I would never board self care for all the reasons you have stated.
I ran a large barn once that offered it and it was a nightmare.

 

Sounds reasonable to me, have never had to board so I am not much help lol.

 

Before I came along, my spouse had allowed people to "work off"their board...not full "self care", but stall cleaning. I wondered, too, why we didn't offer that and relieve ourselves from some of the work. He showed me a video he took, showing an owner how to clean a stall. O.M.G.
Apparently, the people would scoop the manure ou
t, but leave the wet stuff and just throw new stuff on
top. They built up a two foot base of wet sawdust, and my spouse had to do a ton of repair work to the stall after cleaning it. He showed the video to the people and said "no more..."

Additionally, the idea of having someone come in and doing their own thing seems like it wood certainly increase the already high risks involved in horse boarding...
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Someone in another thread was wondering why some barns do not offer self board. That's an interesting question. Let's talk about it.

I'm a BO who does not offer self board. Here are my reasons.
-Most people do not realize the amount of time involved-every day
-Anything not done I would have to do. I plan my day according to what needs to be done. I don't want a dirty stall or water bucket waiting for someone to come & clean it. I also don't want any last minute phone calls asking me to feed or clean because roads are bad, hangovers, sick or have something better to do ie: more fun
-Feeding would have to be done individually & that may mean bringing your own horse in to feed, then turn back out or require individual turn out. How many times will someone hang around while their horse munches on hay before they are tired of doing that? The horses here are in small groups when outside & eat breakfast & lunch outside when not on pasture.
-I don't have room for people to store their own feed/hay/bedding etc.
-Too many stories of people buying bad hay or running out & stealing good hay from someone else
-If someone runs out of food I would have to feed their horse my food anyway
-I feed 4 times a day every 6 hours, the last feeding after midnight. I couldn't feed only mine while others nicker for some too.
-Many self care boarders get the "it's none of your business" attitude when it comes to how their horse is taken care of, which can cause problems. If a horse is at my place it is my business
-I don't want to be a nagging baby sitter
-The horses here get a high standard of care & the only way I can ensure that is to do it myself.

I hear of some self care facilities that run smoothly but I've never personally seen one where at least one horse didn't get pity from other boarders because of the way it's cared for.

Thoughts?

Geeze! What times do you sleep?? LOL
I completely agree! Sometimes it does work out, like young girls who, you know for a fact will come everyday to see their horse, they might want to get more involved in the taking care of horses. But I have heard a lot about self-care soon becoming No-care.

 

I've been an insomniac as long as I can remember. If I got 4 hours of good sleep at a time that would be rare. I grab a couple of hours here & there. The strange thing is I seldom feel really tired & even then a couple of hours revive me.
I once had a cop stop at my place at 2 AM because he saw all the barn lights on & thought something was wrong. I was working a horse.

 

I am at a self care place right now as a boarder, and were I running a facility, there is ZERO chance I would allow self care given what I see. Not that anyone is abusing their horses where I am at or anything, but I still would not be willing to allow such a low standard of care at a place with my name attached.

 

I do self care right now but I'm also the only "boarder" (I "work" off board, which takes really no work at all since I board from the nicest little old people ever). It's also my neighbor's house which makes it really easy for me to get out there everyday.

However, if I were a BO, I wouldn't allow self care except for under very specific circumstances with strict guidelines for care.
I might allow self care to a very responsible, mature person who lived close but other than that, no way. I certainly wouldn't offer if to people who were trying to use self care as a way to cheap out on their horse, or if I did, I'd have ridiculously high punishment fines for failure to follow the care guidelines. However, since I'm a huge softy, it's probably in my best interest to not ever offer self care. hahaha

 

Such a different culture! I can't even imagine not having 100% control over my horses care. Though some days when i'm out there in the rain feeding, I think it would be nice, lol!

 

I don't take away the control of the owners. I take away the work & the worry.

 

I'm have what's kinda in-between self-care and full-care.

I have my horse about 10mins away from me at a barn with 7 other horses/ponies. The couple I board with feeds and turns him out during the day. At some point during the day or early evening, I clean all 8 stalls (they provide shavings) and if a water bucket is dirty and something else needs or should be done, I'll take care of it. So a couple weeks ago when their gelding dug a hole to china in his run, I found it, so I filled it in. When my horse escaped and ended up with a minor gash, they cleaned and treated it, then chained his gate.

