Why do people think pasture board should be less expensive than stall board?

[blondmane]

• Flame suit on- just wondering after adding up the numbers…

Why do people think it costs LESS to keep a horse on pasture than in a stall? If a facility provides a round bale 24/7, 365 days a year in addition to the “pasture” grass so that the horses don’t make the area a dirt lot, why is it that they are chastised for charging as much as stall board? Hay costs MUCH more than labor and shavings to clean and bed a stall.

For example: When 3 horses eat 1 round bale every 3 to 5 days (which works out to 22 square bales) even though they have plenty of nice grass in the pasture, it equates to almost $350 per horse per month. They are getting more hay than horses that are stall boarded and getting turnout on pasture for 8+ hours a day in addition to grain. Both “groups” benefit from the amentities of the facility, yet the pasture boarded horses are eating much more hay.

Just wondering - don’t throw me under the bus!

[beowulf]

well, in my perspective, it is less labor to care for the pasture-boarded horse… labor does not need to be paid to clean stall daily, bring in bedding, dump waters, clean water tubs, refill waters, turn horse in/out, etc etc etc.

it depends on the area, but pasture-board is significantly cheaper for most barn owners because a lot of them require the owner of the horse to either supply feed or do rough care.

[dani0303]

Less labor intensive and no cost for bedding. Those things do add up.

[hosspuller]

Building a barn for the stalls costs a bunch. The barn also increases the property taxes. Utilities & insurance cost are part of a barn too.

[Plainandtall]

Round bales cost less than square bales. Sometimes by as much as half.

Bedding can cost $5 a day.

Barns don’t build or clean themselves.

Stabled horses don’t get turned in and out by themselves either.

Buckets and troughs are not the same either regardless if it’s all H2O.

[OverandOnward]

“Pasture board” implies to me that there is good-quality pasture for the horses to eat for their principal nutrition. Some supplemental hay or feed and of course especially in winter, but largely they can live on good grass for 3 seasons or 6 months or so.

If they must be fed hay in the amounts you describe year round, that’s something else. Maybe what you need is new terminology to avoid the “pasture board” image people have. I don’t have a suggestion, though …

[AliCat518]

Also, around here, most horses aren’t eating hay year round. In fact, most places I’ve pasture boarded, they’ve only needed hay October ish through march ish (most of the time not even that long!)

ETA that I have two pasture boarded horses right now. One is an older retired guy, one is a 9 year old show horse. Older guy just got to new boarding barn and is being weaned off feed. Other horse is on zero feed. They’re on pasture 24/7 and get no hay. Auto waterers. Easy peasy

[LauraKY]

I don’t start feeding hay until November or so unless we have a drought. If you have pasture grass available, why would you feed hay?

[SMF11]

Agree with everything people have posted above, and I board horses who are out 24/7. And it is cheaper than if I had them in every night, for all the reasons given above.

[casper324]

The only difference between pasture board and stall board in my barn as far as costs is bedding. Troughs need to be cleaned and filled, the pasture needs maintenance ie mowing, harrowing or picking manure. Over seeding costs me dearly but it insures weeds don’t take over the pasture and the horses have good quality pasture. The biggie though is that the farm is dedicating x amount of acreage per horse for pasture board. Stalled horses don’t need your standard one acre per horse but horses who rely on pasture do. Pasture board very labor intensive in a different way then stall board. I don’t understand why you would be feeding so much hay in the spring/summer if you have good pasture?

[tangledweb]

You are paying too much for round bales. Regardless where you are, if you go through that many in a year you should be able to truck them in from elsewhere and save.

I don’t understand the part where those horses would not eat hay in a stall, or where the fields would not need seeding, mowing and fence repairs if the horses where only out for 8 hours a day.

I think you underestimate how much it costs to build and maintain a barn.

I think you underestimate how much it costs to hire people to turn in/out, water, feed, muck.

[morganpony86]

Agree with everyone. After moving the horses at home, I realize now my biggest expenses are shavings for stalls and my time in shoveling their crap. If they lived in the fields 24/7, I would save bundles (assuming I paid myself to shovel their crap).

[QUOTE=blondmane;7167421]

For example: When 3 horses eat 1 round bale every 3 to 5 days (which works out to 22 square bales) even though they have plenty of nice grass in the pasture[/QUOTE]

:eek: I’m not sure what kinds of horses those are, but I had my two fat tubs of lard Morgans in the “fat kid paddock” with the other resident fat tub of lard Morgan and those three shocked the entire barn, including long time BO, when they went through a full round bale in 4 days on a dry lot with no access to pasture. They were cut off of roundbales after that!

