Fall is the traditional season for change. The temperatures change, the leaves change, nearly everything changes. I started home tonight with the intent to blog and basically maintain the status quo. I was set to complain about long hours, under appreciation, and over-needy people. I was going to toot out the same tired tune on the same old horn. Why bother?
Can I change how people are? Can I change people who can't see any picture broader than their immediate needs? Can I make them less selfish? I can't stop them from wanting more and giving less. I can't stop them from thinking only of themselves. I can't stop the petty jealousy, I can't stop the whining, I can't change most of the stupid B.S., so, why dwell on it? Why make myself sick beating my head against a wall I can't move?
Instead of feeling helpless; instead of reacting; instead of letting peole push me to burn-out by needing more, MORE and MORE; instead of stressing over increased feed prices, increased fuel prices, decreased show numbers and all the usual negative "hoopla" that comprises a "day in the horse life", I decided to sit down and figure out if there is something I CAN do.
I realized that somewhere the business got swept off the track I'd planned. My life IS my business, and suddenly I'm not running it.
So I'm taking stock of what I can do. I'm evaluating what I CAN change, no matter how large, or how small. I'm set to make some serious changes. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Monday, August 04, 2008
The 2+2 of Horsekeeping
At a recent horse show we got together with some other trainers to swap ideas, pick brains, and basically be nosy about what the other ones are doing. The topic of boarding came up... One trainer said he finally sat down and got right into the nitty-gritty of the number's side aspect of the boarding side of their operation. What they came up with suprised the heck out of them.
Given the current state of the economy, it's not unusual to have thoughts of bringing your horse home and doing it all yourself- especially when you recieve that monthly board bill. If you already have your horses at home, you might be considering adding a stall onto your barn, and/or (if you actually have one!) filling that empty stall with a boarder to help offset the cost of your own animals. Those of you who have horses in this second category already are aware that horsekeeping anywhere is an expensive proposition- what you generally fail to consider is that it is NOT likely to work out the way you think it should. 2+2 doesn't always equal 4 when talking about horses. This is due to a phenom. that I like to call Grocery Math.
What the heck is that, you ask??? Well, unless you have ALWAYS lived alone, you know that as soon as you add just ONE extra person into your household (imagine that there is now TWO people), your grocery budget does NOT do the logical thing and simply double. It increases by something close to 1.5x as much. It's not like the new person eats emore than you do plus enough for another half a person.. it's just the way grocery math goes. The same thing applies for horses. GENERALLY speaking however, this is mostly noticed for ever FIVE horses. Going from 5 horses to 6 is a HUGE jump.. but not from 6 to 7. Getting up around 10 and things start really going downhill....... To help me explain, let me explore the costs of keeping just ONE horse for a month-
Say you've got the average riding horse in light to moderate work. They are fairly low maintenance- no special supplements or unique concentrates in their diet...
For ONE horse:
Grain/month: $40-$60 based upon average (moderate level product) grain price and ration of 6-8lbs/day
Hay/ month: $52.50 based upon cost of $3.50/bale and average consumption of .5 bale/day
Bedding/month: $75 This is a highly variable number depending on what you use, and regional costs. A conservative estimate.
That is your BARE BONES BASICS, and already we are up to $188.
Now, add in things like:
Electric
Water (if you are on municipal water)
Manure removal/waste management- this varies EXTENSIVELY, but like electric and water.. it's horse number dependant, and then:
Barn Expense (mortgage/rent) {if you don't have a mortgage, count yourself lucky} We'll take OUR expense as an example of $100/stall.
So.. D/K Show Horse's COST for keeping ONE horse on board is $288/month. We charge $300/month. That means if I kept my time for taking care of each horse down to 1 hour apiece (feeding, watering, cleaning, turning in, turning out, unblanketing, blanketing, etc..) not only would I be FLYING.. I'd be making about $0.40 an hour.. or day.. or $12/month. Supposedly horses are like children.. but I don't know of ANY sort of babysitter or daycare that does 24/7 care and does it for $12/MONTH.
Other expenses to be considered- MAINTENANCE- broken boards, fence, insulators, snaps, buckets, doors, feeders... horses are DESTRUCTIVE when kept "confined".
So.. if you plan on home horsekeeping, you need to think hard about what your time is worth. It's early mornings... even when it's sub-zero and your bed is toasty warm.. it's managing flies, mud, and manure. It's forgoeing any sort of vacation, unless you can find a babysitter you trust to take on the daunting task of keeping an eye on your four-legged mischief machine. And when you've not been able to ride because you're chopping ice out of buckets, or mowing acres of pasture, or spreading manure, or just plain trying to keep up on repairs, it's helpfull to believe it's worth saving that $10 spot. At least, when you're done with chores you can run into your local Starbucks and grap a coffee. Don't bring a friend though.
Perhaps you're thinking perhaps of just adding a boarder into the mix in your already established barn. You already KNOW that boarding isn't a money making proposition. You enjoy being able to look out your kitchen window at your pride and joy. You don't ride as much as you used to- barn chores have eaten up a lot of that time, but there's a lot of satisfaction still to be gained by listening to your babies contendedly munching their hay late at night. You know each snuff and wuffle your horse makes and why he makes them. You can thread your way through your barn by the light of one barely working flashlight- you've done it multiple times. You've got your set-up organized and it runs like a well-oiled machine; well, at least as well as anything involving horses can, anyway. If you fall into this category, consider this....
You are letting someone else into your personal space. Someone else who may or may not have the same sort of priorities as you.. someone else who may not do things EXACTLY the same way as you... someone else that comes complete with certain expectations of what they want to get for the money they are giving you.