They blanket/fly mask/whatever as needed but if I am there and the sun comes out and it's hot, I'll pull off everyone's blankies/sheets. Or if the temperature suddenly drops, it's starts hailing/pouring/whatever, I'll bring everyone in or throw blankets on. Every time any of us are walk past a water trough, we check and clean/refill if needed. If the horses are stuck inside for the day, I throw everyone extra hay while I clean stalls.

They provide grass hay and beet pulp, breakfast and lunch are served in turnout, dinner in stalls. My horse needs alfalfa, I store it at my place, haul in 10 bales at a time and stack them in the corner of the barn. Since breakfast/lunch are done in turn-out, I had to accept he would share his alfalfa with his turnout buddies. He attacked one of his buddies, so dodohead ended up with individual turnout but he still manages to share his alfalfa through the fence with an ancient pony. It is what it is.... I can't expect them to stand out there and tell him to quit sharing!!

Since my horse gets almost 2x the quantity of grass hay as everyone else, I haul timothy hay over (I have horse-quality hay for my cows) and he gets half timothy, half their grass hay (their grass hay supply is limited due to the hay shortage here). I provide his grain/supplements.

Whenever I go on vacation, they do everything. When they go on vacation, I do everything. Since most of the horses have very specific dietary needs (IE soaked for the toothless, grain 3x per day for a thin rescue, alfalfa and 2 kinds of hay for my guy) we both prefer it this way as there are zero worries about feed or horse mix-ups. The BO hired a "professional vacation care provider" last year during a trip and he mixed up a white Welsh with a bay Morgan despite having been left a guide with PICTURES! Thankfully they were eating basically the same diet.

It works out well for us but then I am the only boarder. I could see issues if there was multiple boarders. Nothing goes missing or gets taken.... other than occasionally if someone escapes I'll find bites taken out of my alfalfa bales!

 

I honestly can't see even how people who board can manage self care. There are days I get stuck at work until late and I would hate the thought of my horse waiting for food while everyone else got fed. OP, your reasons in opposite are the reasons as a boarder I prefer full care.
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My boys are at home now and are on pasture with a run-in 24-7, but up until the past year they were boarded.

Every place I've kept my boys at, I pretty much did partial care.

I boarded at a military stable for probably close to 20 years and did partial care. I cleaned my own stall and bought my own grain/shavings. People could feed their own hay or buy it from the barn at "x" amount per flake. For a minimal monthly fee they would feed your horse twice a day (you had to set out the meals for them to feed). Turn out a was also the owner's responsibility, but often we'd help each other out. One would turn out, another would bring in. They started to offer full-care several years ago- but the owner still had to provide their own shavings and grain, 4 flakes of hay per day was included. The only difference is they cleaned the stay and turned out/brought in.

After leaving there I moved them to a private barn, where the lady had 5 stalls and only one other boarder. I was still partial care - I was responsible for cleaning my stalls and providing grain. She provided shavings and hay, fed twice a day and turned them in/out. She would clean for me if I was ill or the weather was extremely bad.

The last place I kept them at briefly, they were pretty much out to pasture, but had access to a barn for shelter. He would feed grain that I provided (or he said he did, I don't really think he fed them like he was supposed to, not that they lost weight or anything) and I had to provide hay - which kind of sucked because he didn't provide hay for his horses in the winter and there was no way to really separate them so I got stuck feeding 4 additional horses hay over that winter. Needless to say I didn't stay there very long and was luckily able to find a place to keep them home with me.

I've never really been a big fan of "full-care" because I'm pretty particular about how I liked my stalls to be, so when I've kept them stalls I made sure to board them at places where I was responsible for cleaning their stalls, and it wasn't ever an issue for me to get out there daily, most cases I was there several times a day.

 

Finally, this makes more sense to me, I never really understood why until this thread.

Thanks Natisha, for making a thread for me.

 

Finally, this makes more sense to me, I never really understood why until this thread.

Thanks Natisha, for making a thread for me.

You're welcome

 

I agree with you wholeheartedly. If I ran a barn, my reasons would be exactly the same. Simple fact of the matter is, you can't trust that everyone will be responsible for what they need to be responsible for.

One person lets their care become lacking, and even if the BO let's each horse be it's owner's business, the other boarders will undoubtedly complain.

It's different somewhat if it's one person. Without a clear contract on the care expected of the boarder, that too could become an irritating situation.

Better to charge more but know everything will be done.

