What exactly are you paying for when you board a horse?

Question

How can I negotiate to make it cheaper?

Answer 1

You get what you pay for.

full board they will do everything for you, feed, water, turn out, muck stalls, ect.  they set how often and how much they do but you get everything done.

anything else you end up paying for what you get, there places out there that charge 100 bucks a month, your horse is in a field and you do everything for the horse.

the full board places start at 350+ a month, and the good places are starting at 400+ a month.

people work at the barn inorder to cut down on the cost. . . other then that the barn owners are running a bizz and they have to at least cover their costs.

it all comes down to you get what you pay for and if you dont want to pay alot you are going to have to do more.

Answer 2

your paying for them to keep their land and make a living--with a BIG farm with a nice barn and ring it costs A LOT to buy that land, pay taxes on it, and pay off how much it cost to have the barn built (upwards of 30,000 if it has more than 4 stalls). This is more true for barns located near major cities or populated areas. Also care and supervision of your horse and hay. I wouldn't try to negotiate the price--its only fair that all boarders pay the same amount. Try working around the barn to lower your board OR some barns offer a reduced boarding charge if the owner allows the barn to use their horse in lessons. Or if your really having a problem paying your board and don't ride everyday try finding someone to half lease your horse for 2 or 3 days a week. You can charge them AT LEAST half your horses monthly expenses

Answer 3

Unless you're a trainer, you pay to ride someone else's horse, they don't pay you. If you are hired to exercise a horse, as when someone gallops race horses, then you are paid for that service.

Mucking one stall, and not the whole barn, is worth something, but not a lot.  The barn still has to deal with the manure and bedding you remove from the one stall.  What that costs the owner varies according to how it is disposed of. Big barns often strip the stalls once a week, and all that is done in between is picking out piles or soaked bedding.

By your own chores, I'm guessing you mean turnout, feeding, and watering of your own horse?  Whether or not you purchase the feed yourself would be a factor, and watering would just be the labor, since the owner provides the water.  The owner also pays electric, liability insurance, overall property maintenance such as mowing, fence repair, barn repair, etc.

Would you buy your own bedding?  The thing is, if you buy your own feed and bedding, etc, those are still costs you incur.  So you really only have your labor to bargain with.

I know of one place around here that keeps the horses on pasture with run-in 24/7, and if you want, you can rent a stall for a monthly fee, and you use it, clean it, etc. as you see fit.  You must meet their standard for keeping it clean, and dispose of your own bedding via garbage containers.....manure can be thrown out into the pasture, but bedding can't. That might be the kind of operation you are looking for.

It's good to know all of the owner's costs when you negotiate.  Some places don't offer that anyway, but it never hurts to ask.

Answer 4

What I consider as what I'm paying for:

-Daily turnout, bringing them in

-Stall cleaning

-Feed & feeding

-Providing the horses with water (outside) and maitenance of the auto waterers (inside)

-Hay + haying

-Paddock cleaning

-Arena maitenence

-Fence maitenence

At our barn they also take off wet blankets, put them to dry, then put them back on, when the horses come in from bad weather

Maybe if you can commit to coming everyday, you can negotiate, saying you will clean your horse's stall/paddock, or even see if they need someone to do stalls/turnout/feeding etc a couple times a week.

Some people however, won't negotiate on their board cost.

Answer 5

There are 3 main types of board:

Full board- the most expensive but food and care are usually taken care of thi can cost from $500-1200 a month

Pasture board- you horse lives in a pasture with shelter he is watered and feed. You provide feed and basic care, clean up is usually on them. This can cost $200-$400 a month

Rough board- this is the cheapest but they can tie you down. Forget going on vacation or staying out late or working over time. Rough boarders may or may not get a stall it depends on the place's policy. If you get a stall you must do everything for the horse include foot his food bill. If you do not get a stall he will be in pasture and you are again in charge of his every need. This ranges from $150-$250 a month. Though unless you have taken care of a horse on your own before, I recommend pasture where the horse is at least cleaned up after and fed if you can not get there.

Be careful, if your horse is a warm or hot blooded breed and your winters are harsh he should ahve a stall. If he is not or your weather is mild then pasture is fine.

Sometimes I allow boarders to work off some of the board. But I only do this to a minimal amount. they are only working there a couple hours. Normal stables hands are min. wage which is what is reduced from the board bill. ie. if they work 2 hours a day, 2 x 7 = 14 they work 5 days a week 14 x 5 is $70 a week time 4 is $280 off of the board. I only allow this if they are paying at least $100 more than that reduction, they can not stay for free.

As for negotiating, I would tell the person to leave. If they are trying to cheap out on board it tells be they do not have the money and will not pay me and they are not allowed in my stable. Avoid this. Instead ask to work off some of it.

good luck

Answer 6

When you pay for full care board, you usually are paying for food/grain/hay, watering, stall/shavings/stall mucking daily, turnout (if available), and for the owner of the farm, insurance, etc.  If you do chores, it usually would make it cheaper.  That's called partial care board.  Also, if you get pasture board, they don't get a stall and it's usually a lot cheaper.  Good luck!

Answer 7

that is not included, i had to do that anyway. it pays for feed, hey, water, using the arena, i think at someplaces for the farrior,  

to make it cheaper, say you will help by working their, they might hire you to work there so the bored will be cheaper, that is what i used to do when i didnt own land

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Answer 8

It depends where you board. If you get full board, then the chores like feeding and mucking out get done for you. You still have to ride though

Some places include hay, some don't, it all depends

Answer 9

Having the horse work at a riding school. Wen your paying for board normally it includes: bedding, feild/paddock use, feed, etc.

Charlotte x

Answer 10

where i boarded it was 15 dollars per day (400/ month) for full care board. to make it cheaper, you muck the stalls and clean the barn/s for however much the owner says. sometimes it includes the pastures, sometimes not; let the owner use your horse for lessons.

Answer 11

firstly full board is normally everything included bar riding. So to start with you can:

- muck out the stall yourself

-buy your own feed and bedding(possibly find a cheaper seller than the one they are using)

-feed and turnout yourself

you could also arrange to help an evening a week with the horses that are on full board and use that money as extra?

hope this helps!