[tabula_rashah]

Because if you are doing it right, it costs quite a bit less to keep a horse outside than in.
I’m guessing your hay isn’t in any kind of feeder, right? Because there’s no way 3 horses (esp if they have access to grass too) should be going through that much hay. With a feeder and no grass- my horses eat an 800-900 pound round bale in 9 days.

[Trakehner]

You’re kidding, right? Have you ever taken a business class in school?

The 4 costs of business: Land, Labour, Capital, Entrepreneurship. What are the most expensive parts of boarding? People and the stuff used up (bedding/feed/equipment). Cleaning stalls takes labour, bedding, manure spreaders, equipment, upkeep on stall equipment, scrubbing buckets etc…all of which are expensive. Once you remove these expenses, you have field board. All these expenses are not part of field board except for scrubbing water tubs and maintenance of fences/gates etc. and food/hay when the circumstances require it.

Yes, field board should be cheaper and can be the “gravy” in a stable’s spreadsheet of money in/money out horses. Quite often field boarders are “lower maintenance” than the stall boarders.

[ReSomething]

Something’s wrong with the pasture if they won’t eat it. Is it full of weeds? How big is it? Are the horses gaining weight? How much of the round bale is getting trampled and spoilt?
Mine get supplemental hay because I have small paddocks and want to spare the grass. As they graze it lower the weeds get more traction and the grass plants tend to suffer.

Stall board should cost a lot more. The reasons are all up there in the previous posts. Barns don’t build themselves, hereabouts all the horses are under fans, so that’s some guy that ran the electric and then a bill for the electric, those little paddle auto waters cost about $35 plus they have to be plumbed in, or some person has to take their time to dump and refill - it takes about 30 minutes to refill all the water buckets in my trainers barn and she does it 2x daily, then the hose has to be drained and coiled or it gets ruined and then there’s more money for a hose. It adds up fast.

[BeastieSlave]

Because for me, it DOES cost less to keep my horses on pasture. If it really is a pasture (with grass) that is big enough to support the number of horses turned out on it, I don’t have to feed hay year round. The horses are eating grass 24/7 in the warm months, so I’m actually able to cut back of grain.

When the grass is dormant, the most round bale hay I have ever had three horses eat is one bale per week.

When stalled, they’ll eat around three square bales a week each and I’m lucky to get by with one bag of shavings each per week.

I care for my own beasties, but if I had all of them stalled for half the time for more than a few days at a time I would have to hire help. There’s not enough time in the day for me to work, care for the horses, and enjoy them…

[SquishTheBunny]

I have 3 on pasture, 1 on stall.

Pasture costs 50% of stall board.

Horses get unlimited hay, regardless if they are pasture or stall. Same hay, free choice all the time.

Pasture horses get grain 1x daily, stall horses get it 2x daily.

No bedding, no mucking time, no blanket changing, no individual turnout for pasture horses.

[FalseImpression]

I have one on stall and one on pasture. $145 difference per month but what is starting to really irk me (and I do love my BO) is that from May to end of Sept. EVERY HORSE is on pasture. Nobody comes in unless injury, etc. So, no bedding, no cleaning, no hay in the fields as our pastures are lush and most horses have to wear muzzles!! The “stalled” horses pay the same all year round! And until this summer, they did not even have shelters… grrr… Frankly, the BOs do nothing with the horses during the summer (not even give Previcox to my mare every day!!
I want to have the 2nd one on stall board in the winter, but I am not ready to pay full price for 2 all year.
There is NO perfect barn… I grumble but I still would not move because in the winter, everything is great…

[Cindyg]

When I was a kid, pasture board was $15 a month. Full care board was $75 a month. Full training was $175 a month. Horse shows cost $4-$6 a class to enter. We paid $400 for our horse trailer.

Yes, I’m as old as Moses.

But what makes this on topic is the spread between the $15 a month pasture board and the $75 a month stall. For that $15 a month, I got nothing but a fenced in pasture with a source of water.

[shea_smom]

My pasture horses get blanket changes and round bales and grain. Maintaining the big fields is getting to be a huge expense. I don’t charge enough for it and am going to go up.