calling all horse lovers…

[bunnyfriend]

 Does anyone here have experience boarding or taking care of other peoples’ horses? My family decided to move to another farm in our area and this place already has a large stable, multiple pastures, and round pens. So we are looking into maybe offering boarding. I am just curious to hear from anyone who has done something like this. Any advice or past experiences (even from boarding your own horse somewhere) would be greatly appreciated 

[LittlePuffyTail]

I’ve kept horses at about half a dozen stables. Some professional boarding barns, some not. Some I loved and some I hated so I have some experience here. Definitely set out everything in writing first and have them sign it prior to bringing their horses to your place. Make sure to set out what the boarding price includes and what it doesn’t. A lot of places I’ve boarded at will apply fly spray for free but charge extra to blanket during winter. This can cause problems later if it’s not clearly listed. Don’t let any horses onto your property without seeing proof of up-to-date vaccinations. You don’t want them making your horses sick. And make them sign a form stating that if their horse is injured and/or ill you have permission to call the vet out and they are responsible for the bill.

Something that really drove me nuts was when I was at barns that were always late with the farrier visits, de-worming etc. I like to keep my horse on a strict schedule with these things and when I had to get after them for 2 months to get the farrier out it got irritating.

[mocha200]

We boarded our horse at two places before we had him on our own property. The first place we boarded him ( our horse) was horrible. We bought him from a stable and decided to board at that stable for awhile.

First of all, my sister was not allowed to do anything with our horse without one of our parents their. It was probably for safety reasons but it still made us a little upset. My sister took lessons from someone at the stable and the owner told her she had to by a carrot stick and she couldn’t barrow one of hers, so she bought one and a few weeks later it was missing and she saw the owner had taken it. She also stole a pair of my sisters riding gloves because hers were worn out. Once, my sister was helping the owner feed the horses hay and one of the horses she boarded came up and started eating hay out of the wheel barrel and she stabbed her with a pitch fork so she would back up. She turned to my sister and said ” don’t tell any one I did that.” When the owner of the horse saw the marks from the pitch fork on her horse she immediately left. We then boarded our horse at our 4-H and he was very happy there.

[Stickerbunny]

The not letting your sister there without parents was probably an insurance thing, I ran into something similar at a friend of my (now ex) boyfriends house – they had horses and I was “too young” to be allowed near them since their insurance wouldn’t cover if I got hurt (like I would sue a friend for their horse biting me?). But the rest sounds horrible mocha.

Important thing is to cover yourself in the contract – outline exactly what you offer, what you don’t, make it CLEAR that any “extras” of care (vet calls, etc) will come out of the owners pocket and you have full permission to treat a horse. Also, make it clear that you reserve the right to refuse to board an animal (like, ones that potentially have a contagious illness). I would also be wary of the fact that people tend to get a bit free with other animals on the property when they board their own pets sometimes – I have had people give wrong foods, etc to my animals, or try to pet an animal that is known to bite even after being warned, when visiting their own pet when I let their animal stay with me.

[bunnyfriend]

Thank you everyone for sharing! Definitely have a lot to figure out before we actually start offering boarding (oh, and to move in first).

Mocha200: That is awful!!! I have no respect for people who do not treat their horses with respect. I hate seeing people using pain and fear. I’m sorry you and your sister had to go throughout experience at that stable.

Stickerbunny and LittlePuffyTail: Very helpful! A lot of this stuff you guys mentioned I hadn’t even thought of really yet. Hmm that is weird about the blanketing fee, I know a lot of stables charge extra for turnout but blanketing is such a quick and easy thing to do. I’ll keep in mind about people getting too free with other animals.

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