G.M.C. FARM

05/31/2024

09/10/2023

🙏On this night...

22 years ago ...

246 people went to sleep in preparation for their morning flights.

2,606 people went to sleep in preparation for work in the morning tomorrow.

343 firefighters went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift.

60 police officers went to sleep in preparation for morning patrol.

8 paramedics went to sleep in preparation for the morning shift of saving lives.
...None of them saw past 11:00am Sept 11, 2001.....

In one single moment life may never be the same. As you live and enjoy the breaths you take today and tonight before you go to sleep in preparation for your life tomorrow, kiss the ones you love, snuggle a little tighter, and never take one second of your life for granted. God bless💙"

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06/07/2023

As a reminder, lessons are cancelled for today! Hoping better by Thursday

09/03/2022

It’s unfortunate and we try and keep the costs down as much as possible!

SOMEONE JUST POSTED THIS ON ANOTHER PAGE -
Do you want to know why Board is going up and why keeping horses is so expen*sve... read this and do your own math

25horses each get allocated their portion of each cost:

Anyone else notice more barns going private? Average facility is around 25 stalls and with inflation I decided to to do some math.....

25 Stall barn operating costs per month PER HORSE:
Stall cleaning, Feeding, Turn-out/Turn-in, Watering. ½ hour for all tasks - $20/hour 30 days a month. = $300
#20 feed per horse per day @ $550/ton delivered and stacked = $165
$5,000 mortgage on facility divided by 25 horses = $200
Grounds keeper (working arenas, mowing lawns, fencing, ect) 160 hours @ $20/hour = $128
Shavings hauled in and hauled off $3,000 = $120
Power, water, small maintenance $1,000 = $40
Break even cost $953 per month
$1,000 a month is a reasonable cost for a facility to care for a horse.

09/02/2022

Smell that crisp fall morning air (well maybe not, but we can dream it)? Kids are back at school, PSL are back and routines are getting into place.

You may be looking for that fun, new after school activity or maybe even something for you and your friends to enjoy while the kids are off on their own adventure! GMC Farm is your one stop shop to check off all of the above. GMC welcomes all abilities of riders from complete newbies to seasoned professionals as we guide you along your path of progression with a fun & positive atmosphere cultivated by our knowledgeable staff and existing clients. We offer both group & private lessons, training or regular board, as well as a host of wonderful horses available for lease.

Message us today! You won’t regret it as you build a life long bond between horse & rider ❤️🐎

07/18/2022

My boarding business can break even… and other lies I tell my boyfriend.

A memoir.

In the comments of my last satirical post there was a couple (well I’m assuming they’re a couple- I mean he questioned her horses so it might be over now 🤣) having a side bar discussion about boarding barns not making any money. He disagreed with her and I’m paraphrasing here, saying if they don’t make money it’s cause they’re not being managed right.

Ouch.

That slow clap from my boyfriend is prob what ya’ll can hear right now though.

But seriously, I talk to horse people all the time- and from all walks of the industry- big jumper barns, other eventers, backyard people, lesson barns with a small number of boarders and the word on the street is the same. There’s no money in boarding horses.

So why?

And why don’t people outside the industry believe us?

Before this current inflation crisis I think it was commonly accepted that barns would absorb price increases, and that services and products could be used or asked for carte blanche. It didn’t matter if the farm had estimated that most horses eat 8lbs of grain a day, if your Fluffy needed 15lbs well, that’s what he got. Fluffy ate his 15lbs and the barn owner ate the bill.

That doesn’t happen in the rest of the world, sure there’s all you can eat buffets if you like cheap food and roaches, but in most cases, if you want extra guac, you pay for it.

And it was common for boarders to just take extra of what they wanted, my boarders thankfully don’t do this, but some clients get that Italian mother feeling that their pon pon needs just one more flake of hay, and people would just take it. It’s hard to understand in the world of horses that all those supplies are budgeted out for the month and come with a hefty bulk price tag.

