Horse Boarding

[rich_ncal]

A friend of mine is considering boarding horses to make some extra money.

She as five acres of level fenced land near Paso Robles California. In the past she had sheep or lamas on this property. It is fenced into a one acre pasture, a three acre pasture, and a one acre area for the house.

Any ideas how much someone can charge per horse? How many horses she should have per acre of land? Anyone have experience doing this?

 

[Reg]

A friend of mine is considering boarding horses to make some extra money.

She as five acres of level fenced land near Paso Robles California. In the past she had sheep or lamas on this property. It is fenced into a one acre pasture, a three acre pasture, and a one acre area for the house.

Any ideas how much someone can charge per horse? How many horses she should have per acre of land? Anyone have experience doing this?

It ABSOLUTELY depends on what others in the area are getting - "Local market conditions".
Within a reasonable commute of where I live it is POSSIBLE to find rough board as low as $300 a month - "rough" means the owner comes in every day to feed the horse and clean out the stall. It is also possible to pay $1500 a month, just a few miles away, though I would expect that to include EVERYTHING.
In THIS part of the country it gets too damned cold to ride for probably 4 or 5 months of the year, so there is a premium at barns with indoor arenas. The payback period for building an indoor arena... Yeah, long time, long subject.
There are some book on this; I think the generally well respected one has a title something like "Horse keeping on a small acreage" - something like that.
EDIT; Just checked the title, that is it, from Cherry Hill press. ;END EDIT
Manure management can be an "issue" in areas that have recent McMansion developments. Budget 3 tons of hay per horse per year. Don't count on grazing with only a few acres, they will eat that down to mud in next to no time.

& get on some horse bulletin boards where owners discuss this stuff.

 

[Reg]

I also meant to say; "location, location, location"

From what I see around here the best locations are just far enough out from the cities to have well paid residents who can afford a horse or two, but don't have the land (or zoning) to put up their own barn. I guess this is the fringe area around cities somewhere between suburban and rural.

 

[QRTRHRS]

Tell your friend "do not do it"!

As mentioned, there are other sites such as CountryByNet where this has been discussed.

Anyway, boarding for the average person is not, I repeat, not going to reap big rewards but will more than likely reap big headaches. Boarding can offset the cost of ownership for someone who owns horses of their own but it is a lifestyle more than anything.

The only people I know that come out ahead are those savy enough to train horses and perhaps their owners. That then is their full time job.

I would also say that it does not matter what the boarding costs are in any particular area because the cost of doing business are usually pretty much in line.

 

[hitekcountry]

The number of horses she can have will be determined by local city or county regulations. What is allowed in other cities, counties and states can vary all over the place and is meaningless to her situation.

 

[tallyho8]

In our area, most boarded horses are stall boarded. Boarding usually means feeding the horse and supplying hay and feed, cleaning the stalls and providing fresh shavings on a regular basis and usually turning the horse out in a small turnout area for a while when doing the stalls.

People boarding horses are usually responsible for notifying owners if the horse colics or suffers an injury and may also have to provide veterinary care.

If you take in a horse to board it is a good idea to get the person to give you a written value of the horse beforehand because this is the amount you may have to pay them if the unforseen happens.

 

[MikePA]

It is fenced into a one acre pasture, a three acre pasture, and a one acre area for the house.

4 acres isn't a lot of land for horses. Might support 3 horses, depending upon the quality of the pasture and how you manage it. Caring for your own horses is a lot of work. We've thought about boarding every time we end up with an empty stall. Then we regain our senses.

Hay, feed, liability insurance, farrier, vet, lawyer to develop an agreement, etc. As others have posted, if your friend still wants to pursue this, find a board that discusses this.

 

[Jimbrown]

Have them read this.

CountryByNet.com Forums :: Interested in what you think of my situation

 

[N80]

Well, from the other end of the equation it sure seems like it should be profitable. I board a horse at a local barn. (I am told it is a nice horse, all that means to me was that it was expensive) Nice facility. Stall boarded. Very capable and knowledgeable staff. When my wife told me how much it was costing her (which means me, of course ) the figure touched off a memory. Its about what I paid for rent as a medical student in the early 90's. A bit more actually.

Of course, this horses living conditions are a little better than mine were.

But, the folks that run this place 1) started with plenty of money, 2) know what they are doing 3) also do it for fun 4) also do training/coaching 5) work hard at it and 6) do it in a local area that is now 'horse country' for wealthy sub-suburbanites.

But just doing it as a side business is probably going to surprise most people how much trouble it is and how much it costs.

On the other hand, my other horse (not such a fine horse) lives on my B-I-L's farm. In a pasture. With 6-7 other horses. Without any professional care. Its been there two years. Costs me nothing except for a little feed. Costs my B-I-L nothing. So it can be done. A lot depends on the owner's expectations and the particular horse's needs.

 

[riptides]

How many horses she should have per acre of land?

I think others have given you sound advise. I would chime in that acres per horse should be 1 to 2 acres of land per horse. That will give them enough space and depending on the pasture, time to recover or be properly maintained.

Good luck.
-Mike Z.