Determining What’s Included in Your Boarding Fees

Boarding terms differ from stable to stable; while one facility may offer full service and care, others may require owners to contribute to certain aspects of their horse’s care. It’s important to find the terms that work best for your facility; here are some tips for determining what’s included in your boarding fees.

 

Feeding

Every horse’s feeding schedule is different but in most cases, horses will receive hay throughout the day, supplemented by grain at least once daily.

 

This is an important part of daily care that can be a bit time-consuming if there are many horses on the property. Many facilities scoop out grain into buckets ahead of time, so that when feed time comes, the buckets can be handed out accordingly.

 

Even so, this will require your employees to dedicate a certain amount of time each day in addition to their other daily chores. Consider if you want to offer full-service feeding for your boarders, or if you will ask that the owners visit the barn at least once daily to ensure that their horse is fed.

 

It’s also important to consider if you will provide feed in the cost of boarding, or if you will ask that your boarders purchase and provide their horse’s feed.

 

Turnout

Daily turnout is an important part of keeping horses happy and healthy, allowing them to stretch their legs and get some fresh air outside the stables.

 

Many full-service stables will ensure that horses are turned out (weather permitting) and brought back inside, but you may decide that it works best for you and your staff to require the owner to be responsible for turning out and catching their horse.

 

Grooming

Grooming is one aspect of care that many boarding facilities generally leave up to the responsibility of the horses’ owners, though of course, this is something that you will want to take into consideration for your facilities.

 

If you have the time and resources to provide this service, you may find that this is an easy way to charge a bit extra and impress your boarders.

 

Vet and Farrier Visits

Full boarding fees typically ensure that the stable manager or owner will be present for all veterinary and farrier visits, and will work to communicate the horse’s needs. Since most people who board their horses work during the day, this tends to work out best for all parties involved. Consider if this is a service you wish to provide your clients with.

 

Consider Your Staff

Of course, you will want to provide your boarders with the very best level of service, but it is important to consider what your staff is capable of handling on a daily basis.

 

If providing certain services stretches your staff thin, you may want to rethink things and design a boarding plan that works best for you, your staff, and your boarders.

 

Stablebuzz: Best Stable Management Software

When it comes to the administrative management of your stable, Stablebuzz is here to help. Stablebuzz is an intelligent and comprehensive software that is designed to cut your administrative work in half and simplify all aspects of stable management.

 

For more informative equestrian blog posts, check out our blog.

 

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