Pricing policies are very much a product of individual situations. My own haul in prices are exactly the same as for boarders who pay for lessons separately from board (as opposed to training boarders). Those who buy multi-packs of lessons pay less per lesson. But depending on my facility, there may be a haul in or ring fee payable as well for those who aren’t boarding.
[QUOTE=atlatl;8971712]
I’ve seen haul-in clients, on Saturdays (the busiest day of the week),
- Park in the driveway in such a way to displace boarders and block others in
- Leave their horses sitting in the cross-ties or wash racks again displacing boarders while they visit
- Leave their horses in the turn outs while they leave the property for coffee/lunch
- Turn off sprinklers or adjust timers
Granted, the above are in the minority of haul-in clients, but I’ve experienced enough of the above that I’m a huge fan of haul-in fees.[/QUOTE]
Yes to the above. Here are some more I’ve had the pleasure of witnessing as a client spending lots of money on full training.
Haul-in decides she’s going to bathe her horse and uses all the warm water as well as more water than one thinks humanly possible. Barn is on a well.
Haul in’s horse is so green it’s not safe for anyone else to be in the ring with it. (Always convenient when that ring has the jumps in it.)
Haul in crashes through jump and literally breaks it into pieces.
Haul in gallops madly around a course and runs up against butt of kid on a pony repeatedly.
If I were a trainer I would charge a whole lot to haul in.
Boarders pay board for their horse to stay there and to use the facility. One reason retirement places are cheaper is that they don’t have to provide rings to ride and places to get horses ready to ride. Haul-in clients haven’t paid for that so they should, IMHO, pay something. I’ve been at a variety of multi-discipline barns that had a haul-in fee. When I rode at a city-owned facility in a city that was zoned for horses I didn’t pay a ring fee when I rode in for lessons. The trainers there did pay a fee (maybe even a cut of their lessons) to the city. Maybe it had something to do with the local taxpayers supporting the facility, though the fee policy wasn’t different for residents of the city vs non-residents.
To add to atlatl and Soaponarope (Reply with Quote not working), here’s my experience:
Haul-in client stuffs horse in stall (right there you should pay 1/30 of a month’s board, IMHO). Horse proceeds to tear around stall, scream, and try to attack passing horses. This was one of two horses HIC would bring in that were so bad that I was cautioned against remaining in the ring while the person rode and I was sitting on a saintly elderly school horse. Anyhow, HIC goes to change horses, walks into the stall with a bridle, forgets to shut the stall door, and the stalled horse escapes. HIC cannot catch horse (in relatively small courtyard area). Horse tears up grass, tries to duck under railing where the ground is concrete and nearly slips. Against my better judgement, because something tells me that this horse is El Mas No Bueno, I decide to help, in part because HIC’s horse is now upsetting all of our horses who are stabled in the courtyard. Catch horse relatively easily and, in a moment of grave stupidity, offer to hold horse in the stall while she tacks up, mostly to get her out of Dodge more rapidly. Horse tries to bite me. Repeatedly. At least until he finally figures out this is not a good idea. The person wasn’t unpleasant otherwise but the horses had zero discipline and she appeared to be clueless about it.
It got to the point that if one of us was driving away from the barn and saw her hauling towards it, we would pull over and text the others to warn them.
But may HIC cause zero problems. There’s one that comes into my current barn and there are no issues whatsoever. She does get her horse ready while it’s tied to her trailer.
Glad to see others seeing those using the facility should be aware of the day charge - board divided by 30 days-for boarders, 90% of which is facility, upkeep, extras like jumps, utilities and insurance. Not feed and bedding.
Ha! I had forgotten about that person. Rules have changed as a result of that particular HIC and the others I referenced.
It’s the same rate at the barn I work out of.
That said, I think the BO should charge more for the use of his lesson ponies than the haul-in fee. But it’s his barn 
Maybe those who question charges at any given barn ought to buy the property, build the barn, advertise the business, pay the labor, pay the taxes, pay the insurance, pay for the tractor, the drag, the footing, the fuel to run it, buy the jumps, repair the jumps, replace the jumps, plow and maintain the driveway and parking area, post the electric bill, the water bill, show up to do the work when the help doesn’t, keep the books both financial and horse health, organize the vet and vaccines, oh I could go on and on. Board is a loss leader.
That’s not a problem with being a Haul In client, per se. Rather, that’s a training problem. And as such, it’s the trainer’s problem. It sounds like the first lesson the HO should have hauled-in for was one on ground manners. And if the BO lets a pro bring in clients with such rank horses, that’s a management problem.
So many problems would be solved by the people who are in positions of authority setting higher standards. Preventing haul-in clients is just an ineffectual end-run around the responsibility of telling people what behavior you want and insisting that you get it. If you are a professional horse trainer or barn owner/manager, that’s your job.
My quote isn’t working. I don’t get the seeming hostility towards haul in from regular boarders. I’m glad the boarders at the barn we haul in to use are nice and friendly. The staff almost always asks if I want to throw mine in a stall. I decline because mine are just as happy in a trailer whether they are solo or with a home friend. Mine are quite well behaved. Perhaps it is because they show and haul out frequently. The boarders are so nice. After reading this thread- I’m bringing them cookies and carrots on Wed.
[QUOTE=Blumeroo;8970674]
The lesson fee is to pay the trainer for their services. The haul-in fee is charged because you are using the facility but do not board there. Facility use/upkeep is factored into boarding costs. By not paying a haul in fee, you would essentially be using the arena for free…which is pretty much unheard of in my neck of the woods.
It’s pretty much standard practice. So whether or not the arena use fee is built into the lesson price or charged separately, you will likely pay it no matter what.[/QUOTE]
This this this!