 

As a barn owner, I don't allow self care or partial care, for all of the reasons listed above. Plus, I'm out in the country and one of the draws around here is the proximity to trail riding, but not necessarily convenient to town folk to come out every day especially mid-week.

Now, I am having very FOND thoughts of when I sell this place and most of my horses and just keep a couple for pleasure. I want one of those fancy barns where EVERY single thing is done for me if that's how I want it. I'd like to be able to call and say, "I'm on my way, please tack up So and So" and have him be ready when I get there and then when I'm done, if I'm tired or don't want to, they'll take over and groom and put away. That way all I have to do is just the pure enjoyment of my horses, not all of the work. I expect to pay THROUGH the nose for this kind of treatment too, as I know it's waaay over the top.

 

I thought about self-care for my older barn and have had several people ask about it. So far I have not found one individual who I am willing to let do it.

People just don't understand how much work there is to care for their horses.

I will still entertain the idea if the right person came along, but I wont hold my breath.

 

I hear of some self care facilities that run smoothly but I've never personally seen one where at least one horse didn't get pity from other boarders because of the way it's cared for.

Friend of mine boarded in "half" self-care (if it's possible to call this way). The owner has a breeding pony operation + 5 or 6 boarders. The agreement was he feeds all boarder's horses in morning, but they take care of the feeding in eve and clean the stalls. I know they rotate between themselves, and it's been quite smooth.

Personally as a very responsible person I'd have no problem to exist in self-care place as long as my own feed + boarding price would be appropriate. In fact it would be probably cheaper (because I did buy my own grain in both places I boarded at anyway). When the BO at the last place allowed me to keep my mare in stall for 2 weeks (I did field board), I got my butt there and cleaned the stall and did the feeding every morning at 8 am. But... I also know not everyone is like that, and unfortunately in my experience too many people don't like to clean after the horses when they leave them in stalls and all.

 

I have kept my horses at several places where there was a mix of what UK people call DIY (and Yanks call self-care) and full livery. So far, I have yet to be convinced that this is a good idea. Horses were being brought in from turn-out at different times, and while the BO insisted they all be fed together, the rule was that the last person at the stable in the evening fed everyone, thus the horses could get dinner any time between 5 and 9pm. This uncertainty in the routine made most of the horses a little bit neurotic (one cob even tried to jump a five bar gate), and mine a lot neurotic, which was one of the reasons I found her a new barn. When my horse could be brought in from the field any time between 3 and 7, and the schedule of her barnmates was even more random, she developed the habit of pacing the fenceline incessantly.

 

I have kept my horses at several places where there was a mix of what UK people call DIY (and Yanks call self-care) and full livery. So far, I have yet to be convinced that this is a good idea. Horses were being brought in from turn-out at different times, and while the BO insisted they all be fed together, the rule was that the last person at the stable in the evening fed everyone, thus the horses could get dinner any time between 5 and 9pm. This uncertainty in the routine made most of the horses a little bit neurotic (one cob even tried to jump a five bar gate), and mine a lot neurotic, which was one of the reasons I found her a new barn. When my horse could be brought in from the field any time between 3 and 7, and the schedule of her barnmates was even more random, she developed the habit of pacing the fenceline incessantly.

How would a person know if they were going to be the last one there? Someone could come after they left.

 

Aye, someone could do. But the BO and owners would have had the feeds made up and waiting -- if you did show up at the barn late and the feeds weren't out, it meant someone had already fed them. There were only three or four liveries at any given time, so you could figure it out easy enough. The main issue, as I saw it, was that the horses found it quite stressful not knowing when they were going to be fed.

 

I find full livery in the UK to be a bit odd compared to full-care in the US. At the stables I boarded at in the US (and there were a lot of them as I had to move around a lot during university), the BOs gave the horse owners far space to care and make decisions for their horse however they saw fit, and feeding, blanketing, et. al. was much more of a team effort between horse owner and barn owner. If the BO felt something needed to be changed, they would say, "I think we should up her feed," and vice versa. Here, BOs are much more likely to make decisions *for* you unless you step in far more proactively and insist that this is how you want it done. And even then, they may argue with you. I've found a kind of "paradigm" amongst BOs in the UK that your average horse owner is a numpty who's decisions for their horse can and should be overruled. For instance, I've had running battles with a few successive BOs about how my horse should be rugged. Drives me nuts but it seems to be a part of the horse culture.

