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Anyone board horses?

M

morgan in ar

Member
I am buying another farm, and I am going to need to make a little more money with it than I can with a few cows and hay bales. It's already set up for horses, with an arena, round pen, and barn with stalls. It also has some wooded areas and hilltop fields that would be nice for riding. I know some about horses, but I don't know anything about city people with horses they pay to keep on other people's property. Honestly, I don't know why someone would do such a thing. I've sold hay to horse people over the years, I kind of know what I'll be dealing with in that respect.

Any input?
 
I would talk to a lawyer and cover your behind. There is a few places around me that board and they're always running ads. Evidently they have trouble keeping boarders. Another option may be leasing the whole barn but then you take the risk of one person not paying you and sticking you with a bunch of horses. I have known boarders that have horses left on them when the boarder couldn't afford the bill anymore.
 
I've done it on and off for years. I have found most people want you to take care of there horse for them and they might come and see there horses once in a while as in maybe once a week if your lucky
 
save your self a lot of pain and grief and just shoot yourself most city horse people are a pain in the as- no way can you make them happy . trust me i know !!!!!!
 
I worked on thoroughbred boarding, breeding and layup farms for 30 years, our job was to care for the horses, get them in foal, ect, the owners paid vet bills, black smith, teeth work ext, we provided hay and grain. You just never know if a owner is going to pay the boarding bill, we have had horses dumped on us as owner wouldent pay the boarding bill! No one was allowed to ride on ether farm i worked on because of the insurance liability, which wasent a problem as the horses were retired track horses that became broodmares, look into that before you let anyone ride on your property though. Good luck.
 
Well if you kind of know. Then you should kind of know. Not to do it.Friend of mine has two that the owners kind of forgot about over three years ago.
 
when we moved in the farm we live at now,which has a 40x60 barn with 9 seperate 10x10 stalls,we had really considered boarding horses to make some extra money.BUT after looking far into it,you need A LOT of insurance,and as you know,people who board their horses are a special kind of picky, so they want rubber mats everywhere,feed buckets at right height,obviously they will expect you to supply the finest hay,then theirs farriers, and dentists, and vets.(still can't believe their are horse dentists).I know you just plan on renting out stalls,but "them city folk" will expect all this and much, much more,not to mention WHO WILL CLEAN THE STALLS DAILY.and as Old said below,they won't be their everyday to take care of them,because that's inconvenient for the owners.they just want the pleasure of riding every couple of weeks so they can take a picture of them riding a horse to show their friends..there are many less stressful ways to make pocket money,and I personally think that unless you plan on running a full blown horse board/care facility their is really no practical way to do it unless renting to a good neighbor/friend.that is just my opinion.I don't mean to be a nay sayer,but i think you are cutting yourself short with horses,or will be when you get handed the bills.if you have the property,i would check out raising steer,or feeder pigs,maybe even a tree nursery.just a couple of ideas.

Rock
 
You should talk to your insurance man as to what you will need for insurance coverage and cost. To really make money boarding horses and maximize the potential of your facility you need to offer things like riding lessons,training of horses ,transporting horses, possibly showing horses for people etc. I have sold hay to a couple horse boarding operations and also have a large boarding/training/schooling operation near me that has been successful for a long time , it is all family run and the mother and one daughter do lessons etc . There have been a couple other people in our area try the same thing and have not succeeded long term. Another successful smaller operation that a friend of mine owned , his wife did a lot of training for people who boarded there until age/health caused them to retire. In my opinion to do well in the horse business you need to be a "horse person" with a lot of "horse sense" as well as enough money behind you to make a go of it. You might be able to rent the horse facilities to someone who will run it and you could supply them with hay. Good luck.
 
You can make money at it but you will earn it.Just like renting to someone do a background and credit check if they won't pay other people they won't pay you either no matter what they claim.Have a contract they sign as to what level of care,who pays what,any shelter,feed,hay etc you provide.How you expect the horses to be cared for,what happens if they don't pay the bill,like how long the horses stay before they become your property to be able to sell them for the money owed,etc etc etc.You need to like horses for sure,wouldn't be for me I can't stand the dang things unless they are big old work horses.
 
If you have sold hay to some over the years I can't believe you would even consider this. You are not thinking clearly for some reason. It is never just her that comes out. No, it is her and her best friend and 6 kids from the neighborhood and the family dogs. Dogs running around through your garden digging everything all to hell. Kids climbing around in your sheds and on your tractors. pulling on the levers and turning the lights on. Then climbing up your apple trees knocking half the apples off. Then can Ashley go in your house to use the bathroom and her 2 friends go with her. If you can't figure out some other way to make it cash flow then back out of the deal.
 
I have done some and rented a stable out to a guy for some years he brought the hay from me and I charged him 25.00 a week for pasture, now my daughter has a friend that just started doing this and she is paying 100.00 week for pasture and hay and the barn not much to talk about from what my daughter says. anything else is extra on that deal. I still have 3 of my daughters on the farm but they will be the last, time to run some beef.
 
I've known a few people that board horses. Around here it seems that people that board horses most likely can't afford a horse to begin with and it made a lot of problems collecting the money. I don't understand how anyone can own an animal that makes no money and pay for feed, housing, vet bills, bedding and any other cost associated with the animal. Makes them awfully expensive to own in my opinion.
 
