Anyone board horses?

[Sneezykids]

My dh and I have an opportunity to buy a 34 acre horse farm at a fantastic price. The barn is huge, has 16 stalls and five fenced paddocks, made of three oak boards, all in good repair. We already know a family that would board their two horses with us. We're exploring this as possible income as the rates for boarding here run about $500 a month for feed/turnout/stall.

We're 40 now and are starting to consider where we want to be in 10 years...we have college coming up in five short years with nothing saved for it due to the crappy economy here, we've taken such a huge hit over the last few years.

This seems like such a good opportunity, we don't want to let it pass but also know we need to consider all angles of this kind of commitment.

Also: we are heavily involved in 4-H and this would be perfect for being able to raise more than just rabbits (which we have now).

[mamadelbosque]

I've never had to board a horse elsewhere, thank goodness - I know it can be super pricy. If I was considering boarding horses though, I'd look around and check into hay prices - around here, the last I heard it was ~$3-5 a bale. Which is a *LOT* (A full-size horse can *easily* go through a bale in 2 days - some might go through a bale a day, depending on how well/easy they 'keep'...), especially when you add in grain (I have no idea what a bag of horse feed costs these days but easily $10-20 would be my guess, maybe more). And work. Horses poop a lot - I Know, that should be obviously, but its seriously amazing how much manure they create. You need to know these things before hand - what are you going to do w/ the manure? How are you maintaning the paddocks/barn/box stalls - do you need a tractor? A manure spreader? Are there fields to be making hay in - and in that case do you want to lease them out to someone else, or buy your own stuff and make your own hay. Do you know how to give shots, worm, etc? Or will you be calling/paying the vet to do so - which is super pricey. And it can be hard to find a vet willing to look at your animals (most don't do horses/livestock anymore, even in rural communities!!). Etc.

I'm not trying to dissuade you from doing this - gods know I would love to have horses again someday, I'm just trying to make sure you understand what owning/caring for horses entails. Its a lot. A lot more than many people think..

[Caneel]

My parents had a farm and used to board horses. They had horses of their own (between 2-5 at a time) and built the barn specifically to house their horses as well as 5 boarders.

The PP brings up very good points. Some not-so-pleasant-things that ultimately resulted in my parents discontinuing the boarding operation -

Owners waining interest in their horses. The novelty seemed to wear off for some owners. A teen daughter begs for a horse, the parents board it and months down the rode, teen isn't so interested in the horse anymore. The horses weren't being exercised, (not included in my parents arrangement) then the slow payments started. So they (parents) spent a lot of time chasing $ from tenants.

Horses with bad behavior. Not all horses get along. They were getting some that had bad habits and required a lot of time and energy to keep the peace -keeping certain horses seperated, moving pastures, etc.

People on the property. Because of the layout, the owners were basically parking in my parents backyard so there was much interaction with the owners, which sort of wore on my mom's nerves.

My dad was home basically full time so he had the time (and experience) to manage the operation, it just got too annoying for him. Owners would do dump stuff like leave the gates open, water spigot turned on and it drove him bats.

[Sneezykids]

Good points. What if the boarders maintained the responsibilty for the vet care? I don't see why that would be the ours? I can give wormer and shots but the cost would be on them correct?

We're thinking of only 4 horses max!! And two are friends of ours and we get along great (that is, I wouldn't mind them being around the house) but I can certainly understand how having alot of ppl around would get on my nerves. This is probably the #1 reason I'm hesitant about it. The other option we have for making money is raising pigs and cattle...grass fed beef goes for top dollar here and so does raw milk. It's just the barn is set up for horse (indoor arena)..but...we have boats we could always store there...not a big deal..

Lots to think about!

[Oubliette8]

The cost for vet care should be on them, yes. But I think there would be some expectations of you. For example, if their horse has a medical emergency, generally there is an agreement about how that would be handled. If it were my horse, and it was a true emergency, I'd expect you to call the vet first, and then me. And some owners may not be able to be there when the vet comes out for whatever reason, so that would be on you.

Do you have any horse experience? If I was looking to board a horse, I'd want the barn owner to have significant experience with horses and their care and management. Its pretty involved. And horse people can be pretty particular about how they want their animals treated.

[mesa]

you can definitely make the vet care and farrier work the responsibility of the horse owner. You should investigate your state's liability laws as they pertain to horse activities, and how much your insurance will be.