I'd love to have my horse on DIY, but for that to work I need to be living within ten minutes or less of the barn and all horses at the barn need to be on the same schedule -- not like your average chaotic DIY barn -- or she will pace the fence.

 

I am a self care boarder of 4 horses. I rent a barn and a couple of acres of grazing pasture. I have to run 300' hose to the owner's well to get water. I have no electricity.
The barn was built for goats. Luckily I have my own horse panels because I had to make my own horse stalls. I made 4 large cozy stalls. But when the owner said I could use the back pasture I took my round pen panels and I use them as a fence. I can now leave them turned out 24/7.
I feed 2x a day and I work a rotating schedule. Some days I feed at 4 a.m. in the dark and when I work the late shift I feed in the dark. I spend a couple of hours everyday during the work week with them rain or shine. I look forward to the weekends and holidays that is when I spend all day with them. They are alot of work, but I really enjoy doing it all myself. The only bad thing is after I moved all my stuff out there and cleaned the area up the owner told me he took a new job in New Mexico and will be selling his house and property after the holidays I am hoping and praying the new owners will let me continue to rent the barn and pasture cause my horses love not being stalled up. BTW I still clean my house and manage to feed my husband before I run out the door.LOL

 

I don't think a BO can take the worry away from a horse owner. We horse owners worry about our horses no matter who cares for them.

 

Yes, worry comes with horse ownership.

 

I have a self care boarder at our barn now. She takes excellent care of her horses... OTHER than a few things

-Thinks its ok to come out at noon for AM feedings.
-thinks its ok to feed horses early/late for PM feedings while others around are nickering. I've had horses colic from watching others eat.

I have since taken over AM feedings as she is very reliable about PM bc she comes after work. I will not offer self care again. This was the one and only time and not again

 

The reasons you stated are quite good and I'm glad you posted this because I also didn't understand the "downs" of self care... now I understand.

 

Our horses have always had to watch while others eat - in fact I don't know of many that haven't. It hasn't caused us any issues. The most dominant horse is the one who needs feeding most, sometimes he is fed in the paddock and keeps the others away on his own.

I can see how there are benefits to feeding all at once though.
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I rented a barn that was part of a large ranch that offered self care. Basically everyone had their own separate barn/pasture but all shared my barn for winter hay storage. It was a great way to be able to operate my own business but very stressful when it came to feed times.

I was generally the first one on the ranch to feed and start barn chores. So the rest of the ranch would be screaming for breakfast from 4am till whenever their owner showed up (some as late as 10am). One thing I noticed was that the horses seemed more stressed and that there were a lot of vices like wood chewing, stall walking, weaving...etc. Even my steady eddy, adapt to all environments TB began eating his stall in the winter. Because all the boarders stored winter hay in my barn, they were in and out at all times of the evening or day getting hay... riling my guys that might be stuck in for whatever reason up.

Because some owners were less than stellar owners, I ended up watering half the farm in the afternoon. I couldn't just leave a pasture full of horses baking in the heat with no water. And because I was the closest one to the ranch, I was the emergency feeder... not fun when there was a group that had adopted wild mustangs and didn't bother socializing them but insisted you get them in stalls.

Lesson learned.

For the horse's sanity and my own... should I have my own place I would not allow self care boarders. It disrupts the schedule, stresses the horses out, and though may seem to create less work, unless it's done to standards, it's just more you have to check at the end of the day. I would however allow someone to work off their board doing stalls, feeding, helping out, provided they did it to my standards and schedule.

Self care takes a lot of responsibility. You can't just go away on a whim, need extra planning if you compete, and requires you to worry about where your horse's food is coming from rain, snow, sleet, or bad economy.

I would do it again, if the circumstances were right, I love getting up early and mucking stalls. It really cuts down on the alcohol consumption. HA HA.

 

Self care boarding can be chaotic, but that being said I prefer taking care of my own. I have boarded at a strictly self care place and had absolutely no problems (other than the BO stealing my feed for her own horses) and enjoyed it, but I'm the exception. The reason I have a horse is because I enjoy them, and I can't enjoy them unless I'm around them. I am not one of those people that see their horse a few times a month but like to announce to the world I'm a horse owner!
Now boarding at a full care where I still take care of my own for the most part because I want to, and there have been times because I've needed to... some barn helpers don't believe in fresh water or give the best care when the BO isn't looking if you know what I mean, and I won't have that. I'll take care of things myself to make sure it's done.
So there are both ends of the spectrum. You sound like a wonderful BO - wish they all were like you