*good* barn rules, from the BO's standpoint?

[JustThatSimple]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> <span class="ev_code_BLUE">Actually, you choose a facility whose rules you agree with. Cleaning up after yourself is not the staff's job in most barns.</span> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

You're correct, I choose the facility whose rules I agree with. Thus being that I will *not* pick up my horses poop in an arena, your facility, whether or not what I'm paying you brings in a profit thats your problem. Charge more than the given amount at that point, if it's a nice facility, I'm willing to pay you that much more.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> <span class="ev_code_BLUE">You are paying the BO for boarding your horse. You are not paying enough to NOT take care of the facility when you use it.</span> <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I'm not saying I don't clean up after myself in most circumstances, and whether or not I'm paying enough to NOT take care of the facility, personally is a matter of a opnion, and has numerous factors.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> $400 a month doesn't even begin to cover the COST of keeping the farm. $600, there is a SLIGHT, and I mean SLIGHT profit on the board. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Again, if the facility is nice, I am willing to pay that much more to have my horses where they are happy, and where I am happy. It also has to do with location, price of land and such. I just lovvve how you've jumped to conclusions given you know NONE of the factors to how much I pay boarding for.


<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> Lucky for me, I am the barn owner and I'd simply never have room for you in MY barn. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

My dear, I do feel...that I don't care. Comments like this are completely moronic personally in the fact that, did I ask to board at your facility? No. I was stating an opnion, much like you were stating yours. Except NOWHERE in my opnion did it state how ridiculous YOUR rules are.

The world of people amuse me.

[Nancy!]

I had boarded at lots of western barns before we moved and now occassionally winter board at an english facility. I had never picked up poop in an indoor before either. Then we built our own outdoor and hubby is very anal about the footing. He drags it daily (he reins and trains our babies) and you'd better pick up your poop or else!!

Luckily my big guy very rarely poops in the ring. Gotta love that!

Nancy!

[Mary in Area 1]

Saddlefitter said: "If it works for you, then great. You can have the boarders who find the rule appalling, and we all live happily. You can be horrified at how anal retentive those awful barn owners are and how great you are, we can be horrified at how disgusting it is to be riding in manure."

Uh, saddlefitter, I don't think I said anything about being "horrified" about those "awful" barn owners who pick arena poop. I was just interested in where the information came from that implies that if I DON'T pick the manure out of my arenas, then I could not possibly have excellent footing.

As I stated previously, I have never personally known of a problem with dust or "riding in manure". Of the top training barns I know in this area, most of them consider there footing excellent, but I know of none who routinely pick their arenas.

[chai]

Having boarded our horses a few times, and having had boarders at my farm, here goes:
Learned while boarding:
Do not change horse's feed or substitute other feed without owner's permission. Do not borrow anyone else's things. Do not let your horse run free from the paddock to the barn, especially when someone is riding nearby. No smoking. No drinking. No unattended children. No entering anyone else's stall unless you have owner's permission or it is an emergency. Do not dump your stuff on someone else's trunk. Clean up behind yourself. Do not gossip or say mean things about other boarders or their horses. Leave your bad mood at home because people are paying good money to enjoy time with their horses, not listen to you whine, moan or be an expert in everything.
Learned when I had boarders:
The barn is not a place to meet your secret boyfriend. Do not leave your horse tied to my ring to run home for brushes. Do not treat your horse like a big dog and teach it to 'play tag' with you. Do not think your wife can drop your kids at my farm because she can't find you out on your trail ride. Must wear a helmet when mounted. Sigh. Just reading this, I don't think I'll board or take in boarders ever again. Maybe I'm a compulsive nut where my horses are concerned, but at least at home I have only myself to blame when things go wrong.

[peedin]

I have a few questions for those of you who don't sweep or clean your horse's manure/dirt, etc. out of the aisle. Does the barn have full-time staff? If so, are the staff available at all times waiting to clean it or the messes left for later? If not cleaned up immediately and dirt/hair/manure is left in the aisle, what do other boarders do? Stand in the mess? My barn doesn't have a grooming stall; we have cross-ties, and only 3 sets. There's not a lot of extra room and others don't want their horse standing in another's mess. And if you have a grooming stall, do you clean that after you've used it or if your horse does a poo in it?

[Hucklebug]

i need to modify my 10 pm curfew to have caveats for stuff like veterinary/medical issues, returns from shows etc....but I do honestly think there needs to be a time when the barn is on relative lock down where the horses have some peace and quiet and "headlights" coming up the driveway mean it's a tack thief or horse nabber.

