Austin Texas. Four horses on pasture board (24/7 on pasture but they have stalls if they need them), includes two lessons per week, trailer parking, and providing medication for one horse. I think we're up to $3200 a month now.

It supposedly includes feed but in fact I provide my own feed because historically I didn't like what she fed. They do get a round bale in their pasture. It's full care and the barn owner would schedule farrier and vet, and make sure someone was there to hold my horses for them, if I used the same providers she did and I asked.

There are three arenas, one of which is covered, which is super important in Texas, and while there are no trails we can ride them in the pastures if we dare (currently due to drought there are giant cracks and holes in the pastures).

It's very close in to town, and in fact the land is for sale and there are developments going up all around it, so the property value is high and taxes keep going up, and those costs get passed along to boarders.

 

Upstate NY - $600 a month for one horse on full board, which includes a stall, 24/7 turnout if wanted (group turnout only), feed, unlimited hay, and shavings. The barn has an indoor arena, an outdoor arena w/ jumps, 3 barns, and some of the paddocks have sheds. Horses are brought out to their paddock in the a.m. by person doing chores if wanted. They can also be brought in at night. They are fed in the am and pm and given meds, supplements etc. Stall is done once daily if horse is outside, if they are in it’s done as frequently as possible.

 

In my mid-south resort area we boarded for one month while fence was being built. It was $320/mo for pasture/paddock for my gelding. And $450/mo for my daughter's mare who was stalled at night only because the barn owner didn't have a pasture for mares at night (I wasn't able to figure that out). Each paddock had a large bale of good grass hay.

It had a small indoor, a large outdoor, and limited trails.

In Wyoming I leased ground at a training facility for a couple hundred a month. I know full pasture board was $450. We had a large indoor arena and a few thousand acres of private ground for riding and conditioning. I'm not sure why we got a break, but I tried to be helpful. I did the extensive weed eating, provided homemade baked goods every week, and daughter provided the coffee from her roasting business.

The hay... I miss their fantastic hay. And the acreage. And the people. And the scenery.

 

I keep my horse and mini pony at my own home but the barn across the street from me charges $1200 for full board - they have indoor ring and daytime turnout. The other barns in this area ( Seacoast NH ) seem to charge about the same. Not sure why it so much here

 

1200 for how long? Monthly?

 

Depends on your facility in my opinion. What's all included do you have indoor arena, outdoor arena, wash bays, etc. How nice is your facility and so on. I actually live in Nebraska too in the eastern part. Location is another big one. I know where I live there have been a few barns that have closed so there is most likely a need for another boarding barn. I personally haven't seen a lot of barns in Nebraska in my area charging $1200/month. I can only think of one barn that charges over $1000/month and they are a higher end show barn. More like $500-$900/month range.

 

large box Stalls with runs, wash racks, tie areas with mats, large fenced in outdoor arena, pasture, and unlimited trails are the main things at my place.
There is a lot of interest in boarding around here.

 

I’m in coastal South Carolina. Full stall board is typically $900-$1400 per month. That typically includes hay, grain, shavings, holding for vet/farrier, blanketing, providing supplements, use of facilities, and fly spray.

 

In my area, outdoor board starts around $500 and indoor at about $650. It can all go up quite a lot from there. This typically includes hay, feed, bedding (for indoor), blanketing, turnout, an outdoor arena, and an indoor arena. Horses where I live need hay pretty much year round, so it's more expensive perhaps than in areas where pasture can sustain them throughout a lot of the year. Also, an indoor arena is basically a requirement here unless you just decide not to ride for five months of the year. We get way too much ice, and all the trails are overrun with snowmobiles.

 

outside of Seattle: $1000 a month pasture board. Includes hay only. 24/7 turnout. simple arena on property, lockers, outdoor wash racks, nearby access to trails system

 

I pay $700 for pasture board which includes summer pasture, hay in the winter, a large indoor, an outdoor, and trails. I am in SE Wisconsin.

 

I'm in SW Oklahoma and prices here really kind of depend on who you are, where you're located, the facilities you have to offer and how nice your facilities are. The guy I send my youngsters to for Foal Kindergarten and Starting my youngsters, as well as sending my sales horses to him, has several different boards available.

