10 Tips to Help Avoid Horse Daycare Nightmares

Another guest post from Eleanor D. Van Natta over at Sage By Nature. You can find more of her writing on her horse blog.

Image from katiew

A neighbor of mine actually coined the term when hearing yet another story of my boarding woes one time.

while putting your child in daycare for several hours is hard, putting your horse in 24 hour care miles away is also very difficult

One of my personal worst “daycare nightmares” a few years ago was finding myself in the cold dead of winter, eight months pregnant, shoveling out the slop and four inches of mud and wet manure in my horse’s shelter.

My three year old entertained herself by playing in the mud, and she got drenched in the downpour while losing her boots to the suck and pull of the mud. Now I not only had a horse with knee-high muddy feet and legs but a three year old with the same.

I was paying for full care, but it was looking a lot like self-care that day. To top it off, the hay quality had just taken a severe nose dive due to the owner’s financial issues.

When Does it End?

Image from Carolin Z.

All this after moving my horse to that place after her bruising up, kick in the head, and skinned legs (from jumping an un-safe gate) received while trying to get away from the herd she was turned out and left with on her second day.

I have learned a few things about boarding your horse and how to find the right barn along the way of moving my horse from boarding stable to boarding stable – my barn travels if you will. I have also learned how to avoid the not-so-good ones.

10 Tips to Finding (and Keeping) A Good One

1. Do Some Research - Be wary of facilities that advertise consistently and frequently; this usually means high turn-over, and that usually means multiple problems at the barn.

2. Do Your Due Diligence - Ask random, current boarders for their opinions when you visit the barn on different occasions prior to moving your horse in.

Image from allspice1

3. Have a Plan B - Always have a back-up barn option scouted out. Conditions can often change very quickly, sometimes overnight, and you may need to quickly get your horse to a safer, healthier location.

4. Read Your Contract - Don’t sign a contract with a clause for a 30-day notice if at all possible – negotiate down to two weeks if you must, but don’t get stuck in a bad situation made worse by paying for a month’s board when you leave and go somewhere else.

See #3 above. It can also be a tense situation staying when you have given notice and the owner takes it personally.

5. Be Wary - Be very wary of operations where the owner has more horses of her or his own on the property than boarders. They are potentially at great risk for financial problems, and your horse will more than likely suffer for it.

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6. Appearances Do Matter - Be leery and stay away from barns that are generally unkempt in appearance with clutter in the aisles, barbed wire fences, and/or look like fire hazards. This sounds pretty basic, but you would be amazed at how many barns actually are in business like this.

7. Proper Food Storage - A large covered, enclosed area for hay storage is very important. This means the facility potentially has some buying power which can reduce hay costs substantially. Since hay is the bulk of a horse’s diet, this part of nutrition is critical, as is slow feed changes made over time.

8. Responsible Feeding - If you can find a barn that offers three feedings a day, that is a big advantage over another barn. Your horse will probably be happier, more content, and have more chance of being ulcer-free. It also shows the degree of horse knowledge of the management.

Image from MGChan

By the way, always measure out your horse’s grain and/or supplement allowance yourself and provide it in an easy to open, labeled container.

9. Be Aware - Heed your instincts and follow your gut. This doesn’t mean that your first impressions are always correct or that things can’t change overnight – be willing to be open to new information and impressions.

10. Be prepared To Make Sacrifices -
If you have to drive further or pay more to keep your horse safe and happy, consider doing it. It will probably be worth it (no guarantees) and pay dividends in your peace of mind, and potentially, help you avoid some unnecessary vet bills.

You Can Never Be Too Picky

Am I picky, yes; I will never find the perfect place, and I am still trying to get my horse and my family onto property. I defend my pickiness, though, by asking, how else can one be with a 1000 pound soul that you love and for whose care you are completely responsible?

It is an unspoken contract with you and your horse that you will protect and provide for them since you have removed the vast majority of their ability to do it for themself. And if that means slogging through mud in the dead of winter, or just taking your time to check out several boarding facilities, then that is what you owe your horse.

About Eleanor

Eleanor Van Natta is a wife, a mother of two little girls, and a caretaker to one dog, one cat, and one horse. She has a Zoology degree from the University of CA, Davis, and prior to becoming a stay at home mom she had a career in environmental and pharmaceutical sales. You can find more of her writing on her website: Sage By Nature.

Read more by Eleanor
For Better or Worse – As Long As I Can Have My Horse
Learning From Wild Horses – Part 1, Part 2 & Part 3.
How Horses Teach Our Kids – Part 1 & Part 2
Slainte! Three Cheers for Ireland and Its Horses