[SaddleFitterVA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Mary in Area 1:
Uh, saddlefitter, I don't think I said anything about being "horrified" about those "awful" barn owners who pick arena poop. I was just interested in where the information came from that implies that if I DON'T pick the manure out of my arenas, then I could not possibly have excellent footing.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

uh, mary, I think there was a smiley on that paragraph. As in, HUMOR!



Mel

[mbamissaz]

I think the "clean the poop in the arena" thing may be more about geography than anything. We ran a stable in Vermont for over 15 years and never had this rule in place. I don't remember ever having a problem. When I moved to Virginia, it seemed like this was the rule in many places I visited. The place I first boarded at made you not only clean it up, but get EVERY LITTLE SPECK, or he would rope the area off and offer a reward to any boarder who turned in the "culprit"!

Now that we have our own facility, we do ask our boarders to pick up after themselves, and yes, that means pick up their horse's poop in the arena. We do provide forks and buckets down there so it is not so much of a pain. Frankly, we go above and beyond to ensure quality care for our boarders....expecting them to act like adults and clean after themselves is really not too much to ask. We have not had any complaints to date as a result of this rule.

[Nicker]

I haven't had boarders for long, only a couple of years. But the one thing that leaves me in awe is when I have potential boarders come out, I show them around and then give them a boarding contract to look over. All the rules, etc are in there. I've had 4 people bring it back with things crossed out or changed. Including my fee. When I explain to them that the rules apply to everyone they act like "who? me?" That answers any questions I might have had and a simple "I'll get back with" you ends it. GoForAGallop made a good point. If you're going to set rules make it as easy as possible for your boarders to follow them. How can you expect people to sweep the aisle when theres no broom.

[Nicker]

Just one more thing before I turn this into a personal rant. Some people might be offended by this, but if you're boarding your horse at my place and are paying me to feed him his daily meals. Then by all means please let me do it. IMO, it's not a good idea to feed your horse, or anyone elses, with out first talking to the BM/BO. I have started to feed on more than one occasion to find a note telling me so and sos horse was already fed. I usually don't see the note until after said horses feed has been mixed. Plus said horse usually gets very upset seeing the grain buckets go by with nothing for him. And 9 times out of 10 the owner feeds the wrong amount. It's just not a good idea IMO.

[SaddleFitterVA]

On the times a barn is open, in Loudoun County, VA, this is actually part of the County Ordinances. The allowed hours of operation is 6am to 9pm.

Now, I certainly won't be chasing a boarder out with a sick horse, but if you have PITA neighbors, this is probably good to have any local ordinance based times in your rules.

Mel

[LisaB]

Gawd! No wonder my BO's love me! Here I thought I was a bad boarder at times. But I clean up after myself. Stay away from lessons/shows. I even clean my stall on Sundays if they haven't done it already. And oh, cleaning the arena. We do that in the indoor because it doesn't wash away. I clean my tack, sweep the floor. Wash out the washrack if needed. And generally chip in. It's part of owning the darn horse!

[PiedPiper]

Really people MOST rules really do try and follow the golden rule. Board includes, feed, hay, water, bedding, turn out, facilities, etc. I have never seen in any boarding contract where the board price includes maid service or your mother. Cleaning up after yourself is easy and something that I hope you do in all aspects of your life. And no half-a$$ cleaning jobs. Clip your horse? Get ALL the hair. Clean feet out? Then sweep it up before you leave. Tack up in the aisle, wash stall, etc? Then make sure you put your stuff away. Everyone wants the barn to be nice and in order when the come to ride and unless you have a personal assistant assigned to you it may require a little extra effort from you. I am sure you appreciate it when those before you leave it looking nice for when you show up.

[doccer]

I'll mix up the quote :

This is *your* birthday party now It's nice to hear what other people have done, but i'm geussing you have a vision of how things will be done. Go with that, or else you'll end up hating your own barn. If your rules matter to you, they should matter to everyone at the barn. If the rules aren't followed give written warnings, and maybe state in the contract that eviction from the premisis is based on written warnings.

Just a thought to keep the *business* running smooth and to your specifications.

