How much is too much for board?

harvest_moon · 09-24-2006, 01:47 PM

So I have been leasing out the stalls in my new barn. My facilities include an indoor arena with viewing area, 160x70 outdoor sand arena, 60 foot round pen, 20 acres of pasture (4 different pastures) and over 300 acres of land/trails on which to ride.
My full board is $250 a month. This includes feeding my feed 2x day, hay, worming and daily stall cleaning, plus use of any of the arenas anytime.
I had several people come out and look at the place this weekend. They are paying about $200/month for board and have no place to ride whatsoever. No arenas, no trails, nothing. They claim that I am charging too much. FYI, most places closer to Columbus are charging 300-600 per month, and they do not have the facilities we do!
So am I charging too much? If you don't mind me asking, what are some of you paying, and what does your board include?
Thanks in advance!
J

PaintGirl · 09-24-2006, 01:52 PM

I dont board but my Friends do and they pay anywere from $300-$450

eieio · 09-24-2006, 01:57 PM

I do not board but this would be the range I wouyld charge in if I were to board with my current facilities. You sound extremely reasonable to me!

Thoraint · 09-24-2006, 02:09 PM

Where we board, our horse is fed 3 x a day and water buckets are cleaned every two days and refilled, his stall and paddock(30x30) is cleaned if my daughter doesn't do it(which she usually does because 12 horses there to look after). There is a cross country course, tons of trails, a 2-3 acre jump field with jumps(also the turnout field), a 60 foot roundpen, and a huge sand ring. My daughter is allowed to ride in whatever ring whenever. In all the stalls, bedding is provided. Just yesterday, bark mulch was put in every stall and shavings. Also they are blanketed when the weather gets nasty. We pay $150 a month BUT we buy the hay, and we worm. I think you are have a very reasonable price. There is another place with an indoor and no roundpen and 1 small outdoor ring and you have to pay them extra to pick your pen($50 a month) and use the arena($70 a month). They charge $220 plus you have to buy your own hay and worm.

Remember this is Canadian dollars also

pstepp · 09-24-2006, 02:10 PM

That sounds VERY reasonable to me! Your place sounds great!!

jules1962 · 09-24-2006, 02:16 PM

In the Metro Atlanta area I have found Full Board prices from $250 per month to $600 per month depending on the area North Atlanta, higher versus south of Atlanta where I am. At the barn my friend is building he is going to charge $300-350 per month for full board.
I just pasture board my horses, they are happier being out.

Morwen · 09-24-2006, 02:17 PM

The barn I board at sounds much like yours... except with less land to trail ride on! I pay about $260-$280 for board, and I think yours sounds VERY reasonable! Trust me, you'll find some people who'll be happy to pay that much.

Rio's Girl · 09-24-2006, 02:17 PM

right now i pay about 200 a month for food/board (i buy all his extra stuff though.
its a great place for me, but i've been to barns that charge $600 a month<= i couldnt believe that one!

Shiloveshorses · 09-24-2006, 02:35 PM

Right now I pay 150 per month per horse, that only includes feed and hay. There is no roundpen, no arena and no trails to ride. They are just in a pasture fed twice a day. I have been checking around to see where else I can find to board them but nothing has space and everything else is 150 to 300 dollars HIGHER. Unless I want to drive an hour each way to see them. Then I can get a pasture, no run ins, feed and hay with worming. Also no roundpen but a jump course and a barrel course to ride.
But get this, I found a place in the next town over with a HUGE castle like barn, arenas, none indoor, a trails but for are you sitting down, you sure, don't fall out on me 800 DOLLARS A MONTH,

for one horse, they feed twice a day, stall, clean it, groom the horse, hay, shavings, everything for 800 DOLLARS a month. They don't pay the vets bills, you still have to pay for lessons, still pay the farrier for 800 dollars a month. I could barely speak after that conversation. The job I am in now wouldn't cover the boarding. I have two horses and one to be born sometime soon I hope. That would be 2400 dollars for board.

Lady_MCSE · 09-24-2006, 03:09 PM

Quote:

800 DOLLARS A MONTH

That's what I was gonna say . . . there is a place like that around here. I only went in because it was right next door to one of the sites I support (about 15 miles from home, but "on the way to work" for me).