It can be a huge pain in the neck to live on the property, with people wanting to come at all hours of the day and night. Also, do you have horse experience? I wouldn't generally recommend that a "newb" jump into a professional horse operation right off the bat, there's a LOT to learn.

Who is going to be responsible for the chores? If you are at capacity, we're talking about 21 horses...which is...a LOT....of horses to care for by yourself. We have 5 horses, and morning chores (with stall cleaning) takes a couple of hours. Add in catching, turn out, blanketing, fly spray, feeding twice a day....and you're talking about a near-full time job for one (or even two) people. I worked for a while on a hunter farm that had a 16 stall barn, and let me tell you, that was the HARDEST work I have ever done, and I was there from 7 am until I finished in the evening, usually around 7 or 8 pm. I haven't even considered the work that would go into simply maintaining a 34 acre farm, fence work, weed control, pasture care....it's a huge operation, and you will most likely need an employee or two.

Also, you can kiss goodbye any chance of leaving town, even for an overnight trip. The horses will need someone experienced there with them, looking out for them, and caring for them. We usually hire a professional farm sitter to watch our horses, and it runs over $100 a day for that, so it doesn't happen often, lol.

And back to the experience bit. Part of what the horse owners are going to be paying you for is watching out for the health and well being of their animals. I don't know your level of experience with horses, so you'll have to answer these questions for yourself...do you know the signs of colic? What would you do in case of a catastrophic injury? What if the owners aren't getting the routine or preventative care that their horses need...you can't just let them stand on long hooves, that's neglect. You need to have a contingency plan in place for these (inevitable) situations, and be prepared to shell out the money to care for the animals yourself if the owners don't.

Also keep in mind that the horse market is in the toilet right now, with the economy the way it is. You need to think about the eventuality that SOMEONE is going to stop paying their board...and although you have collateral against the board bill (the horse) chances are, you're not going to get diddly squat for a horse that the owner would simply abandon.

I wouldn't start a boarding operation with the expectation that I will be able to survive off the proceeds. Sure, it's a possibility, and many people do, but many more start up without a clear understanding of the real expense and headache that goes into it, and they end up shuttering not too long after. If you want to have a couple of boarders, go for it...but if you have the mentality that it's a HOBBY, and not a real moneymaking venture right off the bat, then you won't be so disappointed That way, if your business DOES take off, you will be pleasantly surprised

[mamadelbosque]

I agree with the other pp - even if you write out in the boarding agreement that the owners are responsible for general upkeep you *still* need to have a vet on-call available for injuries/sickness. With just a couple horses of your own, you likely wouldn't need it... but boarding other peoples horses, you will. If your bringing horses in and out (to goto shows, or ride somewhere else, or just whatever) you are running a huge increase in risk of disease. And you (as the owner of the operation) need to know what to look for and when you *need* to call the vet and have him here *RIGHT NOW* and when you can wait till morning.

Some horses get along great. Others don't. Some horses never seem to get hurt/sick... and others are horribly, amazingly, astoundingly accident prone (seriously - the things I've seen horses get hurt/nearly killed on are amazing. You look at the horse, look at the tree/fence/rock/whatever and go 'huh'??? HOW!?!?!). Especially hooves - you think they'd be pretty sturdy semi-invincible things... but they're not. They cause a solid 50% of all horse injuries, ime - rocks, sticks, etc jammed up in them, infections, thrush, thrown shoes, etc.

And I, honestly, would never board a horse with someone who was new to horses... its just a risk that I'm not willing to take. If your interested in doing this, tbh, I think I'd get me a horse or two and own them for at least a year or two and learn the *basic* ins and outs of horse ownership before I attempted to embark on boarding... its just a lot of risk, a lot of responsibility. And, either way, you can definitely kiss vacations of any sort good-bye - because finding someone whose wiling to come fee isn't necessarily all that hard if you have one or two horses. But to find someone to clean your barn or feed/turn out a half dozen? Good luck.

And finally.. yes, horse prices are *AWFUL* right now - due in large part, IMO, to the recent bill in congress which outlawed the sale of horses for meat. Used to be, everyone knew that if worst came to worst you could get ~$800-1000 for any given horse selling them for meat (I know for a fact thats where one of mine went who was lame). But with the passage of the new law a couple yrs ago, that went by the wayside. And so now, prices are in the crapper - cause' theres no longer any 'base' price for a horse. And theres no longer anywhere to take the old, lame, otherwise useless horses - just shoot'm and bury'm. Which is a real shame.