Does anyone board horses for passive income on your land?

[shedfinder7]

Recently moved to an area 20 minutes from town on 5 acres, its setup perfect for horses. Fenced, has barn with 4 stalls, has several waters pickets and power to barn etc. I do not own horses and am now proud new owner of a mortgage so potentially considering leasing 2 stalls of barn and an acre and a half that is setup for horses currently from previous owners. Does anyone on here have experience doing it? I am concerned over liability obviously and other risks?
TIA for any info. I do not know much at all on equine other then feed em hay and keep em watered.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Boarding horses is not “passive”. They tear shit up, you need to invest in infrastructure, feed them twice a day, pay for insurance because they are stupid and hurt themselves. And then the worst of all, you have to deal with “horse ladies”, and ither random folks they invite onto your property whenever they want. Ask me how I know haha I dated/married into horses.

My wife currently has 8 horses in full time training at $1,200 per month per horse and some years she still loses money.

 

[TaperPin]

You will quickly learn about horse emergencies, when one goes through a fence completely or part ways. Not everyone has the stomach to be a first responder, but it’s your back yard so you’re almost always the first on the scene. It will be a Friday night when you’re just headed out for a friends birthday party or your daughters graduation, in the middle of a rain storm when it’s pitch black, or you’re dressed up for a wedding and can’t get ahold of the owners. Some horses are mellow and smart, and some are dumb as posts and skittish. Some horse owners are mellow and smart, and others not so much. I’d definitely have a detailed contract so you’re not picking up vet bills over stupid stuff. Lol

 

[Reburn]

Recently moved to an area 20 minutes from town on 5 acres, its setup perfect for horses. Fenced, has barn with 4 stalls, has several waters pickets and power to barn etc. I do not own horses and am now proud new owner of a mortgage so potentially considering leasing 2 stalls of barn and an acre and a half that is setup for horses currently from previous owners. Does anyone on here have experience doing it? I am concerned over liability obviously and other risks?
TIA for any info. I do not know much at all on equine other then feed em hay and keep em watered.

You will make more money turning your home into a homeless shelter and taking donations.
Plus the clientele is better.

 

[wyosteve]

My neighbor tried it. Ended up with a horse she couldn’t do anything with after the owner abandoned it and she didn’t own it! Return is right!!

 

[cnelk]

Get some chickens.
Always have eggs and meat.
Maybe even sell some eggs to cover feed costs.

 

[Jtb.kfd]

Take the excellent advice above, I have “horse people” in my house and horses in my pastures. Horses are a lot of work, scared of everything and can hurt themselves on anything. They are all different with their feeding needs, do it wrong and you will make them acutely sick and or kill them. Some are nice, some are not. A 1,000lb “Karen” of a horse is dangerous to be around even if you know what your doing. Horses are smart enough to know if you know how to handle them, if you don’t they will take advantage and be in charge. Having “horse people” come to your property would be worse than dealing with the animals. Unless you are 100% in, make it your hobby and love everything about horses it will be a nightmare.

 

[Swamp Fox]

Hard no on boarding horses unless you're a horse guy, or inextricably married to a guy who is ... [See what I did there?]

Hard pass on horse gals, too ---and especially ---(though it's sometimes tempting) in case that's still an option in the back of your mind...

 

[Ralphie]

Horses on small acreages are a major pain. Have to be fed and the place will be ate down to dirt. They’ll chew on fences and barns and break stuff and themselves.

Are you going to feed and water them or have the owners on your place daily or twice a day. Then they’ll want to ride the horse on the property too.

Then when the owner goes broke and doesn’t pay you or feed the horse what will you do.

And I’m telling you this as someone who owns horses. But not on that small of property.

Has anyone mentioned crazy horse ladies?They make cat ladies look like sane wife material types.

 

[dtrkyman]

I’d rather watch paint dry than care for horses!

Solid advice above!


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[wapitibob]

A friends wife boards horses, I believe they are up to around 80 now.

 

[Swamp Fox]

Though I always like to watch girls barrel racing at times like these, the sheer weight and accumulation of my life experience has finally started to win out.

I am a slow learner ...

 

[dieselchessy]

Unless you had a place for riding and were going to make a full time gig out of it I cant see it working. Pretty pointless to store a horse at a place that doesn't have a riding facility unless its your place and your horse.
Im married to a horse gal and we keep them on our place. We have several friends who own/run equine facilities from small to large.
They trash everything. If you want shit pasture just put a horse on it.
Horse women are bat shit crazy.
You’d need to provide horse trailer parking, hay, grain, bedding (sawdust), water, and tack storage. Plus a place to dump/pile the used bedding.
You’d be sucked into hay and bedding delivery and unloading.
Someone needs to clean stalls morning and night. Turn horses out. Fix fences, stall doors, frozen water, ect….
Farriers will probably show up every few months as well.

