So I propose that the moral of the story might be:
“Pasture board” is a commonly used term that lacks a common definition.
The boarding cost charged by boarding businesses vary wildly in both the actual costs and method of calculation.
Everything else falls out from there.
David
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I skipped over a few post, so forgive if my comment is redundant.
In addition to actual costs, the difference in price for stall board vs. pasture board is market driven. Whether it be for their horse’s comfort or their own, owners place a higher value on stall board.
…and as they say, the customer is always right.
.
Fun fact: Hay price. 1 round bale 1200lbs is $50.00 delivered = 25 square bales at $5.00 a bale that I have to pick up. Comes off the same field.
Yes my horses eat more hay when they get a free choice round but it is way cheaper and so much easier for me.
The difference in stall board vs pasture board at my barn is about $100. Stall board horses are out 12 hours in the winter and their grain is provided ( fat and fibre,podium and mineral salt and anything you provide) and they are fed this twice a day. Hay is from small squares and is nice quality. Blankets are checked and horses are given the once over before going out. They also have a round bale in their turnout and a heated water trough.
Pasture boarded horses have a round bale at all times and heated water troughs. They only get grained if their owner pays for it. They have large bedded shelters and are checked daily.
From May until the end of October (weather permitting) my horse is on pasture board on 10 acres with 7 other horses. I pay the same rate all year round and happily do so even though some of the horses with her are paying $100 less. I know she gets extra attention even when she is on pasture. I can also ask for her to be inside whenever I want.
If you do pasture board the way I do, you should charge more for it. We offer very small groups in large fields, with safe fences. Horses receive top quality hay, salt, auto waterers, and shelter or blanket changes. Owners get access to everything we offer, indoor, outdoor, round pen, trails, and heated tack room with stalls if needed.
We no longer offer pasture board at a reduced rate. We used to, but no longer, and here are some reasons why we have changed that.
We live in the desert and we irrigate to have grass. Our water is very expensive these days and the land here is also pretty expensive as we are fairly close to the largest city in this state.
Our taxes have gone up by over 200% in the last few years because there have been 3 golf courses built within 1/4 mile of our farm. The tax man says we should sell our property to developers, but I don’t really want to start over somewhere else.
Our experience has taught us that pasture board people don’t think that they need to pay on time, or at all in some cases; afterall it is just grass. They don’t consider that they have the same access to the indoor, have a tack locker as do stall boarders, have an indoor heated restroom, have a nice outdoor ring, have a grass field to ride in, have heated water, hay in winter, etc, etc. They are pinching pennies and rarely take lessons, which are the profit in a boarding/training business.
We irrigate everyday, 6 days a week, we mow twice a month, we spray the weeds, we fertilize the fields, we drag the fields, we clean the heated in winter waterers, we call the Mosquito control to spray the biting bugs, we have fly predators, we feed lots of hay in winter, we answer their questions morning, noon and night just like the stall boarders.
They never fail to need someone to trek out and catch the horse for the vet/farrier, just this once. They don’t show up for days at a time to check/adjust fly masks, sheets, bell boots. Someone always has to step in and take care of it for them.
It is much easier and less time consuming to have stall boarders to feed, clean, and turn out. We can have 20 stall boarders on less than 1/4 of the ground than 20 pasture boarders and have small dry lot turn outs for each of them, a round pen an indoor, outdoor and all the amenities.
But the real irritant is that pasture boarders think there is little cost to provide that option.
No, no more pasture board here, sorry.
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