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Questions About Boarding Horses
Anybody out there boarding horses?
What is the going rate in your area?
Feel free to tell me if I am crazy to consider doing it as a sideline.....
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Questions About Boarding Horses
I own 2 horses, so I know a little about boarding and what horses need.
Rates vary alot with your region. Realise that you can get more for full-care board but then you're the one responsible for looking after the horses daily + feeding them. The other option is to just rent out the stalls or pastures as a self-care thing, but of course you won't get as much money.
Things you will need:
- GOOD fencing. Consider adding electric fence to wood fences. No barbed wire. Hi-tensile isn't the greatest either.
- a safe, well-lit barn and/or run-in shed(s)
- several pastures for turnout; plan on rotating them throughout the year. Pastures all must have some sort of clean water supply.
- insurance!!!
- a love for horses. A general sense when one is sick or injured. You don't want to be sued for negigence when you didn't call the vet/owner because, for example, a horse refused to stand up.
- someone who will watch your place 24 hrs a day if you ever go away for overnight
Also considering adding a riding ring, roundpen, and/or indoor arena if you've got more than one or two boarders. People with horses need places to exercise them and ways to train them. This makes your barn more attractive.
Once you've got everything in place, simply call around to other horse stables in your area and ask them how much they charge and what they offer. I keep my horses on my own property, but in my area I've seen field self-care board for around $175-200 and total full-care board for $300+.
Best of luck to you!
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Questions About Boarding Horses
I have one huge advantage I can offer prospective boarders. I am completely surrounded by hundreds of square miles of public lands.
If one opens the back gate, they are on a 1200 square mile tract of open range. If they choose to ride down the driveway they can ride along the river on even more public land. So I suspect I will not need an exercise ring.
I can fence in about 18,000 square feet to start.... how many horses would that accommodate?
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Questions About Boarding Horses
"If one opens the back gate, they are on a 1200 square mile tract of open range."
Where do you live? That sounds really nice. I wish I could do that.
"I can fence in about 18,000 square feet to start.... how many horses would that accommodate?"
18,000 square feet is about 1/5th an acre. In my opinion this is a pretty small area. You can't have one horse all alone and two horses would destroy all the vegetation in a matter of days. This means the horses must have lots of hay (more expense)& the bare field stays muddy/dusty (extra grooming work).
My two horses temporarily have about a half-acre area right now. It's way too small for two horses (I'm putting in more fencing right now) and that's with me walking the horses in other areas to graze. The grass simply can't grow back fast enough. What isn't immediately crushed under their hooves is eaten the moment it sprouts. I'm also Poopsmith a few times a week, removing or breaking up the manure, especially during warm weather (parasite control / sanitation).
I don't know how much land you have. Can you fence at least one other area in before taking on horses?
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Questions About Boarding Horses
I live in northern Nevada and I don't have grazing land as such. I live on a sagebrush covered hillside. Most folks who keep horses in the neighborhood keep then in corrals and bring feed to them. I am considering the same sort of set-up.
Sounds like manure disposal is a major consideration. I was thinking that since my land is basically a sand dune that I might be able to turn some of it under with a plow or a disk. It could use some extra nutrients anyway. But the county dump is only 4 miles away and I suppose I could haul it there… a lot of folks do.
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I have to deal with manure removal as well. I shovel it into the bucket of my front loader,take it away from the house, and just dump it in a pile. Once the pile gets to be big enough (around 6' is a good size), it will compost nicely. You can then use it to add organic to your own dirt... or offer it to any neighbors who garden. Composted horse dirt is pretty useful.
Your other option which may or may not work (I don't know your climate well)... is just attach a chain harrow to your tractor. Breaking the manure into teeny pieces makes it hard for flies to use, and that's one of the main reasons I have to remove manure. Or alternate between a big weekly clean-up and dragging the field in between.
As far as the corral goes, if you don't have much grass anyway I guess you don't have much to lose. How much is horse-quality hay around there? If it's really high, I'd have the owners buy their own hay/feed and go with a more self-care setup. I'm paying $2.50 a bale here... and it adds up.
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The going rate around here in southern Arizona is about 185 to 200 a month for full board and about half that if the owner feeds and cleans. The really fancy places in Tucson and Phoneix are getting a lot more. I have friends who board horses and they will only do the full board as they had problems with owners who would not feed on time or clean daily. It is a lot of work and you got to do it every day or find some one to do it for you. I too have thousands of ac of state land bordering my property but it is illegal for me to craze it with out a lease. I do ride on it but again technically I am supposed to have a permit from the state to do so. $20 a year. I have never heard of any one being ask for the permit except on the federal land. I do not know what kind of grass you have but I need a good 20 ac per horse unless you want it grazed down to look like the moon.
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Generally, unless you are near enough to a major city, where the real estate prices are through the roof, it's hard to get much more than merely your expenses back.
In more rural areas, your competition are farms and ranch that already have fencing, feed suppliies and a place to store them and the other requirements, and are already feeding some animals. It's pretty tough to compete with operations like that, they already have most of the costs amortized into their operation.
Basically, you will probably make infinitely more money boarding dogs. Up here the big thing is 'doggy daycare' for the people who want a dog but don't have the time M-F to look after and exercise it and don't want their furniture or house generally, destroyed.
The going rate is US$25/day, or $500/month, and it is becoming such a big business that the Vet. I use just built a brand new building just for that purpose, then he rents it out evenings to people who do dog training.
Best of luck.
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Boarding horses is not a sideline, it is a 24/7 operation. If you already are not into it, I think the cost of getting set-up would take years and years to re-coup.
If you are looking for a side line, what about a bed and breakfast type of dude ranch thing. You could maybe charge $750.00 to $1,000.00 per week. It sounds like you have a beautiful area for people to relax. Maybe you could lease mountain bikes or ATV's for people to explore. Either share your living quarters or build a bunkhouse with a Western Theme with Jacuzzi and rent it out when you want to. Here Yuppie,Yuppie!
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