Boarding ad help
 

Im having a hard time getting any responce to my ads, it may be the economy but its a nice fairly price place and I know the business is there and Im priced lower for the most part.
I have horse safe fence pastures that are very well maintained (weed free/fertilized) roughly 60 acers in pasture, 200 acers that are of use to trail ridders. the stalls are not excellent but nicer than some of the barns around here, the previous trainer let the horses stay in way too much and most of the inside has been chewed down some but its still safe and look respectable.
so my ad on the horsetopia/craigslist type places say the same as the temp website,
www.picturetrail.com/turnberryblue is there something im saying or not saying that would help?

The link doesn't work for me...

It doesn't work for me either but I guess I would ask if boarders would have easy access to trails, do you have an outdoor ring, indoor arena, roping, cutting or penning or maybe a good instructor? Essentially, you need to be competative and not all horse people have trailers so they want to do whatever it is they do, on site rather than having to haul their horses when they want to use them.

I have no idea why it dosent work but heres the link strait from my browser,
http://www.picturetrail.com/turnberrybleu

I can see the link; I think it looks very nice!

I would agree about advertising in other places besides craigslist/internet....put up flyers at the tack shop, feed store, talk to the vet clinic and let them know you have openings. I have also found that in my area the other boarding barns have a close network and if one barn is full they will often recommend another barn until a stall opens, or as an alternative. So making friends with other barns (especially those that may have a waiting list!) would be useful!

With regard to your pictures - there are no other horses in them! It looks completely vacant - is it? If it's not, I'd make an effort to include pictures of healthy horses on your website and even better if any boarders are willing to be photographed while riding in your ring or on your trails.

I'd also make a reference to trainers -- can people bring in a trainer, is there one on site? If you have a good reputation with your local equine clinic I'd mention who they are -- that can make a difference, especially if someone shares your vet they may be more willing to come check it out. Maybe also mention the type of boarder you either have or are looking for -- pleasure riders, trail riders, do any of your boarders show, and if so, what type?

I'd give some more details about board & services - is the owner on site, horses are fed/checked x times per day, any other services you provide such as holding for farrier/vet, etc., even if they are for an additional fee.

I agree that mentioning your insurance status is useful; if you have CGL insurance, mention it in your ad. "Fully insured" means a lot to people.

Good luck!

I don't know what boarding goes for around there but I wouldn't pay 175 a head for self care no matter where I was boarding at... around here I can get all of that except for the trails for $60 a head self care. Your place is BEAUTIFUL though! I would just make sure you are in the right price range.

The test pilot is dating a gal that has a facility north of here and her rates start at $150 for paddock with shed and up to $500 for a full time box stall. Rates include her time and feed costs, use of outdoor ring when weather permits, indoor arena and access to trails and if one is boarding at her facility, she sets aside one night a week where she is available to help with anything they might need from riding tips, training suggestions, tack inspection and anything else they might need.

Definitely compare prices in your area, that could be part of the issue. But generally, I think people know the going rates in their area....so if your facility falls into the range that may not be the main issue.

I'm amazed at how little some of you pay....$60/head! [We don't even use that terminology up her in NY...."head" would be used for livestock only, never horses!]

In my area a full service boarding barn with an indoor will be at least $475 and up to $750+ depending on how nice it is. "Pasture" board....hard to say because it's an odd thing....but definitely $200+. I have a backyard barn and when I had a boarder I would not accept anything less than $325 and I don't have trails or an indoor arena.

Your barn looks nice. I would also hesitate because of insurance regulations. The extra income doesn't always make it worth dealing with some horse people either. I hope it works out for you. I don't know if in your area that is considered expensive or not. Last time I ever had to check (many years ago) pasture boarding (not self care) was around $200.00 a month up North.

I work with my trainer to help him find boarders, in exchange I get more training from him. It's tough, lot's of competition out there. He charges $150/mo for pasture board, but he doesn't have an enclosed arena and he's to far from the a large city. There's people who are more than willing to pay $250+/mo around here, but they want to be within 30 minutes of their horse, a horse washing area, their own private locker/room for their tack and indoor and outdoor arena and round pens. My trainer doesn't have all that, just an indoor 60' round pen. He has 5 miles of trails and 100 acres. Seems to me most people with horses just want to ride them around in a circle and not actually get out and ride or drive them. Baffles me.

offthegrid, I'm assuming you're comment relating to per head is directed at me. I'm in ranching country, we consider our horses to be livestock and per head is just a way of counting units. We count per head or per pair we're talking about broodstock. It's not intended to be a bad thing, it's just a phrase.

No, actually I was referring to:
Skykomish
I don't know what boarding goes for around there but I wouldn't pay 175 a head for self care no matter where I was boarding at... around here I can get all of that except for the trails for $60 a head self care. Your place is BEAUTIFUL though! I would just make sure you are in the right price range.

