05/03/2025
This š please understand what it takes for us to take care of your horse. We do this for the love of the horses. We break our backs and our banks to make it possible. Thank you for reading...
I worried about writing this post a lot. I donāt like being perceived as cold, unkind, unaware or inflexible, as I am none of those things. But especially as weāre headed onto a really rude roller coaster, economically, I feel confident in knowing this industry needs advocacy, and I am not uncomfortable doing that.
Iām going to write this post on behalf of the half a dozen or so people with whom I am good friends, that own barns. Iām going to write this on my own behalf. And honestly, Iām going to write this on behalf of small businesses that arenāt horse related, also, although it may apply only in metaphor.
Folks. We need you to pay your bills when theyāre due. Honestly, that should be a complete sentence. I should not have to give any justification for that. But alas that gets met with resistance. āYou could afford to build it, clearly you have moneyā. āYou compete, you can afford to waitā. āMy life is expensiveā. Or my personal favoriteā¦āSorry, I forgotā.
These are all excuses Iāve heard THIS YEAR while I chase past due invoices.
Iām not even dignifying these with counterpoints. But I am going to say: your horseās hay? Bought ahead. Not on credit. The electricity that lights your arena and warms your lounge? Paid ahead. Not on credit. The equipment that moves your jumps, plows your snow, moves the hay, mows your pasturesā¦if it breaks, it HAS TO BE FIXEDā¦paid for in full, up front. The bedding in your horseās stall? Paid for ahead of time. Cash for the discount. The staff that cleans your stalls? Paid every Friday. No exceptions.
This says nothing of the personal expenses of the ownerā¦ My mortgage? My homeowners insurance? ļæ¼My groceries? My health insurance? My vehicle maintenance? My personal animals?
For you, the horses might be a hobby, they might be a piece of the puzzle in your more complicated life, they might be your therapy. But they are my lifestyle. And it is not my, or any pratitionersā responsibility to facilitate the affordability of your hobby, especially at the sacrifice of our wellness.
Understand, that we plan around our contract income. If you canāt pay a bill, and you know you canāt pay a bill, we need to know that ahead of time. We need to know so that we can adjust our own payments dates, so we can set up promises to pay with the phone and electric company, so that we can make incremental payments on the credit card instead of one big one. ļæ¼ the balancing of a self-employed budget is way more complicated than budgeting weekly expenses while earning a paycheck. ļæ¼
Ultimately, at the end of the day, we love horses, or we wouldnāt be doing this. But we canāt love yours for you for free. There is not a lot of money to be made in boarding anyway, and it is exacerbated significantly when paying your providers is an afterthought.
Thank you for reading, digesting and considering.
