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What to charge for walking colicky horse?

19K views 152 replies 54 participants last post by  DancingWithSunny 
#1 ·
I recently had a horse get tangled in my fence. He broke a plastic fence insulator (our top wire is electric) and it sliced his leg open pretty good and needed stitches. The next day he colicked. His owner lives 40 minutes away so I was the walker (And before you say anything about him not needing to be walked.. he would lay down and roll if not walking so it was a must).

I walked him for approximately an hour until he was comfortable. I'm trying to get an idea of what to charge. Does $40 sound fair? (seeing that's what it cost me when I had to cancel a lesson).

Thanks for your help guys! :D
 
#147 ·
Perception=reality. Sorry but true, and in this case us, AKA prospective customers have the PERCEPTION that has been gently explained to you. Again, you choose, not to listen. Your choice, certainly. However, defending yourself will not change our perception. Your not listening will not make "it" go away-just us.

You are young and have lots to learn about business and life. The fact that you do not hear what your customers and others are saying-REALLY HEAR IT-tells me that you may very well not be successful long term. just so I am clear, I mean listening in the truest sense. Not seeing or hearing the words, but actually understanding what is being said to you.

Perhaps, just perhaps, you are a bit "too light" and we are more on track at being serious when there are hundreds of thousands of YOUR dollars at stake. Seems to me it might be worth your while to at least think about what people are saying.
 
#148 ·
first of all, I would just like to say I read ALL 15 pages, ...and now need a beer:shock:

Now for my 10 cents......as for the charging of walking the colicky horse, I myself would not charge the owner, as I do think the owner made enough of an attempt to be at the barn in a timely manner. If the owner didnt show, or simply said "you deal with it"...then yes, I would have charged.....as you as an owner have a responsibility to your horse even though Im "getting paid" to care for them.

In my barn I do not have allot of extra charges, I like to keep it "simple" (there's that word again :wink:). I do not charge to hold for vet or farrier, if its during regular hours, or if scheduled along w other horses.
But if you wanted the vet out at 9pm and you weren't here, then yes I may charge a handling fee...depending on the circumstances.
I do charge for putting on polos or boots for turnout, but do not charge a blanket fee like most stables.

I do think that some people are attacking Star a bit much, taking everything she says and twisting it into the BO from hell. I do agree that some of the things she does, seem "odd" to me, but if it works for her and her boarders..awesome. Wouldn't work for me, but who am I to judge....dont know her or her barn from adam.
I knew exactly what she meant by the term "simple"....(definition : Easily understood or done; presenting no difficulty)....no need to jump down her throat because she used a term that has more then one meaning.

I have had my share of moments of sleeping in the barn, hand walking horses, wrapping gaping wounds daily because owners didn't have the skills or time to do such....i don't charge extra, but that is just me....as I know most stables around here would.
My boarders appreciate all I do for them....I do get some pretty kick *** xmas gifts because of it.:D
 
#149 ·
My initial reaction was that there shouldn't be a charge. However, if you contacted her, and she asked you to walk him, and was in no hurry to get there to do it herself...it only seems fair that you be paid. Particularly if you have a fairly low boarding rate for your area.

Basically, if the owner COULD be there (I personally would sprint out the door at my job if my horse was colicking), I think you should be paid if you have to walk them for more than half an hour. If the owner was out of town, or otherwise unable to be there, then I wouldn't charge. I might get an employee to do it though...

What I would probably do is let this one slide, but establish a policy. You should put together a list of 'extras' and what you charge for them. My barn has something like that - $10/15 minutes of hand walking, $3 to pick feet, $20 to lunge for 20 minutes, stuff like that.
 
#151 ·
We don't charge. In 3 years, we have had one colick that resulted in being in the barn until 4am, delirious from exhaustion doing whatever needed to be done to help. We were only going to charge for the cost of banamine and syringes, (not our time), but the horse's owners replaced it without us even asking.
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#152 ·
I spent the better part of an afternoon with a colicky horse two days ago.I guess I was just happy knowing he was gonna live.Didn't own him...didn't matter.Had people do the same for me.Only money that ever changed hands was to a vet here and there.don't expect pay,because some day or night when you're not around,your horse may go down,or need patched up and some one might be able to save em...and I'll bet they do it for nothing.principle really.
 
#153 ·
I've walked a colicking horse for an hour before, called the vet (after asking his owner), stayed while the vet was with him then stayed the night in my car on the yard to keep an eye on him. His owner was there before the vet, she stayed the night, but I never even got a thank you, never mind payment. Infact what I did get was moans about the fact that she now had a vet bill.
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