[LMcCabe727]

I am currently boarding at a facility while I wait for spots to open at the school for the horses.... I have finally got spots at the school and have told the owner of the barn I am picking up the horses and said they will be gone in a week..... I will be paying for the rest of the month that I won't be there for... but then she has told me that there is a 30 notice period for taking the horses, so now she is charging me an extra $500 for the next month that will not be there for..... she has known the whole time that I did not know when I was going to get the spots at the school and was leaving when I got some..... she has never mentioned to me about the 30day notice but says it's on the borders agreement...

Has anyone had this problem or have even heard about this????

 

[gingerscout]

yup place I was at, when i went to leave I was told same thing, but it had to be in writing for it to be official. Then I was free to take my horse when I wanted as long as I paid 30 days. I said fine then horse will be out when 30 days is up, which I think they needed the stall, and I kept him there till that last day

 

[EstrellaandJericho]

Check your signed boarder agreement for true clarity. If it's not there then don't worry about it. If it is I'm sorry..

 

[redbarron1010]

Our barn has that policy too but most will not pursue it after you leave. I think it would cost her more to try to sue you for it. I would definitely pay for the month you are there though and check you boarder agreement.

 

[horselovinguy]

Check your agreement....in writing and if you signed that agreement then you are liable for the $.
If not....leave now.
Don't expect any refund and don't forget anything because you will never see it again.

Good luck.
:runninghorse2:....

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

Check your agreement....in writing and if you signed that agreement then you are liable for the $.
If not....leave now.
Don't expect any refund and don't forget anything because you will never see it again.

Good luck.
:runninghorse2:....

Ditto this. I'll add that I would leave now anyway and I would not let the BO know in advance when I was leaving. Just show up with your trailer and take your horse. I would remove all personal belongings from the place BEFORE I went for the horse, that way all you need to do is walk the horse to the trailer and drive off. If it's in your contract, you could be liable for the next 30 days, but like others have said she'll likely not pursue it after the horse is gone. If it's not in writing, it doesn't exist and that goes for you too. If there's no 30 day notice clause in the contract, you don't owe it. If you didn't put in writing that you aren't able to give an end date for your contract until the last minute, she can deny having that discussion.

 

[beau159]

she has never mentioned to me about the 30day notice but says it's on the borders agreement...

If the boarding agreement that YOU signed says you must give 30 days written notice, then that is what you must provide.

30 days notice is pretty standard. I would bet that the new barn you are moving too has the same policy.

she has known the whole time that I did not know when I was going to get the spots at the school and was leaving when I got some

Why is that her problem?

On the same token, she also has not known when she is going to have an opening in her barn she needs to fill. Which is why most barns do have a 30-day notice policy in place.

 

[csimkunas6]

We have it, but have not yet stuck to it due to the few boarders that had left, sad to say but we werent upset and couldnt wait for them to leave OR we wanted them to come back in the future. Depends on the barn I guess.

 

[george the mule]

What others have said about the 30day notice/last months rent.

An interesting story:
Many years ago, the barn owner where my wife and I had our horses took a vacation, leaving her 70+yo mother in charge. Mom came down with Pneumonia, and landed in the hospital. Mid winter, one of the coldest I can remember; none of the animals were getting fed, and the automatic waterers were all ice sculptures. It was a mad scramble for about two weeks; we fed and watered our critters, other boarders horses, as well as the owners, _and_ her goats, geese, ducks, and chickens.
Warmer weather returned, and so did the owner, but with never a word of thanks; in fact, she complained about excessive hay consumption
This prompted a mass exodus; 7 of her 10 boarders all pulled out within a week or so; no written notice, no last months payment, not even a parting "finger", altho I'm sure she read one between the lines. By springtime, she had lost her lease and moved home to CA; tough ...

A pleasant and effective BO will work with you and help you toward your goals. A nasty/rude/only-concerned-with-money one will just wear you down and use you up. You decide which sort you have, and act accordingly. My $.02.

Steve

 

[PoptartShop]

If it's on your agreement, then you are liable for it.
A 30-day notice makes sense, as people above stated that's pretty standard at most barns. Make sure you read over the agreement for the new place to avoid this in the future.

 

[Copperhead]

Technically she can't keep you from taking your horse/s. If its in the contract you signed, you theoretically should have been prepared for the stipulation. However, unless she takes you to a small claims court for it, she can't do much about the nonpayment. You do have the chance of knocking your reputation for nonpayment, though. You signed a contract that said you were aware of the 30 day notice and you'd pay the remaining days. Nonpayment in the horse community could black list your name for future business deals like training and boarding.

You can either postpone your move so you're not giving the BO $500 for nothing, or you can move your horses and pay their new board ontop of their old board for a month.

Or you can move your horses and not pay, and chance a small claims court/bad rep.

Some BO's will work with you, some just have a Cut And Clean approach. I'm betting she's had issues with Hop-Along Boarders who don't stay for more than a month or two before they're off again, and she may need the predictable income on a month-to-month basis to budget correctly.

 

[beau159]

Technically she can't keep you from taking your horse/s. If its in the contract you signed, you theoretically should have been prepared for the stipulation. However, unless she takes you to a small claims court for it, she can't do much about the nonpayment.

I wouldn't say that.

Depending on the individual state laws, the BO may actually be able to legally HOLD the horse until the bill is paid and/or sell the horse for the amount owed in the case of nonpayment. OP may want to check his/her state laws on that. Then it's the OP that's the one that's going to have to go through the court system and police to get their horse back.

