09/24/2015
NEW PARAGRAPHS ADDED 9/24
The Chronicle of the Horse July 27, 2015 article titled Boarding barns:
The Good, The Bad and The Dramatic and Practical Horseman’s 8/2014
This month’s question: What Makes a boarding barn a good place to keep your horse? are two examples of the types of articles on boarding horses that seem to recycle themselves fairly regularly. Undisputedly horses should be well cared for. But these articles, while informative and full of anecdotal stories, miss reality. The truth in boarding barns is that most barns do not charge enough for the services boarders want.
The Chronicle article opens with “There is no such thing as a perfect boarding barn.” And my first reaction is oh yeah, that’s true, but do you know what? There is no such thing as a perfect boarder either.
10 Areas in which boarding barns make horse owner’s lives easier:
1. The most obvious perk is that they don’t have to buy or lease a horse facility
2. They don’t have to pay the utilities
3. They don’t have to pay for liability/care and custody insurance
4. They don’t have to pay for tractors, manure spreaders, drags, manure forks, brooms, wheel barrows, saddle racks, bridle racks, jumps, mats, footing, light bulbs, hoses, driveway gravel
5. They don’t have to keep the facility clean for boarders
6. they don’t have to make improvements
7. They don’t have to repair damage
8. They don’t have to buy grain, hay and bedding, transport and store it
9. They don’t have to dispose of the about 50 pounds of manure and urine produced by each horse each day.
10. They don’t have to find horse help just so they can take a vacation