Of course rules only work if they are enforced. Once one person deviates from the rule others will assuredly follow. Your life will be less stressful if you manage your barn with cogent communication via polite requests for compliance. Don’t wait until a rule is routinely disregarded by a boarder before you speak up. There is no benefit in procrastination.
Make What Is/Is Not Provided Crystal Clear
Whatever age your boarder, supervision is important.
Mastering Management Issues with Boarders By Nikki Alvin-Smith
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Photos courtesy of the author
hen you run a horse boarding business, keeping everyone happy is not an easy task. Each person has different wants and needs for their horse, and every personality brings fresh challenges for effective management of their various ideas on horse care and how a horse barn should be operated. As the barn manager or owner, it’s important to begin with the careful selection of any boarder. Try to be realistic about the types of equine or human issues you can work with and avoid those that you know will drive you up the wall. Naturally, you want your barn to be full of boarders and horses, but don’t succumb to adding someone to the barn family that you can clearly see at the outset is not a good match for you or your operation. Of course, there are times when your best intuition fails to foresee a difficult 8
Winter 2019–20 | Riding Instructor
boarder and suddenly you are faced with a stressful situation that makes your daily life miserable. Here are a few tips to help you successfully navigate common issues that may arise.
Barn Rules Rule Avoidance of conflict can often be accomplished by having a definitive list of rules in place for boarders to follow. Post your set of barn rules at a conspicuous location and include the rule list in your boarding contract.
A cause for constant complaint in any barn is the difference in what provisions you wish to provide as a barn owner for the equines in your care, and what supplies the horse owner believes are included in their monthly rate. It is imperative that you provide good care, such as safe clean stalls, fresh water and grain and good quality hay. To avoid conflict about how much bedding, hay and grain you will furnish it is best to include in your contract exactly what is going to be supplied by you in the monthly board rate, and when. For example, three flakes of first cut hay, three times a day, morning, noon and night. There will always be those boarders who want their stall filled with a deeper bed of shavings, prefer straw, want second cut hay only, etc. Whatever bedding, grain or hay you provide, it is a good idea to have an extra supply available for purchase by your boarders on request. This will help protect your own assets from errant acquisition by boarders. If it is practical, provide a separate space with an extra stash of hay and bedding away from your own supply. If possible, lock up your own supply. Have a sign where people must sign the date, time and exactly what they took, so that they may be billed accordingly. If this doesn’t turn out to work, and it well may not, instead re-write any contract to provide for the changes wanted, and bill accordingly.
Keeping People Honest Unfortunately, everyone cannot be trusted, so installation of an inexpensive camera system in public areas such as hay/feed stalls,
