Tips for Choosing a Good Boarding Stable

If you don’t have the room for a horse on your property or if you rent and can’t keep your horse at your home then you will have to find a good boarding stable where you can keep your horse.  Finding a good boarding stable can be tricky, and you should approach finding a boarding stable the way that you would approach finding a home for yourself.  You should visit the place, talk to the owner or manager, look around, and check references.

Just like when you’re choosing a new home or an apartment you will probably not find all the amenities that you want at a price you can afford so before you start looking for a boarding stable make a list of the amenities that you want and then decide what you can’t live without and what you can live without. 

For example, you might like a stable that has a nice indoor arena or miles of trails but you might have to have a stable that is within a fifteen minute drive of your home or your office.  Set priorities and then you will be able to be more flexible when you’re choosing a boarding stable.

When you go to see a boarding stable where you might want to keep your horse, make sure that you bring a notebook or a pad with you so that you can write down all the important facts about that boarding stable and your impressions of the boarding stable so that when you go back over your notes later on you’ll be sure to remember the important facts about each stable.

The first time that you visit a boarding stable you should schedule an appointment so that the manager will be expecting you and will have the time to sit down with you and answer your questions and give you a guided tour of the facility. 

This is also when the manager should go over the barn rules and procedures with you. 

If the barn manager doesn’t mention a boarding contract, be sure to ask if there is one. 

A contract is for your protection and their protection so if the barn doesn’t have a standard contract that they use, be sure to ask why, and ask if they would be willing to sign a contract. If they aren’t willing to sign a contract then you should look for another boarding stable.

After you have a scheduled sit down talk with the barn manager and an official barn tour you should come back another time, unannounced, to see how the stable looks when they don’t know you’re coming by. 

If the barn was really clean and looked great when you came the first time but is dirty and sloppy the next time you stop by then you should probably look for another stable unless there is some reason that it’s dirty like if the vet or the blacksmith is there or the barn staff are cleaning stalls.