This Topic May Get Me In Trouble, But...

I have had a lot of conversations lately about price. I recognize that my board price is at the top of the heap in this area, and I have had many inquiries end in, “I can’t afford that.” I will say that it is something that I struggled with when I first decided to go into this business, bought the property and started upgrading it. The question was, do I start lower and raise prices as upgrades and additions are added or start high and keep the price as is for the foreseeable future? Ultimately I decided to start high, figuring that it may be harder to get people in the door, but those that were here would be happier with a fixed price.

When you consider that in hay, grain and bedding a horse can cost upwards of $250 just to keep on your property, then you include taxes, insurance, maintenance, equipment, gas, mortgage and labor, not to mention the cost of the facilities themselves, it all adds up. I knew coming into this that with the going rate in board in the area, I would not see a return on my investment in the arenas.

The key to making any money at all with the prices charged around here is to either have fewer than ten horses and do all of the work as the owner yourself or have over thirty and so be able to afford to hire help. That is why most of the barns with between twelve and twenty-five horses have closed or are for sale. The numbers simply don’t work.

Now, I don’t want anyone to think this blog post is a complaint, because it isn’t. I was well aware of these numbers when I decided to go in to this, but as a boarder I was not entirely aware. I grumbled as much as the next person when board went up. I see a whole other side of it now. When the footing at your barn is dusty, it isn’t on purpose. Life working in a barn is hectic and things probably froze before anyone got around to treating it, and dust free footing isn’t cheap! When there isn’t mounds of bedding in your horse’s stall, it’s not because anybody wants your horse to be uncomfortable. It is because the profit margin is so narrow any extra can mean not making any money on that stall that month. When things don’t get fixed in a timely manner and start to look run down, it isn’t because anyone wants it that way. It is because they can’t afford to hire a handyman or grounds keeper and no one has the time or possibly the know how to do it themselves.

Barn owners and managers absolutely have a responsibility to take proper care of the horses that they are entrusted with and to keep their facilities safe and in good working order. However, horse owners also bear the responsibility of being willing to pay for the care and facilities that they want for their horses. When you consider the cost involved in building, maintaining and caring for the property and the horses on it, $700 doesn’t really seem so outrageous after all.