Horses make dogs look like brain surgeons. They are a walking vet bill and seem to always be looking for a new way to get injured or dead.

Your state probably has Equine facility laws that limit your liability.

Basically I see it as a go big or go home type business.

Maybe look at renting barn space for boat or RV parking or something like that.

 

[RockAndSage]

Recently moved to an area 20 minutes from town on 5 acres, its setup perfect for horses. Fenced, has barn with 4 stalls, has several waters pickets and power to barn etc. I do not own horses and am now proud new owner of a mortgage so potentially considering leasing 2 stalls of barn and an acre and a half that is setup for horses currently from previous owners. Does anyone on here have experience doing it? I am concerned over liability obviously and other risks?
TIA for any info. I do not know much at all on equine other then feed em hay and keep em watered.

In the circumstances you describe, the only way I'd consider it would be:

1) If my wife was a passionate, lifelong, highly experienced horse chick and couldn't be forced to keep away from horses at gunpoint, and

2) The boarders were from a wealthy community, had more money than brains, and paid at least triple the going rate locally, and

3) We had at least one paid staff to feed, water, ride, groom, clean up after, and maintain the horses in every way, living in staff quarters in the barn, and

4) We had easement/access and a parking area that didn't go past the house, and

5) If we had absolutely bulletproof indemnity, with any and all damage caused by the horses to be paid for by the absolutely exorbitant deposit that came with each, in advance.



At the surface level, it's not a bad idea, but as you can see...those with horse experience are telling you it doesn't quite work that way.

Sounds like a cool property though.

 

[Swamp Fox]

[...]

Maybe look at renting barn space for boat or RV parking or something like that.

Exactly what I was fixin' to say ... after I got done watching girls barrel-racing ...

 

[Forestryguy]

Never had horses but been around them a good bit. Think you would be better off buying a calf, sheep, goats, or even a mule.

 

[Traveler]

I’ll beat the dead horse and pile on that all of the above is accurate. Nothing about horses is passive. Other uses for that land, feeding out a couple beef to finish would be easier than horses.

 

[missjordan]

Don’t don’t don’t don’t do it. For these reasons stated among everything else.

-horses are hard on everything and i mean everything including themselves
-you’ll have the boarders coming and going from your property at all hours of the day and even into the night.
-if your offering full care then you are the ones mucking stalls 1-2 times a day, plus feeding 2-3 times a day. 365 days a year. Turnout, blankets. The works
-hay and bedding can be a hard find some years. Your always stressing about feed
-when the horses tear down the ground you will be the one bringing in fill and dirt to level it back out. 1x a year
-you will need to invest in a tractor of some sort and a decent sized trailer flatbed/dump bed for said feed and bedding
-manure disposal. What is your plan? Horses a lot. There 1 ton hamsters
-most serious horse owners want an arena of some sort.
- if there is an off hour emergency you will be the one dealing with it until either owner or vet can get to you.
-farrier, some like their horses held by someone for liability reasons. If the owner can’t make it will you be there?
-water sources are always something in the back of your mind. Automatic waters fail and buckets need filled a ton.
-you won’t make passive income offering board. If anything you might be lucky to break even.
-your insurance will go up because you will need a commercial policy. Conducting commercial type business. Especially if the boarders will be riding on site.
-if you end up with a bad boarder that does shady things like bring an extra horse in that wasn’t discussed prior, or be slow to pay. Or feed them less than acceptable hay. How will you cope? This happens a lot
-or what if you get a boarder who disappears and leave their horses for you to dispose of?
-horse owners and boarders do it for the love of the horse. And nothing else. It’s not a money game

I board my two horses. At a reputable stable. And I’d never get into the boarding business. But would be happy if the owner took my money forever. Because i know they’re well taken care of, fed, and i don’t have to arrange care if I’m out on vacation for the week, or Christmas. I don’t have to worry about a hay guy saying he’s selling his farm to a developer and is out of the business. They handle it all. And best situation is she only has a few boarders and the rest of their horses are part of their beginner lesson programs so it really is a good fit for my circumstances


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[shedfinder7]

You guys all settled it, I WILL NEVER DO IT!!!
Thanks!

 

[elkliver]

A LOT of people shooting down the idea because of the hassle and work... If you were responsible for the horse care... sure. but if you offered it out to someone who was responsible for their own horses, i dont think it would be that bad. IF you have the set up for it, it seems silly to let the easy income go