The Novice Horseman Blog

In my last post I talked about my ordeal finding a new horse boarding facility.  I thought the questions I asked might be helpful.

You can download the top 20 questions that were most important to me.

The obvious questions:

• What type of board do you offer and what are the rates for each?  There are a number of possibilities  –  full service stall or pasture, self-service stall or pasture, pasture only, etc.
• If you want a stall for your horse, how big are the stalls?  Most stalls are either 10’x10’ or 12’x12’.  The size of the stall should match the size of your horse.  A pony or small horse will do fine in the smaller stall, but a larger horse (say over 15h) would be better off in the larger stall.
• How long are the stalled horses allowed outside each day?  Every horse needs some time outside either in a run, paddock or pasture.  Horses need daily exercise and they should be allowed to free graze for a few hours each day.  This makes for a healthier, happier horse.
• How many horses are turned out on each pasture?  You want to make sure that the pastures are not over grazed.  Depending on the condition of the pasture, a lush green pasture could support 1 horse per 1½ – 2 acres.  If there are more, the pasture should be supplemented with hay.
• Are the horses pastured according to gender?  Some barns will have their pastures designated as mare or gelding pastures.
• What type of grain and hay are used?  If the feed is not the same as you use, bring enough feed for your horse for a minimum of 1 week of feedings.  This can be mixed with the new feed and transition your horse slowly to the new feed.
• If your horse is on a special diet, does the facility provide that feed?  If not, will they provide it and charge you the difference between the different feeds?  If you have to provide your own special feed, will the facility give you a discount on your board bill?
• How many times a day do you feed?  Some boarding facilities feed twice a day, some feed only once a day, but I have heard of others that feed 3 or 4 times a day.  What ever it is, know the feeding schedule and what is being fed at each one.  Discuss any changes that your horse may need with the owner or manager.
• What vaccinations or medical records are required to move in?  The most important and common health paper required is a negative Coggins.  You also may be required to provide a health certificate.
• Is there an arena and what type is it (indoor or outdoor)?  Arenas are a big plus for me. 
• Is there a round pen?  This gives you a small area to do concentrated training without worrying about being in the way of others in a large arena.  It is also great for lunging your horse or groundwork.
• Is there a tack room?  It is nice to have a place to put your tack and grooming supplies on the premises.  I have come across a few places that did not offer a tack room.

Some not so obvious questions:

• What hours/days is the boarding facility open?  I’ve found a facility that was closed on Sundays and I’ve found one that as only open from 8 am to 8 pm.  Both assured me that the facility was open if there was a sick or injured horse that needed medical attention.  Make sure you know the hours of operation.
• Are there extra fees for services rendered by the staff?  This is an important question that is often missed.  Make sure you know what each fee is because they can add up in a hurry and make your reasonable monthly board bill prohibitive.  An example of what extra fees could be are for trailer parking, holding your horse for the farrier/vet in your absence, putting on/removing blankets or adding the supplements you provide for your horse.
• Is there a wash rack?  If there is a wash rack, find out if it is indoors or if it has hot and cold water.  If not, they may have a specific place where you are permitted to wash your horse.
• Does the gate need an access code to open?  Not all facilities have this.  If you decide on a facility that does, make sure you get the code.
• Does the facility have a resident vet or farrier?  Some facilities like to use one vet or farrier and have all work done by their chosen professionals.  There is an advantage to this as it may reduce the cost of vet farm calls or get a group rate from the farrier.  You should be able to use your own vet or farrier at any facility, but make sure by asking before you move in.
• Does the facility have a regular vaccination program?  This means that the facility sets up an appointment with the resident vet to vaccinate all of the horses, pull a Coggins, float teeth etc. at the same time.
• Does the facility schedule trimming/shoeing with its resident farrier?  The stable I’m at now schedules all horses in 2 visits with its own farrier.  This can help keep the cost down.
• Is there training/lessons available?  If not, ask if bringing your own trainer/instructor is permissible.
• Are there accessible bathrooms?  This may seem like an odd question, but I looked at a couple of facilities that did not offer bathrooms to the boarders.  This could be problematic if you have children or you just had too much coffee before going to ride.

