Horse Has New Pain In Rump...

[cowboydoc]

Dan,
Now if this was your wife's full-time job that may work out better. It's just the last thing you want to deal with after you've put in an 8-12 hour day is problems with the barn. You know how it is you just want to come home and relax for a little bit and here you have three customers to deal with waiting at the barn for you to get home and they're mad because they thought you should have been home an hour ago to take care of them. /w3tcompact/icons/shocked.gif

 

[MikePA]

Wow, running a stable. Something tells me that even if it was my wifes full time job, it would soon become my full time job! Even with tax write offs and stable fees, I don't see how stables make money. Most of the stables near us board about 10 - 12 horses, but they also grow their own hay, offer riding lessons, do horse shows, 4H, etc., and I bet they still don't make money. We get people that stop by our place that ask;

(1) Do we board horses? Answer: No
(2) Do we rent horses (we live near a state park)? Answer: No
(3) Do we offer riding lessons? Answer: No

The people that stop look like the last horse they were on was either plastic with springs attached to each leg or a wooden horse that had a pole going up through the center and it traveled in a circle. /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

We get enough 'riding' business from our relatives and friends that I know I never want to run a stable.

 

[cowboydoc]

OH you can make money Mike there's no doubt about that. How much depends on how nice your facility is, how much you charge, etc. Unless you're bigtime it's like making $5 an hour or less.

 

[MikePA]

<font color=blue>Unless you're bigtime it's like making $5 an hour or less.</font color=blue>

Bigtime is what I was thinking. Where you sell the 'riding experience' not just a stable service. While the gross, or even the net profits can look impressive, when you consider the hours, you're making less than minimum wage.

 

[cowboydoc]

You're exactly right Mike.

 

[dmccarty]

Mike,

Its been awhile since the wife and I seriously, well half seriously,/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif
went through the numbers on running a stable. But the bottom line that
she/we would earn per hour was pretty low. BUT, most of the expenses
where fixed costs like the land and the barns. We have the land payment
whether we run a stable or not. If the wife want horses we have to build
a barn, put up fences, drill a well, run power, etc. I don't think it would
cost that much more to build the infrastructure for 6 horse vs 10-15.
So the fixed prices are set as soon as as we, well SHE, wants horses! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Around here most of the stables we have talked with are charging 200-250
dollars a month. So once you starting taking out your expenses you do end
up with a little bit of dollar per hour. BUT, much of the expenses we have
regardless of the business.

So the real question is does she want horses in the first place and do we
have the money! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif If those to answers are yes then its not a real
step to a stable business... And she/we won't make much per hour that
would directly goes into the bank but it would pay off some loans...

But I doubt we would ever run a stable. I really want my privacy and dont
want people running around the property. Our property lends itself to being
fenced to get the business in one area and our house 1500 feet away but
I really want my privacy! /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Later...
Dan

 

[MikePA]

Ditto on the privacy. That alone would would deter me from running a stable.

 

[Wingnut]

Yeah ... that would be like my wife's full time job of "house-keeping" and looking after her passle of mini's .... except in the evening when I look after them ... or on my days off or weekends when I look after them ... or when they're sick ... or ...
It's too bad they don't make one take a training course at a Community College on the joys (and work) of horse ownership BEFORE you're allowed to buy your wife what she wants.
Now ... if someone could just come up with some use for mini's (I keep telling her being "cute" s not a "use"), all this work woun't be so bad ...

WingNut