How To Be A Good Stable Manager/Owner

Continuing from my last blog in which I write about how to be a good stable manager and/or barn owner, let’s talk about what barn managers should be well versed in doing if they are going to care for the horses of other people.

I have boarded in stables with very knowledgeable managers and sadly, I found myself in situations where the owners or managers were absolutely clueless in basic stable management. If you guessed that those stables where the managers were clueless had a high turnover rate of boarders, then you guessed correctly!

At the very least, if you are going to oversee a stable, you should be able to:

• Identify sick horses

• Know basic feed nutrition

• Be able to identify different kinds of hay and know when hay is unsafe to feed, whether due to weeds or mold

• Know feeding rules

• Be able to medicate horses

• Know how to correctly bandage legs

• Knowledge of basic 1st aid

• Know TPR values and how to take them

• Identify common toxic plants in your region

• Be able to handle and lead horses safely

• Know how to muck stalls

• Ability to perform daily horse care (blanketing, applying boots, etc)

• Knowledge of current rules of deworming and how to administer

• Know and understand horse behavior

• Understand equine welfare

What would you add to this list?

If you decide that you want to board horses for a living, some advice to take into account as given from seasoned barn managers include:

• Accept that you will always be mucking stalls

• Your mental and physical health comes first

• You need to have business and marketing skills

• Set limitations with yourself

• Set boundaries with boarders

• Find your niche

• Understand that you will be dealing with people….all kinds of people, including crazy and angry people

• Understand that your income will not be consistent

• Pay yourself. You are not doing this to lose money. You are not subsidizing someone else’s hobby

• Be able and willing to teach anything and everything horse-related. You will have boarders who know absolutely nothing about horses

• Don’t let anyone take advantage of you

• This is not a 9-5 job

• Emergencies happen at the worst times

• Reputations will make or break you

• You will not make everyone happy 100% of the time

• The care you give the horses will speak volumes

• You will need good verbal and written communication skills and the ability to relate to wealthy and educated people alike

• Never think you know all there is to know about horses. Read books, take lessons, watch videos

• Know how to remove a shoe

• Set boundaries with your boarders

• Don’t burn bridges. The horse community is tiny

• Remove toxic boarders from your life. They aren’t worth it

• Barn owners should work with other barn owners in their area to determine a reasonable boarding fee

• Hire only qualified staff

What would you add?

In other news…

Bravo to the USEF Board which approved adding the following to the prohibited substance rule, which went into effect April 1.

The additions, GR 414.8 and 414.9 ban certain injectable medications and substances from being used in competition as well as from being brought onto show grounds. The list includes:

• Injectable ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone)

• Injectable adenosine

• Injectable formaldehyde

• Injectable magnesium sulfate

• Injectable melatonin

• Injectable oxytocin

• Injectable pentobarbital (except by a vet for euthanasia purposes)

• Injectable thiamine

• Injectable tryptophan

• Liquid nitrogen

• Bans any injectable prescription medication in any formulation without a pharmacy or manufacturing label that identifies all ingredients

• States that no substance can be administered rectally on the grounds of a Federation competition

I personally find it disturbing and sad that someone thinks it is ok to administer any of these substances to a horse. How on earth did the horse world get to this point and who on earth thinks it is ok to administer any of these substances to any animal?

In happy news, don’t forget to enter the Ultimate Book Give Away in recognition of Buy A Horse Book Day on May 10! Enter to win the ULTIMATE HORSE LIBRARY

Don’t forget to hug your horse!

Lori