Owning a small horse boarding farm

[pilonidal]

I suggest look for something else to do with your small farm. My wife grew up with horses, her father has always had horses, up 20 at one point. He is 74 now and down to his last horse, but when we moved across the street from him two years ago we thought getting a couple of horses to ride for us and our daughter would be nice. Well, they are money pits they are ridden maybe half dozen times a year for no longer than 30 mins around the pasture.
I knew nothing about horses and I thought it would be great, my wife thought she would really get back into it, nope. Now we are kinda stuck with 2 expensive "pets" mainly for the daughter to play with and to keep the father in law busy in his retirement. He cleans the stalls everyday and keeps the barn ship shape. The only plus for us.
Hay, shoes, vet/shots, bedding, it all adds up and since the father in law has nothing else to do except read horse magazines and see "neat" stuff in country supply catalogs. It's expensive, and my wife said he never did anything with the horses when she was home except water and leave them out in the pasture. Well this is a new horse owners view.
Now as a potential horse boarder I can tell you that true horse "lovers" like the father in law are very particular with their "pets". It is hard to please them, and you can't tell them any different about their horse or any horse. Cleaning stalls day in day out is a draaaaaaaaag. That's only 3 stalls.
Walk away before it's to late. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif
Look for something else to offset expenses.

 

[cowboydoc]

<font color="green">Now as a potential horse boarder I can tell you that true horse "lovers" like the father in law are very particular with their "pets". It is hard to please them, and you can't tell them any different about their horse or any horse. Cleaning stalls day in day out is a draaaaaaaaag. That's only 3 stalls.
Walk away before it's to late.
Look for something else to offset expenses.
</font>

All way way too true. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[BigDamnFool]

I can't say any more than Most have already said except find another use for your land. There is probably more return in Enron stock than there is in boarding horses. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif Especially if you are starting from scratch. My advice, Grow hay or plant trees, even Christmas trees. And if you want to see horses, Aim your big picture window at the neighbors farm.

Good luck,

Tiny

 

[tjkadar]

We own a 60 acre equine facility. We board horses and run a half-dozen Dressage and CT Shows a year. One thing we learned early is that you don't make money owning horses. You might make money caring for someone else's horses, but it is an iffy proposition. Our boarding operations usually break even or lose money every year (we also have our own horses on the farm). The horse shows provide a positive income for the barn.

Running a boarding facility is not something for a person with no horse experience. Heck, running a boarding facility isn't for a lot of people with horse experience.

In my mind, the horses are the easy part. It is the boarders that make things difficult. We recently had to ask one of our boarders to leave because she was a danger to herself, her horse, and other boarders.

We've had a horse try to jump a fence, catch the top rail, crash, and break its shoulder. The horse had to be put down. We had a gray that needed to be put down because of melanoma. We've had four pass from old age (38 to 41 years old). We had another that ripped its foot completely off while cavorting in the pastures (that was just gross). At another farm, there was a boarder's horse that was shot in the leg and had to be put down.

We've been boarding for 22 years and have owned horses for over 30. It isn't something I would recommend for anyone that didn't love it. I could say the same thing for growing hay too. If you don't love it, don't even start.

Dealing with horses can be very rewarding. But ya still gotta deal with the people that own them too. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[EddieWalker]

I'm in agreement with those who say it's a bad idea. I don't have horse, nor do I want any. My reasoning is that it doesn't make sense financially, especially as a small operation.

You don't have a bunch of land, so you are limited on what you can handle. You work and are dependent on others to do the job for you. You've never done this before and the learning curve on anything is very, very expensive.

When I hear somebody talk about starting a new business, I always ask to read their business plan. Most look at me like I'm an idiot. But to me, if you can't put in writing "WHY" you will be successfull, than you can't do it in reality.

Writing a business plan will force you to examine every angle of what you plan to do and how you will address it. What will you do when things go wrong? What will attract clients to your product? What will you charge, what will your expenses be and what will your return be?

For this business, I'd don't think you can make a profit at it. Look at it like a banker and ask yourself if you could get a loan to build it. If not, don't waste anymore of your time.

If you want it to be a hobby to do because it's been your dream or some other romantic, sentimental reason, than nothing anybody will say will matter anyway. More than one fortune has been lost because somebody spent like crazy for no particular reason other than the joy of doing it.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[weedsportpete]

When we were boarding, we had some minor complaints about the way our horses were managed. When we said we were taking our horses home to our new place in the country, the stable owners snickered.. couldn't wait to see us see it from their point of view.

Fast forward four years (harp music glissandos..) we've got a full (small) barn.. two boarders are taking their horses home to their new place.. they have had some complaints about the way their horses are managed.. we are snickering now.. we can't wait for them to see it the way we do..

I've got another post up about a vacation to Yosemite.. In three years we will have taken seven days of vacation (nights away from home). It is near imposible to find someone you trust to take care of the horses and do the work.. My wife has been on or around horses all her life.. thats what it takes to care for horses. A 'retirement' option is to rent the barns and land to someone, with sufficient legal separation that we can't be sued. Still not sure if that is possible.. it would be nice to have someone else responsible for the place... and still have a couple stalls for our use.. but I'm sure we would not be happy with the way it will be run.. we're pretty particular about things.

Enough rambling.. I'd say not to get into the boarding business. On the other hand, the horse business is a very large ($$$$) business with a lot of money going back and forth.. You can still make money in the equine arena (pun intended), even without boarding horses. Possibly being a middleman for fodder or bedding, etc.

 

[QRTRHRS]

At the risk of being offensive although it is not my intention, based on your comments I will say this.

You have no business being in the horse business.