Oh and unforeseen expenses- horses are the GOAT of unforeseen expenses! Vet bills, missing shoes, broken halters… but the havoc they wreak upon properties is tenfold. Undisclosed cribbers show up, (ughhhhh I’m sidebar talking about one of mine here- thank god he’s a good man despite this and gas prices are so high cause I was tempted to put him on the trailer and send him back!) and eat fences, warp gates and whatnot. Horses kicking through paddock fencing, ripping automatic waterers off the stall wall, tearing fans down, I even had one pull a piece of ceiling molding off. They’re like Guns and Roses in a hotel suite. Appetite for destruction for REALLLLL. Forever ago, this naughty rockstar behavior was left to the barn owner to fix out of pocket. It’s not right but it was the norm, or at least nobody asked for payment and nobody offered either. Now, if your horse breaks something, you’re going to get a bill. It sucks. It’s an expensive lesson. Take it out of their carrot allowance I say.

And then there’s customer loyalty- horse boarding is more like the wine business than the spirits business. You have a vodka brand, it’s your brand, the only one you’ll drink. Wine? Chardonnay is Chardonnay- the one with the foot or the kangaroo are interchangeable (they’re not, drink the Roo please, I worked there in a past life) and the same can be said for boarding barns. Board rates go up and people go looking for a better deal, not all of course, but that’s a real fear for barn owners. If we’re struggling to pay the bills already, what happens if people leave? I was told of a barn that started the month with a $5k DEFICIT, because they felt they couldn’t raise board for fear of losing people and they would try to make it up in lessons and whatnot. That hurts my heart, and I know what kind of stress that puts on people struggling to survive. This ladies and gentlemen is what I laughingly call “Horse Math”. Where the numbers never add up and getting to zero feels like winning.

In some ways, boarding barn owners are like dairy farmers- milk is 6 bucks a gallon for you and me- the farmers are only making 75% of what it costs to produce that milk (estimates are they’re making $1.45 on what cost them $2.00 to produce). The cost to run the niche farm exceeds what you can get for your product. Bigger isn’t better, but it pays the bills apparently.

I think agriculture in general is a tough gig, with multiple variables that all have to go right at the same time to turn a profit; but profit isn’t the only reason we do it. It’s the love of the land, and the animals. It’s sharing, and fostering, that love with other like minded people. It’s building a future that’s more than cars and concrete. It’s tough work, I mean if it was easy anybody could do it.

So yeah, my boarding business doesn’t make any money, but as Henry Ford said “ A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business”…and hey, that’s a guy who knew a thing or two about horsepower!

So kick on horse friends; and remember to hug your horses and be thoughtful boarders.

06/22/2022

Colton takes his job of supervisor very seriously at HITs

05/24/2022

“$61.99”

“How much for the Amplify? Not $61.99 A BAG, right?”

“62, yeah. Before delivery and the fuel surcharge.”

This is an actual conversation Em (if you don’t know who that is, she’s my head girl, right hand, the reason your horse gets 5* care here at the farm) and I had this morning. A grim reminder that while horse prices are higher than Snoop Dogg at the Super Bowl, we horse owners are in for a major crash and burn when it comes to the care and upkeep on said horses.

If you’re a regular middle classer and keep your horse at home, you’re already keenly aware; and if you boarded your horse previously you now understand why he wasn’t bedded knee deep and standing in front of 20lbs of alfalfa like he was the 2nd coming of Storm Cat. Champagne taste, beer budget, am I right? Yeah, same here.

If you currently board your horse somewhere, I beg you to read all the foreboding posts about prices going up and being kind to your barn owners. We have been quietly absorbing the price increases in every aspect of horse care and I’m about to lay some hard truths on ya’ll, so buckle up lol.

Grain prices go up WEEKLY. Yes, that’s not an exaggeration here in the NY/CT area. Since January the grain we feed has increased 11-15% depending on the brand and type. Hay went up 13% from the last load we had delivered, and I’m guessing this year’s first cut is going to be easily 33% more than last year. EASILY. Maybe more, I’m trying to be conservative in a market that’s anything but. Shavings, same thing- 16%, and who knows what this next load will be.

Dumpster, that’s gone up. Also the mowers, Kubota, truck and tractor don’t run off love. $7 a gallon anyone?

And lest we forget lumber- those fence boards and posts your angel muffin EATS? Boards- they’re about $16 each, posts are running $32. EACH, PEOPLE! Your sweet Pon Pon, who crashes through gates- yeah those are roughly $250 each at TSC. None of this is including the time and labor of a hungry and disgruntled boyfriend who is fixing the broken fencing at 8:30 at night after a full day of work.