They apparently think that a horse's purpose in life is to be cooped up in a stall 24x7. They charged $825 a month with extra for turnout, extra for exercising it, extra for tacking it up for you, extra for picking hooves for you, extra for bathing for you . . . I could go on . . .but I was already pretty sick about the thought of those poor guys in there . . . it was a hunter\jumper barn, probably full of horses way more expensive than I could ever afford.

PS: Edited to add - at that point, why don't those boarders just buy a hummer and leave the poor horses alone?

PPS: Your rates sound reasonable.

tuffsmom · 09-25-2006, 07:51 AM

We pay 275 per month for outside board. Our horses are in a big drylot. She charges 375 for inside board. Outside board includes free choice hay and grain 2x a day. We have full access to a big indoor arena, big outdoor arena, round pen, tack room, wash rack with hot and cold water. If needed we get a stall when one of the horses need to have stall rest.

banjo's mom · 09-25-2006, 08:49 AM

I was paying $140 a month per horse plus worming in the summer- then $175 plus worming in the winter. During the summer, my horse was pastured, brought to the barn in the evenings for a feeding, and turned back out again. In winter, they were stalled overnight, fed of an evening and morning, and turned out of a day. The facilities had an outdoor roundpen, outdoor arena, and only two different trails to ride on. I had full access to these, plus the tackroom.
I think your price is very reasonable for your area, and for what your facilities have to offer. If those folks think you're too expensive, then tell them to look somewhere else.

MaggyMae · 09-25-2006, 09:09 AM

You have a GREAT price for everything you offer! Here in northern Ohio, the places I know of charge $175-200 for pasture with a run-in and round bales, nothing in the way of facilites.... to $450 for full stall board which includes everything except vet and farrier.. . still not much except a round pen and nice pasture for turnout.

People around Columbus would be lucky to find a place like yours.

NHIceGSD · 09-25-2006, 09:13 AM

I was paying $850, but there are places closer to Boston that were getting closer to $1000 ( Of course your horse is groomed, tacked and ecercised for you... where's the fun in that? )
Anyway, for my 850, we did have 12x12 stalls, 2 outdoor jumping rings, an indoor and a mini x country course.
The trails were so-so, as you had to brave 2 main roads to get to any of them.

morgansmom · 09-25-2006, 09:35 AM

I pay $100, and I have to buy hay & wormer. I have a semi-private paddock for turnout, a 10x12? stall (they will turnout if I ask, but I have to clean the stall), outdoor arena, roundpen, he's building a covered arena. There's access to miles & miles of trails on state owned land. The roundpen and arena aren't pretty, but we spend more time on the trails anyway

They also feed 2x/day. Hay is turning out to be more expensive than I'd anticipated!

mandelyn82 · 09-25-2006, 09:39 AM

Down in in the outskirts of Cincinnati I was hard pressed to find anything less than $200.... ended up paying $120 at a do-it-yourself barn that had an indoor, a round pen, and really hilly trails. Hilly as in the horse is sliding down on his heels, jumping the creek at the bottom, then charging up the next hill to keep his footing.

Outside the city... an hour away, all the stables with your amentities were an easy $300+.

They built a stable not 10 minutes from where I lived... big indoor, no trails, one small pasture that was barely used to keep the grass on it, daily turnout was done on gravel , the backs of the stalls were nothing but panel gates (in case they have a horse down they can get it out)(so what if they freeze in the winter)... all for the rock bottom price of $400. Simply because it was an urban area. If you wanted trails you had to trailer out atleast 45 minutes. Oh, and no use of the indoor arena from 3pm till 7pm. No riding on the pasture... it'll trample the grass. And no they won't pick their hooves everyday to get out the gravel from the turnout situation.

DraftLuver · 09-25-2006, 02:05 PM

I pay $160.00 a month, which includes a brand new HUGE box stall with new rubber matts, feed, hay turn out, water buckets cleaned every day, and we all have our own shelf for our stuff and our own saddle rack with name tag lol. We also have almost 150 acres to roam in in the woods(it's sooo beautiful there) and the best part, nothing has ever gone missing and the people are amazing there!
kristie

EquineAlberta · 09-25-2006, 02:12 PM

You can check out my website for our prices, but we are in two very different locations!

We priced our place at pretty much middle of the road...which my husband thought was too low considering we had a new heated facility, but we are glad we did...why? Because we can pick and choose who we have, and if we get someone who just plain can't afford our board they can work some of it off.

I think you need to price not only based on your costs, but also based on the type of people you wish to encourage to ride at your barn...and I do recommend offering people you like/trust the opportunity to help out in exchange for services.

