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pasture boarding business

songoftx
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Jul 22, 2007, 10:53 PM

Post #1 of 4 (420 views)
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pasture boarding business	Can't Post

Howdy, all. I've been following the discussions for a short while and enjoy them. I would appreciate some advice on establishing a pasture boarding business. I have a large barn and 2 fenced pastures (total 30 acres) w/ water and coastal in a Texas metro area. How would I see if there is demand for pasture boarding? What is a fair market rate to charge if the animal owners handle the feeding and care? I appreciate all the guidance and info I can get. Thanks!

Chet

roho
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Aug 9, 2007, 10:05 AM

Post #2 of 4 (406 views)
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Re: [songoftx] pasture boarding business [In reply to]	Can't Post

Hello Chet,
I read U'r post right after YOU posted it & thought U'd get lots of response! Well I live Near HouTex & there is at least one private treaty stable in ever little town around Houston! Board depends on what YOU offer & how much you want to do.....I worked at a stable once & had lots of fun but you really need to get a contract & inforce it.....What area in Texas are you in & how much horse business is around?

WTA
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Sep 18, 2007, 12:08 PM

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Re: [songoftx] pasture boarding business [In reply to]	Can't Post

Pasture boarding in this area is a pain. Everyone either wants to keep their horse in an air conditioned barn or they want it for free. You wouldn't believe how many people want it for free. I usually tell them they need to sell their horse if they can't afford to keep it.
Pasture boarding is not a cheap business to be in here. You will have to maintain your pastures well and keep the weeds out so the horses are safe. You sure don't want sick ones on your hands. Probably the best thing to do is have multiple smaller pastures so you can fertilize, apply weed control, irrigate and rotate the herd. That's what we do.
Location is everything. If you are more than a 10 minute drive from the people that own the horses then business will probably be slow. We are about 20 minutes from town and lose a lot of business to the big expensive barns inside the city because of it. We do have the best pasture of any boarding facility around but people care more about convenience than what their horse is eating it seems.

Base your price on your costs and add in what you would like to profit. SInce we grow all of our own hay and bale it ourselves I am cheaper than everyone else around here too. I'm thinking of doubling my prices though. We're roughly half the local average on boarding fees and still not much business. starting at 200 per month. Maybe we will get more business if I charge a lot more. I don't know. I'm still trying to figure out what makes people happy. I guess just figure out what is wanted from a boarding facility in your area and what is lacking in the other ones and see if you can provide it at yours. Here what is lacking is well maintained pasture. We sure have it. I'm picky about what my horses are eating. Maybe once more people come see what we have to offer business will pick up.

Red-Roof-Ranch

jc7622
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Jun 18, 2008, 6:13 PM

Post #4 of 4 (128 views)
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Re: [songoftx] pasture boarding business [In reply to]	Can't Post

I'm curious about this also. I have about 50 acres of land (1/2 pasture and 1/2 woods) right at the edge of a big metro area and have been wondering what I could do with it to make it produce revenue. I have a firend that bought some land about 1 mile north of mine. His land already had a nice stable and paddocks on the property. He knows nothing about horses (neither do I) and he rented the whole thing out to one person for about $50K per year. This lady then, I guess, sub-leases out to individual horse owners.

I was wondering if this is a common situation? I know nothing about horses and don't want to maintain people's horses. Is there any demand for stables, pastures and paddocks where the horse owner takes care of their own horse? Roughly what would a service like this charge? I can maintain pastures and have all the equipment for that.

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