Interesting comments. So, here is my story and opinion: my parents bought a place set up for horses about 40 years ago and boarded them for about 25 years. We did all the physical maintenance of mowing, fence building and repairs, tree cutting, etc. very similar to any rental property. The place had a small apartment so they had an arrangement where a person could live in the apartment and keep one horse as compensation for feeding and watering the other 10. Over the years I would call it break even as the income paid for all repairs and improvements. But if you own a farm with buildings you will have that. Eventually the cost of insurance and the ‘Commercial Stable’ regulations tipped the scales along with my parents getting past retirement age and their ‘helper’ kids becoming adults and moving on. Now for my opinions: like all farm work, the more you do directly, the more money you keep. It is not easy money. I would do it again however the place we bought is not set up for horses and that initial expense is too much. I only saw a few bad things over the years and would say nothing beyond normal associated with animals or people. The negatives would be constant work or repairs, insurance company makes the easiest money of all and with barns and people, junk tends to accumulate. My opinion is go for it mostly because you can try it out with very little initial expense. That tips the scales for you.
 
Might better gut the inside and rent out for shed space to store equipment in for the winter months. Would be less strain and easier money. You would put equipment in and out they just come pick up and drop off. Get the check in the fall and done till the next year. You would need doors that are about 17-18 feet high for combines and the newer tractors though. Would want them at least 16 feet wide also 20 would be better.
 
I never boarded but my experience with horse people is they're all a bit nutty. There are quite a few horse farms in my area and going by the real estate signs the seem to change hands every five to eight years.
 
It sounds like you will not be living on this additional farm. That adds an additional trip to the new farm any time you need to care for any livestock and maybe several trips a day to care for horses.

Can you easily divide the farm so you would only keep the portion that you can put to good use and then sell off the horse portion to someone else that is more interested in keeping horses? Would there be space to add a house on the horse portion and turn it into an acreage? Renting out the horse portion to recoup some of your costs might be possible, but unless you can buy the horse portion at a very low price, it might not generate any profit.

Long term, I would expect money to stay tight for the next decade or more, limiting the money people will have available to spend on horses or horse properties. That will hurt your future resale value of the horse portion. Myself, I would keep looking for a property that better suits my needs and interests.
 
A couple more thoughts, are there any boarders there now and will they stay on ? That might make it easier as long as they are paying their bill.And is there anything else you can do with the property to make it cash flow such as renting storage space in the buildings or some other agricultural venture. Did the prior owners board horses or was this place just for their own horses ? As other posts mentioned you will have people around to contend with, you will probably want bathroom facilities for them as well as adequate parking and some may want to leave their horse trailers there .
 
I’d rather milk cows. It’s easier And the Money Is better than dealing with crazy horse people!
Most can’t afford their horses. Most don’t even ride them. You can sell a horse person anything, especially if they read it in a horse magazine. Problem is, none of them have any money. So they continuually try to get you to lower your prices. They Complain about everything; the hay is too old, too wet, too dry, too many weeds in it, too little TDN, bla bla bla bla. They will tell you the barn roof leaks, there is mud by the water tank, can we park our broken rusty trailer for free, bla bla bla. Then if you let them, they will rut up your yard and complain that you did put enough gravel on the lawn. Just my experience. You can do as you wish.
 
agree 100% I would shine shoes on the corner with a toothbrush before I would ever sell hay or rent a stall/ground to a horse owner,, now are there good ones Sure is,, but those real horse people have their own ground to store them on, biggest bunch of liars and thieves around here are the city horse owners,, you could not pay me enough to sell them a bale of hay or let them bring a horse on me,,
 
I have several horse people that come back every year for hay , never complain , and say its the best hay they can get. They send their friend over and they complain about the hay the whole time they have and then will call you the next year! no way
 
I think a lot of people quickly realize that the boarding fees cost more than the horse is worth. I could foresee having trouble getting some to pay, and also getting stuck with a few horses people no longer want. You would also be basically forced to stay home 365 days/year. When horse people pay for boarding, they want a full time babysitter for their horses.

Not worth it.
 
Some around but NO WAY would I ever consider something like that. First thing is you could not afford the insurance for having only your own horses let alone anybody elses horses.
 
It depends alot on area and your place. Around here boarding is a good sideline or business. I live north of Dayton ohio and stall rent starts at $325.00 a month. Owner has choice of buying hay and grain from you or hauls some in. Insurance is not that expensive, all you need is liability and owner is covers his own horse. Granted you have to keep up the buildings and pens. They charge you for cleaning pens and feeding the horse or owner can do it. You can figure between stall rent and feeding $425.00 plus a month. Most of them pay in cash money witch has a big advantage. Like I said depends on area . Of course they can store trailer at extra cost
 
Just an off the wall idea. Could the property (barn, arena, etc.) be easily & cheaply converted to RV storage? Lots of people pay lots of money for that in the current time. kelly
 
I think people, today, watch too many westerns, myself included . it costs a lot of money, to ride off into the sunset today. you could get hanged today, a lot easier, than yesterday, good luck, cowboy.
 
You have gotten some good advice, unless you can iron out every aspect of the boarding arrangement, pencil it out carefully, even then, I'd be leery of embarking on such a venture. My father has been involved again with this in the last 20 years, as have I prior to getting back to a career job, trust me, don't quit your day job, this can and will be a headache unless you can arrange it favorably. They also play with horses themselves, the money they waste compared to revenue, total loser, it's like a gambling or drug habit. The boarding can and will make money with the right boarders involved at the right price, otherwise run quickly away from it, it's a gypsy business at least, and typically a loser with a lot of potential for many undesirable things to occur. Really not an easy thing to decide on unless you can lay out your terms in your favor, they agree to it and actually abide by it, as well as pay on time.
 
Get 6 months bording in advance and when the first monthe is past get the 7th month boarding and keep on that schedual so you are covered for the cost of getting rid of the animal when they no longer want it.
 
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