06/10/2025
HORSE BOARDING:
I've had a few people ask me questions about boarding horses lately. I thought I'd cover some things as a boarder and as someone who handled the barn management part.
TYPES OF BOARDING:
SELF CARE
Self-care generally implies that the horse owner does all or most of the care for the horse. The barn owner may assist in feeding or turning the horses out, but generally, the horse owner is in charge of most of their horse's care. (providing their own hay and grain, providing their own bedding, cleaning stalls, feeding, turning out, blanketing, watering, and so on) The barn owner is almost always responsible for the upkeep of the facility.
In our area, low-end facilities generally charge $150-200 for self-care and high-end facilities can charge $300-400.
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Horse Owner Pros & Cons
Pros- If you are particular about your horse's care, this is a great way to micromanage it! If you don't mind cleaning your stalls and doing a bit of labor, this is a small way to cut costs, but don't be fooled... the cost of hay/bedding and grain can sometimes be MORE than if you found another option.
Cons- If you are relying on a barn owner to do some of the care for you, it can sometimes be an unreliable option. For example, I was relying on a barn owner to turn my horses out in the morning, only to discover they were not getting turned out until the barn owner came outside in the afternoon. I was relying on the barn owner to feed my horses in the morning, only to discover her barn staff didn't want to go in certain stalls and weren't feeding certain horses.
Pros & Cons for the Barn Owner:
Pros- You don't have to clean the stalls or worry about managing other people's horses.
Cons- Some people will come when they feel like, resulting in their horse being neglected for days.
PARTIAL CARE
I've seen a variety of Partial Care options. Some barns have it set up where they feed the horses twice a day and turn out, you clean the stalls, and provide your own hay/bedding/grain. Others have it set up where they clean the stalls a certain number of days, others provide hay and bedding, and the horse owner cleans their stalls. This seems to be tailored to the barn and the barn owner's wants/needs.
In my area, partial care can range from $300-600, depending on the facility.
PRO- This is a tailored type of board that generally can fit the needs of the horses and owners.
CONS- Sometimes the barn owner or horse owner won't uphold their end of the board agreement.
FULL CARE
As implied, full-care is when the barn owner takes complete care of the horses, and generally the horse owner gets to come out and enjoy their horse without worrying about the horse's care. Sometimes a full care facility will provide grain, sometimes the facility will require the barn owner to provide grain.
PROS- The horse owner can enjoy their horse. The barn owner can maintain complete control of the facility and doesn't have to worry about negligent owners.
CONS- It is often the most expensive option. BUT....
Did you know?
Otherwise Horses took care of almost a dozen horses over the past few months, and it wasn't cheap!
Please follow along as I run through the math of what a horse costs each month:
HORSE A-
Horse A is a hard keeper and costs more to care for. This horse is often messy in its stall, needs supplemental feeding, and requires a lot of hay to keep its weight on. It also doesn't do well stalled all day and needs to be turned out to keep it from being stiff during work.
Monthly, this horse costs:
Grain- $127 (Tribute Essential K, 12% for supplementation, and Tribute Senior)
Hay Pellets- $38
Bedding- $98
Hay- $125
Horse A costs $388 to keep every month. This does not include barn staff cleaning stalls, watering, turning out, OR, in our case, the stall rental we were paying.
HORSE B
Horse B is an easy keeper, doesn't mind being stalled, but is easily injured. Despite the injuries, horse B is healthy and requires no supplemental feeding. Horse B requires a specific type of turnout and is best in a situation where it is only turned out with one other horse.
Horse B costs per month:
Grain- $78
Bedding- $85
Hay- $105
Total cost per month, $268. This does not include any outside monthly fees, the vet care, or farrier care for this horse, but does show the BIG difference in a hard-to-keep horse versus an easy keeper.
The cost of full-care in my area is $500-1000 a month, depending don't the amenities the facility has to offer and the location. Locations charging around $1000 are generally super well-kept and have a waiting list and/or offer some type of training or lessons with their board.
If you think barn owners make a lot of money boarding horses, guess again! Unless they are charging over $1,000, most are struggling or breaking even. Most facilities start to profit when they implement a lesson or training program. ALL of our income came from lessons.
We hope this helps you on your boarding journey!
