know about red bag out of Canada though.)
So trying all that is available near you is the best option…find what you like best.
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Me too; the other brand I have tried was something like Borealis? I hated that they didn’t fluff as fast and I hated the 30lb bag for my stall size and for just the hassle of opening multiple bags.
Boreal?! Totally agree, those little bags were SUCH a PITA. I had one pallet where the bags were like tissue paper, too–look at them wrong, and you had pellets everywhere. Wasn’t sad when the feed store stopped carrying those!
My feed store has the Nature’s Grain brand of pellets. They are … okay. Not great.
Really what I would like to try is chopped straw, but I can’t find anyone close enough to deliver. But those promises of faster composting lure me in!
I guess it all depends then, on how much space you have for composting (not an issue for us) and I guess your tolerance for dust - I freaking HATE pellets. They are great I suppose for horses that are stall trashers, but for those who don’t and the bedding lasts and lasts…it becomes a nightmare. Not to mention no horse I’ve ever had would lay down in them. No matter how fluffy and thick I made them.
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Pellets gave my horse a persistent cough that cleared up when I took her bedding away. The next winter I switched to shavings and she has been fine.
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See that is the thing. It might depend on how many horses are boarded there but the business shouldn’t be paying for 100% of the mortgage & taxes associated with the facility if the owner lives there too and is drawing a salary.
Not saying that is the case here but it might be why so many barns are cutting back on things they should be doing right.
Same here.
Where I live, a small piece of acreage is going to cost probably $5 million. Horse businesses either run out of family farms bought 30 years ago, or lease facilities. If you had to buy land now you’d never pay the mortgage with a horse business.
Hay is going to be $200 to $300 per month per horse. If you feed recommended servings of a bagged feed, that’s going to be another $100 a month. Bagged shavings are about $10 a bag. That could easily be $100 a month per horse, more of you want a very clean stall. That’s $500 without factoring in land costs, repairs, or labor for barn staff. If you lease dry stalls at $200 a month, there’s your $700 all spent. Not much room for a salary until you use the facility to teach lessons.
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Me too!! I hate how dusty they get without even being fluffy. I do use them unwatered in a two selective ways. 1) I put some down in the usual pee spots after cleaning, for extra absorption, then cover them with mini flake shavings. 2) If the horse pees while I’m in the barn I throw a few handfuls down to soak up the urine. But any time I have bedded an entire stall with them I’ve regretted it immensely.
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Where you live will be vastly different from where someone else lives cost wise. That should all be factored into the monthly cost to board before even starting a new business. If horse people can’t afford it then you don’t start a boarding business.
Here good quality rounds of mixed grass are around $45 ( unless gouging is happening) small squares $3-5, bagged shavings are $5.50 at the local farm store. Land prices are on the rise but acreage is still pretty affordable even in the St Louis area…
Prices for St Louis boarding ( within 2 hours of me) is around $ 550+ so they are probably making a decent profit as hay is abundant, fairly affordable and very near.
The barn I’m speaking of was built as a boarding facility. At the time, they did a lot of cow events and still have the cattle chutes at one end of the outdoor. Now its primarily a lesson / boarding for all disciplines, more western than english and heavily involved in 4H. There are roughly 40 - 50 stalls, with a high occupancy and not a lot of turnover. They have sawdust bedding delivered by the truck load, loose not bagged. Anyway, the owner bought it for a song because it needed some repairs (25 acres, under 1 mill). The property alone is worth several million now. Most of her costs are in the form of property taxes, this area has a very high rate and is hard to keep up. She makes upgrades when she can and the place is always busy with lesson kids coming and going.
Same here. Hate pellets for that reason.
