The economy has hit everybody hard, and boarding barns are no exception. I’ve been hearing from a number of owners who are trying to figure out how to best make ends meet or how to fill empty stalls. In response, Doug Emerson (http://www.profitablehorseman.com) and I are putting the finishing touches on a TeleSeminar designed to help boarding-barn owners find their footing. These are difficult times, but all is not gloom and doom, and we’re glad to be able to offer some encouragement. Here are a few helpful tips:

* Remember why you’re doing this in the first place. It’s easy to get caught up with the finances and forget that your original purpose in offering boarding may have been so you could take care of your own horses in your own way, to have other people to ride with, or a safe place where your kids could learn about horses. Keep a positive attitude, and that will help you to focus on solutions, rather than problems.

* Get a handle on the actual costs. When you hear that feed has gone up, what does that mean in dollars? If you don’t know your costs, any mention of a price increase causes fear.

* Don’t strain the relationship with your boarders. If someone left a light on, respectfully ask them to remember to turn it off. Even though customers often become like family, they are your customers, and as with any business, you have to find a customer-friendly way to deal with them.

* Explore if there are some changes in the way you do things that might result in cost savings. Horse people tend to get dogmatic about how deep the shavings have to be, what time this has to happen, what brands they use, and so forth.

I’m not suggesting that you forget about bedding the stalls. Just see if some small change in routine might help. For instance, maybe feeding one hay meal outside would minimize hay loss, since it won’t get trampled into the bedding. Might save stall-cleaning time and result in fewer shavings being thrown out, too. It might not in your situation, but this example can get you thinking.

If your horse is boarded, I’d encourage you to pitch in to help the barn operator make her business work. Yup, you are the customer. But a little encouragement might mean a whole lot.

Whether you keep your horse at home, board at someone else’s barn, or operate a boarding business, if you have any words of wisdom, I’d love to hear them. Sometimes a suggestion that seems inconsequential is just the piece that helps someone else. Have a great week.

Click on the Comments button below, or contact me directly. Go to http://www.inspiredbyhorses.com/workshop.html for TeleSeminar information.