Karen2

RhettsMom · 09-25-2006, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by harvest_moon

So I have been leasing out the stalls in my new barn. My facilities include an indoor arena with viewing area, 160x70 outdoor sand arena, 60 foot round pen, 20 acres of pasture (4 different pastures) and over 300 acres of land/trails on which to ride.
My full board is $250 a month. This includes feeding my feed 2x day, hay, worming and daily stall cleaning, plus use of any of the arenas anytime.
I had several people come out and look at the place this weekend. They are paying about $200/month for board and have no place to ride whatsoever. No arenas, no trails, nothing. They claim that I am charging too much. FYI, most places closer to Columbus are charging 300-600 per month, and they do not have the facilities we do!
So am I charging too much? If you don't mind me asking, what are some of you paying, and what does your board include?
Thanks in advance!
J

Heavens!! $250 a month for full board WITH ALL THAT!!!!!!????/

No, you are NOT charging too much. Here that would be wickedly underpriced and you would have a waiting list a mile(or more ) long!

RhettsMom · 09-25-2006, 02:35 PM

I wanted to add
I currently rough board. The barn is a mess(holes in the stall walls to the outside), the ring a disaster, the fences in disrepair, no water in the fields unless "I" fill the troughs I bought and brought there!!! along with the hose.

All for $125 a month. Only thing the place really offers is turnout. But the fencing isnt safe and the feilds never dragged or kept up.. so they are dangerous. I check Rhett nightly for new cuts etc from the crap left out there.

The stable my housemate "runs" is full board only for $950. No real turnout very rocky. But they have a nice indoor.

Stable I interviewed for the assistant manager position(waste of my time as she hired someone three days before and didnt call me to tell me this) is $1000 a month. Really nice indoor, really nice barn and outside arena. They treat their turnout like a golf course though. She actaully said to me "We dont want a horse here that runs alot. It would tear up our pasture and make it look bad" one of the "jobs" of the assitant manager was to walk the pastures daily and basically put the divits of grass back. I would not have fit in there at all.

View Poll Results: How much are you paying for board?
less than $100 per month per horse	3	8.33%
$100-$200 per month per horse	12	33.33%
$200-$300 per month per horse	10	27.78%
$300-$400 per month per horse	7	19.44%
over $400 per month per horse	4	11.11%
Voters: 36. You may not vote on this poll

09-24-2006, 01:47 PM
harvest_moon Yearling Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 606	How much is too much for board? So I have been leasing out the stalls in my new barn. My facilities include an indoor arena with viewing area, 160x70 outdoor sand arena, 60 foot round pen, 20 acres of pasture (4 different pastures) and over 300 acres of land/trails on which to ride. My full board is $250 a month. This includes feeding my feed 2x day, hay, worming and daily stall cleaning, plus use of any of the arenas anytime. I had several people come out and look at the place this weekend. They are paying about $200/month for board and have no place to ride whatsoever. No arenas, no trails, nothing. They claim that I am charging too much. FYI, most places closer to Columbus are charging 300-600 per month, and they do not have the facilities we do! So am I charging too much? If you don't mind me asking, what are some of you paying, and what does your board include? Thanks in advance! J __________________ If wishes were horses, beggars would ride...

09-24-2006, 01:52 PM
PaintGirl Newborn Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Central Florida Posts: 23	I dont board but my Friends do and they pay anywere from $300-$450

09-24-2006, 01:57 PM
eieio Greenbroke Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: South Carolina Posts: 3,138	I do not board but this would be the range I wouyld charge in if I were to board with my current facilities. You sound extremely reasonable to me! __________________ There is no such thing as a always or never in the horse world. Say that one time and some horse some where will prove you wrong!. Visit us at www.woodfoxfarm.com

09-24-2006, 02:09 PM
Thoraint Weanling Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Nelson, B.C. Posts: 267	Where we board, our horse is fed 3 x a day and water buckets are cleaned every two days and refilled, his stall and paddock(30x30) is cleaned if my daughter doesn't do it(which she usually does because 12 horses there to look after). There is a cross country course, tons of trails, a 2-3 acre jump field with jumps(also the turnout field), a 60 foot roundpen, and a huge sand ring. My daughter is allowed to ride in whatever ring whenever. In all the stalls, bedding is provided. Just yesterday, bark mulch was put in every stall and shavings. Also they are blanketed when the weather gets nasty. We pay $150 a month BUT we buy the hay, and we worm. I think you are have a very reasonable price. There is another place with an indoor and no roundpen and 1 small outdoor ring and you have to pay them extra to pick your pen($50 a month) and use the arena($70 a month). They charge $220 plus you have to buy your own hay and worm. Remember this is Canadian dollars also __________________ Jumping is just flat-work in the air