Think long and hard whether or not that's worth ALMOST the cost of ONE bag of grain.
And that's just if you're adding ONE horse to a small.. say, 3 horse, operation. Too many more, and that's where grocery math comes in to play. Suddenly you have gone from buying grain by the bag, to by the ton.. and you need to build adequate storage space for that. You're not getting hay by the pickup truck, but by the wagon and need someplace to store that too.. Same for bedding. And all that increased storage area needs maintenance.. and so do the increased occupied stalls. More than 10 horses, and you'll seriously want to consider hiring help. Think how many horses you need to board to afford to hire someone. At least 10 more to pay for the help, and that means hiring a second person.......
Given the current state of the economy, it's not unusual to have thoughts of bringing your horse home and doing it all yourself- especially when you recieve that monthly board bill. If you already have your horses at home, you might be considering adding a stall onto your barn, and/or (if you actually have one!) filling that empty stall with a boarder to help offset the cost of your own animals. Those of you who have horses in this second category already are aware that horsekeeping anywhere is an expensive proposition- what you generally fail to consider is that it is NOT likely to work out the way you think it should. 2+2 doesn't always equal 4 when talking about horses. This is due to a phenom. that I like to call Grocery Math.
What the heck is that, you ask??? Well, unless you have ALWAYS lived alone, you know that as soon as you add just ONE extra person into your household (imagine that there is now TWO people), your grocery budget does NOT do the logical thing and simply double. It increases by something close to 1.5x as much. It's not like the new person eats emore than you do plus enough for another half a person.. it's just the way grocery math goes. The same thing applies for horses. GENERALLY speaking however, this is mostly noticed for ever FIVE horses. Going from 5 horses to 6 is a HUGE jump.. but not from 6 to 7. Getting up around 10 and things start really going downhill....... To help me explain, let me explore the costs of keeping just ONE horse for a month-
Say you've got the average riding horse in light to moderate work. They are fairly low maintenance- no special supplements or unique concentrates in their diet...
For ONE horse:
Grain/month: $40-$60 based upon average (moderate level product) grain price and ration of 6-8lbs/day
Hay/ month: $52.50 based upon cost of $3.50/bale and average consumption of .5 bale/day
Bedding/month: $75 This is a highly variable number depending on what you use, and regional costs. A conservative estimate.
That is your BARE BONES BASICS, and already we are up to $188.
Now, add in things like:
Electric
Water (if you are on municipal water)
Manure removal/waste management- this varies EXTENSIVELY, but like electric and water.. it's horse number dependant, and then:
Barn Expense (mortgage/rent) {if you don't have a mortgage, count yourself lucky} We'll take OUR expense as an example of $100/stall.
So.. D/K Show Horse's COST for keeping ONE horse on board is $288/month. We charge $300/month. That means if I kept my time for taking care of each horse down to 1 hour apiece (feeding, watering, cleaning, turning in, turning out, unblanketing, blanketing, etc..) not only would I be FLYING.. I'd be making about $0.40 an hour.. or day.. or $12/month. Supposedly horses are like children.. but I don't know of ANY sort of babysitter or daycare that does 24/7 care and does it for $12/MONTH.
Other expenses to be considered- MAINTENANCE- broken boards, fence, insulators, snaps, buckets, doors, feeders... horses are DESTRUCTIVE when kept "confined".
So.. if you plan on home horsekeeping, you need to think hard about what your time is worth. It's early mornings... even when it's sub-zero and your bed is toasty warm.. it's managing flies, mud, and manure. It's forgoeing any sort of vacation, unless you can find a babysitter you trust to take on the daunting task of keeping an eye on your four-legged mischief machine. And when you've not been able to ride because you're chopping ice out of buckets, or mowing acres of pasture, or spreading manure, or just plain trying to keep up on repairs, it's helpfull to believe it's worth saving that $10 spot. At least, when you're done with chores you can run into your local Starbucks and grap a coffee. Don't bring a friend though.
Perhaps you're thinking perhaps of just adding a boarder into the mix in your already established barn. You already KNOW that boarding isn't a money making proposition. You enjoy being able to look out your kitchen window at your pride and joy. You don't ride as much as you used to- barn chores have eaten up a lot of that time, but there's a lot of satisfaction still to be gained by listening to your babies contendedly munching their hay late at night. You know each snuff and wuffle your horse makes and why he makes them. You can thread your way through your barn by the light of one barely working flashlight- you've done it multiple times. You've got your set-up organized and it runs like a well-oiled machine; well, at least as well as anything involving horses can, anyway. If you fall into this category, consider this....
You are letting someone else into your personal space. Someone else who may or may not have the same sort of priorities as you.. someone else who may not do things EXACTLY the same way as you... someone else that comes complete with certain expectations of what they want to get for the money they are giving you.
Think long and hard whether or not that's worth ALMOST the cost of ONE bag of grain.
And that's just if you're adding ONE horse to a small.. say, 3 horse, operation. Too many more, and that's where grocery math comes in to play. Suddenly you have gone from buying grain by the bag, to by the ton.. and you need to build adequate storage space for that. You're not getting hay by the pickup truck, but by the wagon and need someplace to store that too.. Same for bedding. And all that increased storage area needs maintenance.. and so do the increased occupied stalls. More than 10 horses, and you'll seriously want to consider hiring help. Think how many horses you need to board to afford to hire someone. At least 10 more to pay for the help, and that means hiring a second person.......
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