But I didn't mean it as an insult, I just meant it shows the difference in *everything* depending on where you live. If an equine facility in my area used the term "$60 a head self care" people would assume you are putting horses out with cows in a pasture. [Not that the horses would mind, I'm sure!] But very different from what you'd see around here. In my area you would often find boarding barns that offer "turnout" and that would be 1-2 hours per day total. :mad:

Which is why I keep my horses at home. I boarded my new mare all winter because we bought her in the late fall and she is only 5; and by boarding her we could keep her in work through the winter, but oh how I couldn't wait to bring her home to be a *real* horse, turned out 24/7 in a small herd.

I assumed you were refering to me because it's a term I always use but I wouldn't have been offended if someone commented. I know it's a regional term.

Regional differences can certainly cause culture shock. After a lifetime of buying hay in Montana by the ton I moved to Kentucky where it's sold by the bale, even in the field!

The first conversation I had with a hayseller was probably pretty funny ...

"I get $3 a bale for grass, $5 for alfalfa."

"Well, I need more than a few bales, so what is it by the ton?"

"Uh, well, we sell it by the bale."

:confused: "Well, I'm going to need probably 10 tons so what do the bales weigh?" (Whipping out my calculator here.)

Hehe I know that conversation SFM. Depends on the way they bale it but we assume 30-32 bales a ton here. And lol about the terminology... guess I know too many ranch people I'm picking up their language.

In my part of the world, if you're buying hay by the bale, it's assumed you're in financial trouble and can't afford to buy real feed.

:) How funny! In this area, if you buy round bales [some] people assume you don't know how to keep a horse. We take lessons at a H/J barn and it's taken me 2 years to convince the barn owner that just because I have a "backyard barn" I'm not an idiot. But I think if I had told her I fed round bales I'd never have gotten this far.

In truth, I don't have enough horses to feed round bales. I think the hay would be ruined before the could eat it up if fed outside. And I don't have a round bale spear...so that's a deal breaker. Most farmers around here square bale unless it's for their own cows/farms anyway. Maybe not enough horse farms that feed round bales to make it worthwhile?

offthegrid, in my world climate has a lot to do with it. In the dead of winter, 4 horses will consume a round bale in less than a week and when I was feeding 125 cows, I think if I would have had to feed square bales, I'd still be trying to catch up chores from 1995.

The whole bale spike setup isn't as complicated as you'd think. I've stood them on end, wrapped chains around them and towed to feeders and my father created a great little unit. He scrounged up a bar (probably an old pry bar because it had one pointed end), he welded a length of chain to the dull end and added an manmade circle on the other. He'd simply use a sledge to point the old pry bar through the core of the bale, draw his chain from the dull end drop the loop over the pointed end, attach the resulting V to the hitch on his truck and drive to his feeders. The bale rolls like a dream and he lifts up his bale ring and rolls it over and drops it over his bale.

Yup, they possibly could poke an eye but I guess they could also stumble in a hole and break a leg while playing in the pasture too.

I live in Georgia and $175 per month for self care is reasonable given the state of the facilities.

However, this is important having run a boarding barn business of my own for years here (now closed due to lack of good barn help!)..

Do you have an arena? If not, likely won't get many upper end clients. I won't pay board even in a self care situation if there is no arena. I need the arena to practice in and most people who will pay upper end board are going to want an arena for the same reason.

Beautiful grounds, but alas, no pictures of horses..are there no horses there?

Trainers - are they allowed or not? Do you have contact with trainers? Farriers, Vets? I won't board at a facility that has no vet and farrier on call at all times. (yes, I will be boarding Ms. Tyranna next month).

Is there a wash rack? Hot/cold running water? List EVERY detail of what is included. Are owners on the premises? Who checks on the horses when the horse owner is not present? Do you carry "care, custody and control" insurance? Are there lockable tack lockers? What about feed storage? If you have "self care" folks are gonna want to be able to bring feed, supplements, salt blocks, hay, etc. - do you have a large storage area? Do you have a way to isolate each person's feed? (provide bins for individual feed storage?). Otherwise, folks may steal feed _ yep it happens and also supplements, brushes, lead ropes, halters, etc.

Nice barn, I'd fix the chewed boards and state in your ad "no cribbers" if you do not allow the little termites -otherwise, it is your responsibility to keep replacing the chewed up boards!).

What about shavings? Is that included or do the people need to provide their own? Are there manure forks available? I would have "barn tools" available at no charge, such as forks, shovels, etc.

Self care doesn't always mean a boarder has to provide every.single.thing a horse needs.

Are there nearby shows/events? If so, list them - i.e. close to XX eventing center, dressage center, H/J center, etc.

Just some ideas..I am barn shopping right now in Huntsville, Al but I do not want self care, I want full board. All I want to do is show up, groom and tack up and ride and take lessons. I've done the self care thing for 30 plus years, and since I have to move, I want someone else to have that opportunity. All I want to do is ride and groom and go home.

Sounds awful I know, but..with all the horses I've cared for over the years..I sometimes barely have time to ride at all..so it will be nice to just show up, groom my mare, tack her up and go ride without the feeding, mucking, fence repair, etc. lol.

I'm going to "live large" for a while and actually spend one year doing nothing but riding and grooming. We'll see how that works out. BTW - board so far has run between 300 and 900 per month. Yikes..