09-24-2006, 02:10 PM
pstepp Yearling Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Bremen Ga Posts: 610	That sounds VERY reasonable to me! Your place sounds great!! __________________ Erin Jimdandy Peppy-\'06 AQHA Colt

09-24-2006, 02:16 PM
jules1962 Long Yearling Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Georgia Posts: 1,011	In the Metro Atlanta area I have found Full Board prices from $250 per month to $600 per month depending on the area North Atlanta, higher versus south of Atlanta where I am. At the barn my friend is building he is going to charge $300-350 per month for full board. I just pasture board my horses, they are happier being out. __________________ Scarlett, AQHA Rescue 2008 Bones, Grade QH Rescue 2006 Midnight RIP, my best friend

09-24-2006, 02:17 PM
Morwen Weanling Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Idaho, USA Posts: 223	The barn I board at sounds much like yours... except with less land to trail ride on! I pay about $260-$280 for board, and I think yours sounds VERY reasonable! Trust me, you'll find some people who'll be happy to pay that much. __________________

09-24-2006, 02:17 PM
Rio's Girl Halter broke Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: s/e michigan Posts: 55	right now i pay about 200 a month for food/board (i buy all his extra stuff though. its a great place for me, but i've been to barns that charge $600 a month<= i couldnt believe that one!

09-24-2006, 02:35 PM
Shiloveshorses Yearling Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Indiana Posts: 789	Right now I pay 150 per month per horse, that only includes feed and hay. There is no roundpen, no arena and no trails to ride. They are just in a pasture fed twice a day. I have been checking around to see where else I can find to board them but nothing has space and everything else is 150 to 300 dollars HIGHER. Unless I want to drive an hour each way to see them. Then I can get a pasture, no run ins, feed and hay with worming. Also no roundpen but a jump course and a barrel course to ride. But get this, I found a place in the next town over with a HUGE castle like barn, arenas, none indoor, a trails but for are you sitting down, you sure, don't fall out on me 800 DOLLARS A MONTH, for one horse, they feed twice a day, stall, clean it, groom the horse, hay, shavings, everything for 800 DOLLARS a month. They don't pay the vets bills, you still have to pay for lessons, still pay the farrier for 800 dollars a month. I could barely speak after that conversation. The job I am in now wouldn't cover the boarding. I have two horses and one to be born sometime soon I hope. That would be 2400 dollars for board. __________________ As long as you have faith you have everything.... lose faith you have nothing

09-25-2006, 07:51 AM
tuffsmom Seasoned Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Nebraska Posts: 4,235	We pay 275 per month for outside board. Our horses are in a big drylot. She charges 375 for inside board. Outside board includes free choice hay and grain 2x a day. We have full access to a big indoor arena, big outdoor arena, round pen, tack room, wash rack with hot and cold water. If needed we get a stall when one of the horses need to have stall rest.

09-25-2006, 08:49 AM
banjo's mom Yearling Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mountains of WV! Posts: 558	I was paying $140 a month per horse plus worming in the summer- then $175 plus worming in the winter. During the summer, my horse was pastured, brought to the barn in the evenings for a feeding, and turned back out again. In winter, they were stalled overnight, fed of an evening and morning, and turned out of a day. The facilities had an outdoor roundpen, outdoor arena, and only two different trails to ride on. I had full access to these, plus the tackroom. I think your price is very reasonable for your area, and for what your facilities have to offer. If those folks think you're too expensive, then tell them to look somewhere else. __________________ ~____/> ..//..\\.. The best way to handle a horse, is to think like one. -Elisabeth

09-25-2006, 09:09 AM
MaggyMae Yearling Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 716	You have a GREAT price for everything you offer! Here in northern Ohio, the places I know of charge $175-200 for pasture with a run-in and round bales, nothing in the way of facilites.... to $450 for full stall board which includes everything except vet and farrier.. . still not much except a round pen and nice pasture for turnout. People around Columbus would be lucky to find a place like yours. __________________ Visit the U.S. Equine Rescue League website to learn about our rescued horses: http://www.userl.org/index.html