There could be questions that you may not even know to ask of the facility or your vet/farrier:

• If the facility owner is the only one doing the work, how are the horses taken care of when the owner is sick or on vacation?  This may only be a problem with the smaller boarding facilities that do not employ additional help.  Even with the larger facilities, ask who will be taking care of your horses.
• Can a friend bring their horse to ride with you in arena or trails?  Not all boarding facilities will allow non-boarding horses on the property for health reasons.  There are some very contagious illness that can sweep rapidly sweep through a barn.  I have seen a few boarding facilities that have riding memberships available.  There is a small fee per ride or per month and a yearly current Coggins must be on file with the facility office.
• Are the arenas, wash racks, tack rooms etc available to all boarders?  I’ve heard of some facilities that only allow the full service stall boarders use indoor arenas etc.  If you are on a lesser board option, make sure you know what you get to use.
• Will your vet go to this facility?  You can call your vet’s office to find out if there will be any change in the farm call fee.
• Will your farrier go to this facility?  Ask your farrier if he will travel to the new facility.  If so, you need to ask if his rates will change.
• Is there an emergency plan in case of fire, flood, etc?  This is a question most people don’t even think about until some act of nature hits them.  Whatever the cause, you need to know if there is action plan if your horses need to evacuate from the boarding facility.

You may have other questions that pertain to your particular needs.  If you do, write them down or add them to the list I provided  so you don’t forget to ask them when you visit a horse boarding facility.

I’ve been at my present horse boarding facility for over 20 years.  Wow, that’s a looong time you say.  Yes it is.  I had no reason to move.  I liked where I was.  I liked the people, the barn manager, the other horses and the barn owner.  Unfortunately, the bad economy and the ever increasing cost of feed are forcing the boarding facility to close its doors.

I found myself in unfamiliar territory.  I hadn’t had to really look for a boarding facility since I got my first horse over 30 years ago.  The horse boarding facilities where I’d been to this point were either recommended by friends or my friends were currently boarding at them.  This time I had no such recommendations.  So, I had to set out from scratch to find a new place that best fit my needs and my horses’ needs.

How you ask?  I started on the internet.  You’d be surprised (or maybe not) how many facilities come up when doing a search that includes the town you want to be near (horse boarding Tulsa, horse stables Dallas, etc).  Out of the 20+ boarding facilities that came up, I found 8 boarding facilities that looked promising in my target area.  I made a spreadsheet that had the name of each stable, the contact person, phone numbers and address.  I’m making this available to you.

Click here to download my spreadsheet.

I called each one. The very first thing I asked was “Is there space available for my 2 horses”.  Since I had a relatively short time frame, if there was not room there would be point no need to go any farther.  If I had a longer time frame, I could have asked to be put on their waiting list.  If there was room, I proceeded with getting information.  Depending on the information I received on the phone, I had to make a decision if I wanted to put the facility on my list.

Do yourself a favor before you start this process and decide what would be a deal breaker for crossing off a horse boarding facility.  It could be too far away, no trainer, no stall, too expensive, not the right riding discipline, facility is just too large or too small etc.  It could be a number of things.  Just make sure you know what is most important to you and your horses.

I set up an appointment for the 5 boarding facilities that made my final list.  I made sure to leave my name and phone number in case the barn manager or owner needed to contact me.

1^st rule:  BE ON TIME for any scheduled appointment!!!  If you can’t make it or you’re running late, call the facility.  They may decide it’s best to reschedule.

2^nd rule:  Take a notebook with you to write down information.  If you’re like me, I can’t remember things for too long.  When I have a notebook, it helps me ask the same questions of all the facilities.

I took all of the information and entered it in my spreadsheet.  This made it easy to compare all of the boarding facilities with each other.  I also didn’t forget to consider what I saw when I visited each facility.  Was it clean?  Were the stalls clean and have a good layer of wood shavings?  Were the stalls/fences/gates etc in good repair?  Was there clean water available for the horses?  Was the feed room clean and appear free of pests?