And, scooping poop is part of horses, nobody is too good to not clean up after there horse (or dog if you please lol)

But to the original poster, its nice to keep the trade tools (pitchfork, broom, wheelbarrel) in a user-friendly place Also, I work a few night-shifts a week and will never board at a place that has a strict curfew. My thought is that, that is my horse and i will check on him whenever i feel, thank you for keeping him on your property. If i get off work at 11:30pm i'll go out to say 'hi' to my horse. (without raising a ruckus of course ) But for some people that is a grey area.

Have fun, i'd like to hear what your final draft consists of

Carol and Doccer

[Bea]

Guys, I've read this entire thread twice now looking for these people who refuse to pick up after themselves. And I can't find them anywhere on this thread. What's with the complaining about these people who aren't here?

I see some people who believe in picking poop up out of indoor and outdoor arenas. And some who have never heard of that.

[Invested1]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Invested1:
If your horse poops in the ring, clean it up.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


1. Please tell me you're kidding...
2. But I'm sorry, I am not paying somebody 4-600$ a month, to pick up my horses own poop in the ring.
3. I'm all for cleaning up the aisle, but frankly, I think picking up poop in the ring is ridiculous.
4. When I posted a while back asking about barn rules, I was amazed at the number of people who mentioned picking up poop out of the arena. Wow, I have boarded at some really nice, well-managed places and like to think I run a tight ship at my own, but IMO this is absurd.

And those are just from page 1...

[Madame Butterfly]

I don't think it's absurd, whether you're paying $400 or $750 or whatever. Manure can wreck footing...

This is not such a difficult job...

[Bea]

Invested1, but that's about picking up poop in rings. Which we've now learned is considered custom in some barns and not in others. Some BO's don't believe in picking up poop in rings. Doesn't that make that particular thing different from say not picking up poop in the aisle or wash rack?

[frugalannie]

We run our little barn as a co-op and have for many years. I buy the hay, shavings and feed in order to get bulk discounts, and just charge the cost to the participants. Most of the rules are what's been posted above. I would agree with the "don't feed your horse other than the specified time/amount" because otherwise chaos can ensue.

Other rules:

Pay your share promptly or talk to me about it. If you haven't paid for three months, the horse becomes our property.

If you don't live up to the committments described in the co-op agreement, you will be given one month's notice to leave.

If your horse behaves in a manner considered dangerous by me or the other boarders (ie: biting and kicking with intent), you will have to move him immediately.

If your horse digs up the footing in the ring, fix it.

Owners are responsible for cleaning up after their farrier and vet. All sharps must be disposed of properly.

Label your stuff. If it's unlabeled, it becomes mine.

Make sure a letter is on file with your veterinarian authorizing any of the co-op members to call for emergency care. If you're away, leave emergency contact numbers.

Now as to what we do allow... dogs are welcome as long as they are under control. If you want something different or more of it than is specified in the co-op agreement, please provide it, and we'll all be happy to comply. Any one can teach you here, at almost any time. We will all gladly help with ongoing vet care if necessary (our group includes an ER nurse and an X-ray tech. We can handle most emergencies without fainting!)

[Critters Everywhere]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by doccer:
Have fun, i'd like to hear what your final draft consists of

Carol and Doccer <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sorry...I had sortof stopped paying attention to the thread. A trainwreck over whether you should pick up poop in arena or not has been done many times before. As have individuals' gripes about what they're barn does.

I should have titled it differently as "Owners of small boarding/training/lesson facilities, what rules/policies have you made to make your life easier? What have you done to reduce your financial losses (won't stretch reality by saying 'increase your profits')? "

This is not my barn. I'm trying to figure out suggestsions to help my trainer. I love my trainer to death, but I can see the burnout coming. She IS the barn help other than having a stall cleaner each day. She is also the trainer. And teaches lesssons. And handles the sales horses. And holds everyone's horse for the farrier & vet (this is one of the things I think she needs to change...there is no reason for her to spend her entire day holding horses for the farrier & not charge for it). And is the barn owner so is also responsible for all the maintenance type things. And meantime is trying to get her mare back into showing. Did I mention that she also has a 2 year old son?

I honestly don't care about it from the boarder's perspective (I have enough of that myself). I am all too aware that if she burns out & leaves, there is NO other English trainer within a 45 mile radius of our town. Not joking. She's the only game in town...thankfully she is EXCELLENT. Not only is she the only English trainer, she has the only covered arena within a 45 minute drive...that's a big deal in a place where it rains 120" annually!

Thank you very much to all those of you who posted actual lists & practical suggestions! I appreciate you taking the time! Some of them I will definitely try to get incorporated; many we're already doing.