Fees are:
$250/mo for pasture board and that includes a round bale when pasture is poor, additional feed ration balancer supplemental feed, no more than 5 horses per pasture.
$350/mo 12X12 box stall with a 12 X 40 attached run, hay and supplemental ration balancer is included, requires a 9 month contract
$450/mo 12X12 box stall in the Show Barn, horses are kept under lights (16 hours of light/day), hay and supplemental ration balancer is included, shavings included, daily turnout included.
$750/mo training, includes several lessons/week, horse is ridden/trained daily with 1 day/week rest, fitted for show or prepped for sale.

Dressage Barn I trained at fees are:

$625/mo Full Board includes :
• Full, professional care
• Grain fed twice daily
• Any supplements provided by owner
• Premium hay
• Stalls cleaned twice daily
• Daily turnout (weather permitting)
• Individual turnout or turnout with other horses
• Large, safe turnouts with free choice hay
• Blanketing during inclement weather (blankets supplied)
• Use of arena as well as wash and grooming areas
• Coordination of vet and farrier services
• Trailer parking available

$400/mo Pasture Board includes:
• Full, professional care
• Grain fed twice daily
• Any supplements provided by owner
• Premium hay
• Free choice hay in winter
• East pasture is equipped with a run-in shed
• Blanketing during inclement weather (blankets supplied)
• Use of arena as well as wash and grooming areas
• Coordination of vet and farrier services
• Trailer parking available

Lessons
Private - 45 mins, $55/lesson
Semi - 1 hr. , $45/person

Full Training + Board
$1500/mo included 6 daily lessons, horse ridden daily with 1 day off per week, use of indoor, outdoor dressage court, grooming bays, wash bay, cross ties, board in barn

 

I'm in SW Oklahoma and prices here really kind of depend on who you are, where you're located, the facilities you have to offer and how nice your facilities are. The guy I send my youngsters to for Foal Kindergarten and Starting my youngsters, as well as sending my sales horses to him, has several different boards available.

Fees are:
$250/mo for pasture board and that includes a round bale when pasture is poor, additional feed ration balancer supplemental feed, no more than 5 horses per pasture.
$350/mo 12X12 box stall with a 12 X 40 attached run, hay and supplemental ration balancer is included, requires a 9 month contract
$450/mo 12X12 box stall in the Show Barn, horses are kept under lights (16 hours of light/day), hay and supplemental ration balancer is included, shavings included, daily turnout included.
$750/mo training, includes several lessons/week, horse is ridden/trained daily with 1 day/week rest, fitted for show or prepped for sale.

Dressage Barn I trained at fees are:

$625/mo Full Board includes :
• Full, professional care
• Grain fed twice daily
• Any supplements provided by owner
• Premium hay
• Stalls cleaned twice daily
• Daily turnout (weather permitting)
• Individual turnout or turnout with other horses
• Large, safe turnouts with free choice hay
• Blanketing during inclement weather (blankets supplied)
• Use of arena as well as wash and grooming areas
• Coordination of vet and farrier services
• Trailer parking available

$400/mo Pasture Board includes:
• Full, professional care
• Grain fed twice daily
• Any supplements provided by owner
• Premium hay
• Free choice hay in winter
• East pasture is equipped with a run-in shed
• Blanketing during inclement weather (blankets supplied)
• Use of arena as well as wash and grooming areas
• Coordination of vet and farrier services
• Trailer parking available

Lessons
Private - 45 mins, $55/lesson
Semi - 1 hr. , $45/person

Full Training + Board
$1500/mo included 6 daily lessons, horse ridden daily with 1 day off per week, use of indoor, outdoor dressage court, grooming bays, wash bay, cross ties, board in barn

Thank you, that was extremely helpful!!

 

We are going to try to get 2-3 boarders on our property. We have an 8 stall barn that needs fixing and a large arena with turnout. We will charge $425 to $450 a month for stalls cleaned daily, hay in slow feed nets, grain and supplements provided by owner, cleaning water troughs, blanketing, and turnout weather permitting.
We don't have the nicest up to date property otherwise we would probably charge more.
Our neighbors who have an indoor arena and round pen, no outdoor arena, are charging $575 for everything I mentioned we would do.
$500 or more is pretty normal.