I also look for a friendly environment.  I note if the owner or manager is easy to talk to and how forth coming they are with information.  I also take in consideration the riding style of the facility or if it is solely a show barn and how well I might fit in.

For me this was a nerve wracking process.  I wanted to make sure I picked the best facility I could afford.  I had a little more than month to locate, compare and pick a new horse boarding facility.  I tried not to get discouraged if a facility didn’t work out.

Of the 5 horse boarding facilities, I narrowed my choices to 3.  Over the next few weeks, I changed my mind a couple of times as to which would be best for me.  When I finally made my decision, I informed the lucky facility that I would like to move my horses there if the openings were still available.  I couldn’t move in until the end of the month.  I asked what it would take to hold the spaces.  We agreed on a deposit to hold the openings.  Now I’m waiting for my vet appointment so that I have the necessary paper work.

I’m glad this process is finally over.  I’m ready to start the next adventure.  I hope this isn’t going to be an omen, I’m moving on April 1.

Check back for Part 2 for an exact list of important questions to ask when looking for a horse boarding facility.

At one time, I actually managed a self-service barn.  It wasn’t very large, just 10 stalls, a large tack/feed room, riding arena & about a 5 acre pasture.  This property was one of several that was at end of the flight path to my town’s airport.    The largest of the properties was about a 30 acre pasture.  This made a significant greenbelt region in town.

The wildlife varied.  In the spring & fall, there were the migrating birds that landed looking for food in the pasture.  There was even a red fox that showed up but never stopped.  It made its hurried travel through the pasture to get to cover in the next property.  There were the urban possums & rabbits.  You could catch a glimpse of an occasional owl at dusk in the fall.  The one critter that seemed to make it’s home somewhere near (or under) the buildings was a skunk.

I was running late to feed Iggette one night.  I turned on the light in the feed room and there I was, having a stare contest with a skunk.  I almost killed myself backing out of the feed room before it decided to spray everything in sight.  When safely on the other side of the doorway, I noticed that the skunk was not concerned with my presence.  It was merrily eating the cat food that someone had left for the barn cats.  I waited until the skunk had it’s fill and waddled back under the hay & out of sight.

For the next few weeks, the skunk & I came to an understanding.  I had put my lunge whip next to the door.  When I turned on the light & if the skunk was there eating, I tapped it on the back with the whip.  It would look at me and then move under the hay.  Fortunately, it wasn’t my hay so I could do what I needed to do in the feed room.  Each time I left, it would reappear to eat.  Each time I would come back, I would tap it on the back and it would move back under the hay.  The amazing point is it never offered to spray me or the room.  It was never aggressive.

One night, my husband came with me.  I was behind him when he turned on the the light to the feed.  I don’t think I ever saw anyone move as fast as he did getting out that room.  He bumped into me, almost knocking me down.  I thought he had seen a snake or wasp or something like that.  My husband is irrationally wary of wasps, hornets, etc because of an unfortunate encounter with hornets as a young boy.  I asked him what was the matter.  He looked at me & replied “SKUNK!”  I told him I knew there was a skunk.  I told him to move and reached for my whip.  By now, the skunk knew the routine and just moved back without being tapped.  It stayed put until I was out of the feed room and then moved back to the food.  My husband was utterly amazed at our strange routine, but he didn’t offer to help with anything that was inside.

This strange relationship went on into the winter.  Then the skunk disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared.  I never saw it again.

With humankind ever encroaching on nature, some wildlife is adapting to urban ways.  This incident gave me cause to do some research.  Wild skunks usually stay away from humans.  Skunks can carry rabies.

Where am I going with this?  I highly encourage vaccinating your horse for rabies as part of your annual shots.  I started giving my horse a rabies shot shortly after the skunk moved in.  I continue giving my horses a rabies shot every year.  I have persuaded most of my friends to give rabies shots to their horses, whether they board in town or have a place in the country.

You protect your dog & cat from rabies.  Why not protect your horse.

As always, don’t forget to let me know what YOU think.