Boarder sneaking hay

[slc2]

Most boarders want to waste hay, and they want their horse to be overweight. They want the horse to have a big pile of hay in front of him 24/7. It is wasteful and it's unhealthy. It makes the stalls hard to clean and it increases the volume of waste and how frequently the manure pile needs to be removed. Most people, it means they pay more for manure removal.

I think anyone taking hay out of another stall should be thrown out of the barn immediately. It's dishonest, unfair to the other boarders, and it messes up the reliability of the care of the other horses.

It also reveals a kind of character that you probably really do not want to have around you. What else is it ok to take?

I only boarded at one barn in all my boarding life, where our horses actually did not get enough hay. It was back east. They had guts like race horses. Their ribs and hips didn't stick out horribly - the manager didn't mind at all giving 12-15 lbs of grain. That was fine, even though it was more expensive, that didn't bother them. They got 2 big grain meals a day. Lost one of their own to colic, I think that one was getting approximately 20 lbs of grain a day, 'because he is too thin'. I think the underlying cause of the colic was verminous damage, but I think the feeding pattern puts a lot of pressure on a damaged gut.

We were not allowed to pay for extra hay, or to bring in our own extra hay. Guess what? We moved.

[cloudyandcallie]

Originally Posted by Lieslot

So true! Boarders too often think, "I want my horse to have more hay, so I'll pay for x extra flakes & done".
It's not that simple, more hay results in more soiled bedding, extra storage needed (in some cases), staff needs to be informed & more work ...
This is why I always offer to pay for the extra hay + the added inconvenience of storage, muck and bedding this brings along.

I think if a boarder is comprehensive of this and not skimpy on $'s for this service then I think it should be workable at any barn. I always struggled getting the idea across, but once they figured I meant no loss to the BO, it worked out ok.

Absolutely. I paid for extra hay or bought it myself, bought extra shavings and cleaned my 2 horse's stalls, and paid FULL board plus I fed all the horses at the barn each night and bought those boarder and BO horses hay and grain and shavings because BO was always "running out" for 2 1/2 years. No loss to BO at all. (And when I had to go out of town on business, the BO deigned to feed and clean stalls as she was paid by all boarders to do.)
At other barns I paid extra for hay to put into paddocks and hay rack, and then the barn where we were required to pay for all of our own hay, and we got ripped off on that by the BO selling us hay by the bale an then stealing the hay from us. My horses ate all their hay and got minimal grain.
In the OP's case, I'd want to know why they guy is paying for extra hay and still stealing hay. Is he just a thief or does he feel he's being ripped off?

[Sithly]

Originally Posted by mkevent

I think what bothers me about this thread is the attitude some people express that it's ok to waste hay-just charge the boarder more money. To me, that's not the point-it's that it's ok to waste hay or any resource to please someone who may or may not actually know what is appropriate and necessary for their horse.

Just because you own a horse doesn't make you an expert on horse care. Just because I'm a BO doesn't make me an expert on horse care, either. But when you live the life 24/7, you tend to notice things that people who don't care for horses don't always understand. Personally, wastage really irks me and it's not just due to the financial reasons-it's the mentality.

It's not just the cost of the hay but all the other aspects-the storage, the hard labor involved, the planning around the deliveries, etc. And it's the lack of respect that this boarder has for the BO that really bothers me.

Very well said.