Boarding horses

So I have my own horses, two Belgians and two ponies.

My son and his wife are thinking about moving their horses for reasons I'm not sure, but they are both excellent workers with like 4 jobs between them, so I don't think it was a non-payment problem at the current boarding site. They are in their mid 20s and have both been taking care of horses since they were like 10 or so. In fact, they met and got to know each other at various 4-H events.

We'll need to build a few stalls, etc, and I don't have enough hay for them this year, so they will have to buy hay.

Long way around it, but my questions are these: What are boarding prices in your areas? Does that include hay, feed, etc? What is a boarder supposed to do vs. the stable owner? I know a lot of it depends on location, we live in the mountains of NW PA.

I'll probably give them a discount, because they're family, but I can't just give services away in this economy.

Going to charge Son for boarding horses how much work will he do.

I board 2 horses for a close friend. We split hay & feed costs. I do the feeding and maintain pasture, etc. I only charge him $25/month. His frequent visits when we chat for an hour or so about horses or anything else is worth much more to me than money.

How hard will it be to feed a few more? My son bales the hay and puts the corn in the little gravity bin, and I feed it. No big deal. He has 3 and I have 1.

Typically, it can be the stable owner provides all labor, stall cleaning, feed, turn out, what have you, for one price, additionally, bedding, feed and hay too, all for one price. Farrier and Vet bills can also be included, but often times boarders have their own for those services. You can deduct things that they do or provide and tally up what you figure your end is worth, they do the rest.

There's no wrong way, you could just get board for the stalls, they do and or provide the rest. I've been around this a good part of my life, this is an informal arrangement, so your discount could be a variety of things, maybe things you'll do or what have you. I've seen rough board, just stalls, $250/stall, less and or more, I think full board at our place was $550 or around that, and was typical for the area.

I'd just figure whats fair and go with it, as a business its a little more serious, but things are often negotiated, so both parties are happy, we've had some excellent customers, and some not so good, just the way that business is, its nice when customers own up to their end and do what they they agreed too, and pay on time LOL !

Sounds like you just want a little something for the use of the place and that they are responsible so, should be easy to work out a fair deal.

I've boarded some and being so close to the city I can get top buck, but I would caution anyone boarding about discounting for folks supplying feed and feeding or mucking out their own stalls. Never works! Liable to wind up with starving horses and filthy stalls.
I have my daughters 2 horses here and don't charge her a dime, her husband is a Navy pilot and when they get back they will take their horses with them. Dealing with family is different than dealing with the public, when they are here they are a ton of help.

I boarded my daughters horses for years--till I got tired of feeding them at -15! We"re near Minneapolis and the nearby stable charges her $600 a month. Has an indoor arena so she can ride in winter. Price includes everything. As you get further out from Minneapolis (say 30 miles) the price goes down to around the $300-350 monthly. But checking Craigslist pricing is all over the map.

Wow... Tho the riding arena is a part of that.

Get out here 100 miles or so and its more like $125-150 a horse a month. That is a shelter, water, pasture, all the grass hay they need. Any other feed or care is extra.

Gettingaid is the hard part, probably even harder from family.....

I always enjoy the horse boarding/ hay threads, they bring out good stories.

Paul

2 words: LIABILITY INSURANCE! At least charge them what a 1 million policy will cost you, if a "guest " at your farm is injured, at your farm!

I was asked to be witness in an animal abuse case as a nutrition expert on cattle and horses of which I am neither.They asked me what it would cost to feed the animals in question and if where the seized animals were getting proper care.They were charging the state $17 a day for the cattle and $20 for the horses.My reply was send as many loads as you have and I will be glad to feed them for half.$1.50 a day will more than provide feed water and shelter to animals sustaining their weight.Brood cows about the same until calving.Fat cattle are usually on a gain basis and with corn at around $4.25 probably $.80 a # plus yardage.

The stables I deal with or know about in this area... charge 330-350 per month for a stall, a bale of hay per day, a couple pounds of oats... they clean the stalls, look after turn out, etc. Vet bills, farrier, etc are the responsibility of the owner. Most in this area also have indoor arena's in addition to outdoor rings. There's some that rent stalls/supply hay for mabey 250 per month but the owners do all the work... and there's other variations on the first deal as well.... that most often do NOT work out.
I would say if you're going to board horses, board them and CHARGE for it. Otherwise you'll be doing the work and not getting paid for it.

Rod

a few years ago i had a buddy the rented a small part of a fenced in pasture with a run in on, i charged him $25.00 a week and he got all his hay from me at $2.00 a bale.

1.50 per day would provide less than half of the hay necessary for one average sized horse... 5.00 a day would be a more realistic feed cost. 20.00/day is getting on the upper end for full service care but not really out of line....

Rod

I should add we don't stall them and they have a winter pasture.We have cattle horses so they have a job and earn their keep.Too many horses are not ridden or taken care of and the people that own them should not have them.Horses will consume much more than they need to remain in shape and fat horses can be lazy horses just like other species.I am feeding quality grass hay[plus a liitle grain] at $90 a ton not $8+a bale green feed store hay which is more than twice as high.

Thanks for all the replies, it's really helped my thinking on this.

Many of you alluded to the idea that when people say they will help, they often don't help. I understand! It's looking like I will provide stalls, daily turnout, feeding (the act of feeding, NOT the feed), and mucking.

They will provide hay (either bought from me or elsewhere), any feed they want, and vet services.

Good advice about the liability insurance - I will look into that!

Thanks all!

90/ton is about half what the hay is worth.... It costs that much to make and store it. 8 bucks a bale is where the price should be for good hay in a retail market.

Rod

So, do these horses generate any income? Or are they just pets that you dump large amounts of money into?

Just wondering.

I spend a good bit on my puppy dog, but he sets in the truck seat and keeps me company, and I like to hear a beagle on the trail of a rabbit.

Gene