I can tell you here at Stoneleigh we have implemented minor changes to absorb the cost for our boarder where we can. I know every horse owner loves to look in their stall and see copious amounts of hay. You know what you don’t see? How much gets churned into the bedding and s**t and pi**ed on. Trust me, it’s a lot. Same for the paddocks; spend a Sunday here when the big machines come out to strip the fronts of the muck. The waste is sinful. Look, my personal horses are the biggest diva as****es- so now they get a flake at a time. You finish your flake, you get another. Finish that? Boom! Another! But I’m not wasting hay. Also, we use hay nets when applicable, so the hay stays clean and available longer. Please don’t fret if you don’t see hay out in front of them 24/7, and look, with money all things are possible, so if you just can’t stand the thought, then we’re happy to accommodate the visual you need.

If your horse blows through a gate or beavers my boards down to spindles, you’re going to get a bill for it. It’s not personal, it’s horses.

One of my coaches sent an email that her boarding and training prices were increasing-20% to cover costs. It’s an accurate number. Presently. I wouldn’t be shocked if it goes up again if inflation doesn’t shake out. But it was something else she said that resonated with me as well- that her boarding business needed to cover itself and not be supplemented by her lessons and clinic fees. Oh man. Light bulb moment for sure.

I don’t think most boarders understand that- for me personally my lessons and schooling fees go right back into the farm account- I essentially make NO SALARY. I’m clearly not the only pro doing this, and while I’m not complaining, (it’s my farm and I think that’s fair for now) it’s something to think about.

In the coming months you’ll see price changes happening at all levels of the boarding industry- maybe some will do a tiered pricing structure, a la carte services, surcharges or just a general percentage price increase, but it’s coming.

Satire aside, rest assured Em and I will do our best to keep board as affordable as possible without sacrificing the 5* care you’ve come to expect here. We’re not asking for hugs or accolades, just a momentary pause to remember as crazy horse owners, we’re all in this together.

(Horse in photo says he’s not responsible, but ain’t no snitch either 🤣)

05/06/2022

"How much for a lesson and what is included in that cost?"

How many trainers, stables, owners hear this question? We give a simple price and simple answer of $60per 30 minutes for a private lesson, etc.

But what we really should be saying is you get all of this:

You get the years of knowledge and experience that a breeder put into breeding a quality animal that will be rideable.

You get the years of experience that it took to be able to properly select a horse safe enough for a lesson for your child.

You get the years of time spent by trainers and instructors putting education and mileage on the lesson horse to know how to do its job.

You get to use my tack that I spent hours searching for at the right price and fit, the saddle, bridle, martingales, bit, saddle pad, girth, half-pad. The halter and lead rope that brings it from the field. The hoof pick, curry comb, brushes, shampoo, hoses, buckets that we purchased to properly groom and bathe the lesson horse to keep them healthy for your lesson. You get the hay, grain, water, fly spray, wormer, vet bills, farrier and medicine, supplements, shavings, stall mats, barn, fencing, electricity, insurance, clippers, combs, rain sheets, winter blankets, towels, brooms, feed bins, water troughs, muck rakes, manure spreaders, washer, dryer, grooming boxes, saddle racks and horse trailer, tires, brakes and maintenance on the trailer and truck that hauls that is needed when the horse needs to go to the vet. You get the coggins, vaccines, dental.

You get the labor that goes into cleaning and feeding. The time and labor of the person who has to walk a horse thru the night that might be colicing. You get to put wear and tear on my farm, on the footing in my ring, my jumps and fields. You get the cost of my tractor and ring drag and their maintenance.

You get to let me put my lesson horse's health at risk when you ride them and hope for $60 they don't end up permanently lame.

There is a reason "we require a commitment to regular lessons" and I don't allow my lesson horses to jump 5 days a week, that they will only jump 2 ft to hopefully stay healthy and sound.

But, maybe people expect more for their lesson costs?

11/11/2021

Today is a day we honor, remember and appreciate those who have served to protect us and their families who have stood by their sides. Because of them, we get to enjoy the freedoms of today. We are so proud and thankful for all of our retired and current military clients including our very own owner and resident handy man, Chico

10/31/2021

Hoping you're getting to spend an evening of fright & fun with your family 🦄

10/24/2021

"I can smell autumn dancing in the breeze. The sweet chill of pumpkin, and crisp sunburnt leaves."

– Ann Drake

08/07/2021

New sand delivery 🚚 🐎

02/05/2021

Arrived safe & sound!

02/05/2021

More than half way to Florida! The ponies are ready to frolic ☀️ 🐎