January 2002

Boarding Stables: A Labor Of Love

Most boarding operations barely make a profit.

It’s human nature to count the number of ûstalls at your boarding stable and multiply it ûby the monthly boarding fee to guess at the ûprofit level... but it’s also wrong.

Boarders are rarely completely happy with the facility where they keep their horses. There’s usually something they feel they could do better if they had the chance. But horse owners who don’t care for their own animals also rarely understand all the costs and issues that go into running a boarding stable.

We talked to boarding stable managers in every corner of the country this fall. The size of the operations ranged from a handful of horses to several hundred, and the board from $100 to $2,000 per month. Most of the businesses had around 20 horses with a monthly board that averaged around $300. We didn’t look at facilities that…