Obviously if the OP is so inclined, she could certainly steal her horse away before the BO knows what's up .... but I'm surprised that folks are even suggesting to "stick it" to the BO and leave. Whatever happened to common courtesy? Or integrity? :icon_rolleyes: It sounds like the BO has done nothing wrong and the OP is simply moving her horses, so it's not really fair to leave the BO in the dust.

If no such boarding agreement exists, that's one thing. But making assumptions from the way that the OP worded their post, it sounds like there IS a boarding agreement.

 

[LoriF]

Well, thirty days is thirty days. I imagine that unless it says the thirty days is from the first to the last of the month, then it's from the time that you give notice. So, if you have not yet, give her notice in writing today and pay up until the same date next month.

I've paid board at two places a couple of times when moving. The first time is when my horses got kicked out and the second time the B/O's scared me with their actions and didn't trust them around my horses so I paid up until the end of the month but still left on the tenth. The first place had a thirty day notice in contract and I got one but I still left 2 weeks early so essentially I had paid board at two places for two weeks. The second place did not but I had already paid up for the month when I found another place for them and I just left. If I did have a thirty day notice at that second place, I would have given them 1/3 of the board for the next month as well and still left when I did. Thankfully, the new barn owner that I moved to prorated the month so we could keep payments on the first and I only had to pay for 20 days that first month that I was there.

 

[AnitaAnne]

Some places require 30 days, some don't. Some barns watch everything you do on the day of departure, some barns are empty when a boarder leaves.

I would highly suggest that you remove your tack carefully and secretly. I emptied out most of my lockers on the last move before I even gave the thirty day notice. But I left my locks on so no-one knew they were empty. Then one day loaded up for a "trail ride" and didn't come back. I didn't care about double paying, the most important thing was to get out safely with all my possessions, especially my horses.

Have heard horror stories of people that were locked out of the barn, arrived to find their horse locked in the stall, and missing saddles.

Same thing happens in rental apartments, but then no horse to worry about!

 

[george the mule]

Obviously if the OP is so inclined, she could certainly steal her horse away before the BO knows what's up .... but I'm surprised that folks are even suggesting to "stick it" to the BO and leave. Whatever happened to common courtesy? Or integrity? :icon_rolleyes: It sounds like the BO has done nothing wrong and the OP is simply moving her horses, so it's not really fair to leave the BO in the dust.

Some, many/most even, undoubtedly deserve better; some do not. In my experience, the better facilities generally have a waiting list.
(edit to add And enough financial stability to weather the occasional disgruntled boarder picking up and leaving. What really hurts is people who pay for a month, drop off their animal(s), and then disappear from the face of the earth. All too common, alas.

 

[SilverMaple]

^ Yeah, a friend who runs a small boarding operation now requires 2 months' payment up front-- one for the first month, one held for the last month should you leave without advance notice. She does require notice and usually gets it, but occasionally someone will board, then skip out without letting her know, and then she's scrambling to fill the stall from the wait list, and those people usually have to leave 30 days with wherever they were previously, etc... She has a policy that she or one of her staff be there when a horse is removed as they had an issue with a boarder taking off with other people's tack, and has had more than one person drop off a horse, pay a couple month's board, then disappear. When that happens, she has a legal process to go through, after which she can sell the horse.

 

[cef721]

I am currently boarding at a facility while I wait for spots to open at the school for the horses.... I have finally got spots at the school and have told the owner of the barn I am picking up the horses and said they will be gone in a week..... I will be paying for the rest of the month that I won't be there for... but then she has told me that there is a 30 notice period for taking the horses, so now she is charging me an extra $500 for the next month that will not be there for..... she has known the whole time that I did not know when I was going to get the spots at the school and was leaving when I got some..... she has never mentioned to me about the 30day notice but says it's on the borders agreement...

Has anyone had this problem or have even heard about this????

Super duper common. Every place I have boarded and/or leased at had this. I would look at your board agreement, because that would be the only way it is enforceable. But it makes sense and is meant to protect the BO from a sudden, unexpected loss of income.

 

[Dreamcatcher Arabians]

I have a 30 day clause in my contract, it's pretty customary. I have also never enforced it because I do have people waiting. If they have to give 30 days before coming over, it's ok, gives me time to air out the stall, fix any mats that need fixing, fix anything that I notice is broken, all the little piddly things you might not notice day to day. It also lets me disinfect the stall and leave it to air and freshen with no mats, no bedding, no horse. I only suggested the OP remove her horse without saying anything, not necessarily that she shouldn't pay if she has a 30 day clause. The reason for that is because on more than one occasion, I've had boarders who gave the 30 day notice that they were leaving another facility to come here get there to pick up their horse(s) and find the gate codes changed, gates locked, refusal to open the gates without a police presence......NUTTY stuff. So, take the horse, get out and then pay up if needed.

 

[Dixiesmom]

If it's in the contract then you should follow that. You signed it even if you may not have read it carefully. To me, what we do in life is a reflection of who we are. If I were running your new barn and your current barn manager called and said you skipped out, I'd probably have some real trust issues with you which would start you out on a bad foot with me. I just don't understand how people can play so fast and loose with their word especially when papers are signed. That's not an attack on you, I totally understand the frustration with an unexpected cost, I just grew up in a "my word is my bond" era.