I always loved driving onto the farm where I boarded my horse. After long days at work and managing a week of kids’ activities at home, my time at the barn was essential for my well-being. I only left that boarding barn to start my own horse boarding business. For the past 15 years I have run a 50-stall boarding and lesson barn in the suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Having been both a boarder and a barn owner, I view this industry from both sides. Boarders often think barn owners are making big bucks running a boarding facility, while owners are living a very different reality, often struggling with debt, not drawing a salary, physically exhausted, and feeling overwhelmed by the daily details of running a barn.

A couple of years ago, I began connecting with like-minded horse people in online equine community groups, only to see that many folks were struggling with the same challenges. In April 2024, out of my barn office, using personal funds, I launched the National Association of Lesson and Boarding Barns. I truly believe that lesson and boarding barns are the feeders of a significant portion of the U.S. equine industry. More importantly, we are the first sight and first real touch of a horse for many kids and adults alike in our communities.

Running a horse boarding facility is a tough business, and I concluded that we need a business association as a place to come together to move our sector of this equine industry forward. Here are our first three goals for NALBB:

• Commission a study to quantify the boarding barn industry: We know we are many, but really, how many? How many lesson and boarding barns are located each state? Can we quantify the valuation of each state’s contribution to our overall industry? How about the contribution of each state’s boarding barns to that state’s economy? We need a baseline for the number of boarding and lesson barns and their economic contributions to our industry at the regional and national levels to outline our true power.

• Establish working groups to define our largest business challenges: How many business growth challenges are national versus regional in nature? As part of NALBB’s board of directors, I will engage equine business leaders from around the country to study and document on-the-ground business issues. For example, are staffing issues more regional in nature? Are folks in Montana, for example, more interested in barn and horse work than those in Virginia? It’s identifying the biggest challenges of our industry that will support our work to create solutions.

• Engage with industries that rely on our success: From saddles to blankets, tax prep and insurance, barn operators rely on quality products and services be successful. On behalf of our members, NALBB will engage with national and regional vendors to elicit their support in tangible ways, including price reductions and group purchasing opportunities as well as sponsorships. Our clients (the people taking riding lessons and boarding horses) also interact with large corporate vendors frequently, purchasing items like saddle pads, paddock boots, tack and helmets, feed supplements and medications. National vendors and suppliers should actively support the success of all boarding and lesson barns because we are the primary source of their success.

I believe we can reach these goals with the help of many individual members, but NALBB will need significant support from corporate sponsors to make the lesson and boarding barn industry profitable.

I truly love my barn, my boarders, my horses and the veterinarians, farriers and trainers that come and go through my barn weekly.  I’m excited when I think about lesson and boarding barns as the place where new riders are born and move up through the ranks. They come to us wearing yoga pants and sneakers and evolve into matching breeches, saddle pads and tall boots. When I think of closing the barn doors for good, I am reminded that lesson and boarding barns are important part of a larger community.

I have launched the National Association of Lesson and Boarding Barns to so we can bring boarding barn owners together and make this a thriving business for everyone. We want to hear from you: What is keeping you from a successful boarding barn business? Drop us a line at info@nalbb.org with your thoughts.

The views expressed in opinion pieces are those of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of The Chronicle of the Horse.

Allison Mills is the owner of the Stables at Meadowood in Lorton, Virginia, and executive director of the National Association of Lesson and Boarding Barns.