09-25-2006, 09:13 AM
NHIceGSD Yearling Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 819	I was paying $850, but there are places closer to Boston that were getting closer to $1000 ( Of course your horse is groomed, tacked and ecercised for you... where's the fun in that? ) Anyway, for my 850, we did have 12x12 stalls, 2 outdoor jumping rings, an indoor and a mini x country course. The trails were so-so, as you had to brave 2 main roads to get to any of them. __________________ Be Something You Love and Understand~ Lynard Skynard

09-25-2006, 09:35 AM
morgansmom Weanling Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Pacific Northwest Posts: 481	I pay $100, and I have to buy hay & wormer. I have a semi-private paddock for turnout, a 10x12? stall (they will turnout if I ask, but I have to clean the stall), outdoor arena, roundpen, he's building a covered arena. There's access to miles & miles of trails on state owned land. The roundpen and arena aren't pretty, but we spend more time on the trails anyway They also feed 2x/day. Hay is turning out to be more expensive than I'd anticipated! __________________ Where am I going, and why am I in this handbasket?

09-25-2006, 09:39 AM
mandelyn82 Coming two Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ft. Campbell, KY Posts: 1,970	Down in in the outskirts of Cincinnati I was hard pressed to find anything less than $200.... ended up paying $120 at a do-it-yourself barn that had an indoor, a round pen, and really hilly trails. Hilly as in the horse is sliding down on his heels, jumping the creek at the bottom, then charging up the next hill to keep his footing. Outside the city... an hour away, all the stables with your amentities were an easy $300+. They built a stable not 10 minutes from where I lived... big indoor, no trails, one small pasture that was barely used to keep the grass on it, daily turnout was done on gravel , the backs of the stalls were nothing but panel gates (in case they have a horse down they can get it out)(so what if they freeze in the winter)... all for the rock bottom price of $400. Simply because it was an urban area. If you wanted trails you had to trailer out atleast 45 minutes. Oh, and no use of the indoor arena from 3pm till 7pm. No riding on the pasture... it'll trample the grass. And no they won't pick their hooves everyday to get out the gravel from the turnout situation. __________________ "The more people I meet the more I love my German Shepherd"

09-25-2006, 02:05 PM
DraftLuver Newborn Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Picton(for now) Posts: 20	I pay $160.00 a month, which includes a brand new HUGE box stall with new rubber matts, feed, hay turn out, water buckets cleaned every day, and we all have our own shelf for our stuff and our own saddle rack with name tag lol. We also have almost 150 acres to roam in in the woods(it's sooo beautiful there) and the best part, nothing has ever gone missing and the people are amazing there! kristie __________________ Rid\'em on CowGirl!!

09-25-2006, 02:12 PM
EquineAlberta Seasoned Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 4,682	You can check out my website for our prices, but we are in two very different locations! We priced our place at pretty much middle of the road...which my husband thought was too low considering we had a new heated facility, but we are glad we did...why? Because we can pick and choose who we have, and if we get someone who just plain can't afford our board they can work some of it off. I think you need to price not only based on your costs, but also based on the type of people you wish to encourage to ride at your barn...and I do recommend offering people you like/trust the opportunity to help out in exchange for services. Karen2 __________________ Hillside Stable, Ardrossan, AB CHT Horse Stories!

09-25-2006, 02:35 PM
RhettsMom Long Yearling Join Date: May 2006 Location: MA Posts: 1,431	I wanted to add I currently rough board. The barn is a mess(holes in the stall walls to the outside), the ring a disaster, the fences in disrepair, no water in the fields unless "I" fill the troughs I bought and brought there!!! along with the hose. All for $125 a month. Only thing the place really offers is turnout. But the fencing isnt safe and the feilds never dragged or kept up.. so they are dangerous. I check Rhett nightly for new cuts etc from the crap left out there. The stable my housemate "runs" is full board only for $950. No real turnout very rocky. But they have a nice indoor. Stable I interviewed for the assistant manager position(waste of my time as she hired someone three days before and didnt call me to tell me this) is $1000 a month. Really nice indoor, really nice barn and outside arena. They treat their turnout like a golf course though. She actaully said to me "We dont want a horse here that runs alot. It would tear up our pasture and make it look bad" one of the "jobs" of the assitant manager was to walk the pastures daily and basically put the divits of grass back. I would not have fit in there at all.