 

In my area, indoor full care board is between $600-$850 a month. I am paying $650 - It includes hay am/pm, daily stall cleaning, and feeding of owner provided grain and supplements am/pm. Some facilities include daily turnout. The one I am at doesn't - it would be an additional amount of money. For an outdoor pen with a shelter, facilities are charging between 400-600 for full care. These amounts also include tack room storage, wash racks, indoor arena(s), and multiple outdoor arenas.

 

In my area, which is very high cost of living, I see rates from 550 to 1200. 700-800 is pretty typical for a decent facility, with basic amenities (access to trails, an arena or two). There are some really fancy places seriously into competition where you can pay more, but that's not my speed so I haven't looked into them.

Paid monthly, usually the base rate is for very basic care (feed and water and facilities maintenance) and may not include mucking. Other services are offered for additional fees.

Places where boarders pitch in a bit to help are a bit more on the economical side. But it may be hard to get a group of boarders willing to do so... I may be very lucky where I'm at.

 

What your rate should be based on is what you have available, what it actually costs your family to run and maintain the facility and what the going rate is in YOUR area. What others pay all over the county isn't really relevant. Depending on facilities, turn out, training, among other things here is anywhere from 600 to 1800 a month full board. Here pasture board is $20 (yes, two zero) to $100 a month. Again depends on facilities. A friend near Omaha that I emailed said her horse is at a barn with trails, access to trails, indoor and outdoor, AC in the barn (?), over 100 acres of prime pasture and access to professional trainers - she pays $600 a month. There are a large number of horses boarded there. In her area thats not uncommon for premium facilities. Pasture board is $400. Covered runs $500. These are larger facilities. Lots of horses. Quantity pays but only if you have acres to support the numbers.

 

It's very, very hard to be in the positive each month with solely boarding horses. I was considering buying a horse property until I losely did the calculations, and there was no way to make it financially feasible. Hay and bedding alone eat up so much of a boarding fee, especially if it's a bad hay season and if the horse is a mess in the stall.

I do pasture board, each horse has a private lot (not always private, though), where both eat hay year around. Grain is included, but BO is a feed rep so he likely gets it at a reduced rate. No blanketing, no fly spraying, nothing extra. I pay $365/month/horse. Board has went up twice since I came in summer 2021, and for people who are new, they pay a higher rate than what I'm paying.

I've priced out what BO pays to feed my horses, and I'd estimate he pays $330/horse... If they eat a bale a day at $6/bale, two bags of the main feed per month, and a bag of ration balancer per month... Not including electricity, gas for the equipment, paying barn staff, fixes around the property... I wouldn't board horses.

 

If they eat a bale a day at $6/bale,

I'm in the middle of some pretty good hay country, down the street from a pretty big hay broker who has some of the best hay prices I've seen in a couple of years, and I can't find a bale of hay (just grass hay, bermuda or prairie, nothing fancy) for less than around $14 bale. Where are you located? Just generally.

 

I'm in the middle of some pretty good hay country, down the street from a pretty big hay broker who has some of the best hay prices I've seen in a couple of years, and I can't find a bale of hay (just grass hay, bermuda or prairie, nothing fancy) for less than around $14 bale. Where are you located? Just generally.

Michigan. When my family first got into horses in 2008, we brought hay home for $2.50-3 a bale. Now, you can find it for around $6+. For great quality hay and alfalfa grown local to me, it's $8-10/bale.

 

I remember when I got bales for $3. It’s getting harder to remember but I still can. Last 3 years prices have skyrocketed. Now those same bales are &14-$18. It’s getting nuts.

 

Just to throw this in there, pricing also may depend on how close to population centers. I love my facility which is 30 miles from me. It is in between 2 cities. Many people don't want to drive that far, so the board (450) is lower than many facilities that are 15 to 20 miles from the cities.

Includes very large indoor arena (160 X 80), larger outdoor arena and a large round pen, 5 acre pastures with only 3 horses per pasture with run in, trails through the 100 acre property, horses brought in to stalls in inclement weather, Feeder with round bales in winter, feed and supplements provided by owner.

Best BO ever.

 

Michigan. When my family first got into horses in 2008, we brought hay home for $2.50-3 a bale. Now, you can find it for around $6+. For great quality hay and alfalfa grown local to me, it's $8-10/bale.

I've priced out what BO pays to feed my horses, and I'd estimate he pays $330/horse... If they eat a bale a day at $6/bale

My drafts at 2000 wouldn't eat a bale a day. 60lb bales typically. I'm assuming very small bales?

 

My drafts at 2000 wouldn't eat a bale a day. 60lb bales typically. I'm assuming very small bales?

I wanted to keep the math straight-forward - we could say half a bale a day, but in the winter when I do chores for BO, I easily feed a bale a horse in a day. In the summer, there is pasture they can pick, but it's very limited. I'm bad at estimating weight but they are small squares, 60 lbs could be right.

 

I am in southern Middle Tennessee. The more caring/ethical boarding barns in my area raised their rates by $100/month to $450/month for full care. The luxurious high end horse retirement farm, nearby raised her fee to $750/month for full care which includes daily brushing and blanketing when needed. She also has a circle track for the very easy keepers and diagnosed metabolic horses. I wouldn’t be surprised to see any of them raise their prices again, with the cost of hay and other needed products escalating .

By all accounts, it is not a money-making proposition. You need to keep your day job in order to keep providing quality care. If you love being around horses and don’t care that much about riding, then it’s a side hustle to consider.

 

We are thinking about doing some horse boarding in the future as we have a huge barn just waiting to be filled with horses again... Our barn was a boarding barn years back and we would love to do that again. But we have a lot of financial stuff to figure out before that happens.
What are the rates for boarding right now in your area? Are you paying quarterly, monthly, etc? I would love to hear details. We are located in Nebraska by the way.
Thank you!

Late to the post but better late than never lol

Located in central CA. We have 2 horses. Mare and gelding. First they were at a ranch close to my house in a 12x24 stall. I paid 700 for both horses. They fed and we cleaned. I then found a ranch that has paddocks. I immediately moved there because they offered 650 total and fed and everything and they are both together in a quarter acre pasture...
So cheaper and better for the horses plus the original barn charged $50 to park my trailer and here it is free. Trailer parking is an absolute scam. No one should be paying for that it should be included in the boarding. The first ranch had a very small arena and now here we have a 1.5 acre arena and a quarter acre side arena. I paid monthly before and now as well.

Also take into consideration what else you have to offer. How is your arena? How many round pins do you have? How is your wash rack? Do you have a farrier area? Do you have a chut for injured horses? There are a lot of things that can "up scale" your facility. You want the renter to feel like its worth paying what I pay.

 

Where I'm at pasture is 150 and getting stalled is 350. Pasture horses will get hay provided for them during colder months but much of the year the grass is sufficient and they'll be pretty much left alone unless you come out to do anything with them or have a sort of ration balancer to be provided. Someone will grab them for the farrier if need be. It's very basic but not exactly self-care so it would be safe to leave them for days without coming around if necessary (unless they have some sort of medical routine that requires more work). Stalled horses get hay if they're inside during the day and at night, fed 2x (either owner provided or what the barn has), stalls cleaned once a day. There are two arenas and the property is spacious enough to ride outside but doesn't have any trails. Tack rooms, wash stall, multiple places to cross tie in barn, automatic waterers in stalls and outside. It's mostly so low because the BO cut and bale their own hay and the grass is good enough that pastured horses don't need much attention. A lot of work but doesn't have to mess with sourcing from other people and we aren't an area that usually has to worry about drought. They include hay in the board (I guess unless you're feeding a draft in heavy work ****). Unless I wanted to add alfalfa hay then the cost is the same throughout the year. They definitely don't do this to make money!

 

A couple hours from me in the valley is $525/month. It's a very nice facility with covered and open arenas, large and small round pen, all with excellent footing. Each horse has a stall and paddock. It's kept very clean and rules for health certificate are strict. I don't know how they get help to keep it so clean! They charge for extra care beyond basic feeding and they host clinics there. Still, I'm not sure how they make a living with the cost of hay, and there is no such thing as a vacation - not even a day off.