Nikki's Notes: Building Your Boarding Barn Business

  

Nikki's Notes: Building Your Boarding Barn Business

With Seasoned Pro Horse Trainer/Breeder and International Grand Prix Competitor Nikki Alvin-Smith

 

 When you run a horse boarding business or any business for that matter, it's essential to keep a good eye on all facets of the operation on a regular basis. You have to do more than train the horses or riders, work hard mucking out stalls and resourcing best hay suppliers and taking care of the noble beasts that are the main residents of the farm. How money comes in and out of the barn door, and what the cash flow is on any given week is always going to matter. To think about accounting and hashing out business plans may not be 'sexy' in terms of things you want to be known for, but believe me after 20+ years as a business executive and CFO alongside my horsey enterprises, money management skills can make or break you. And if you truly are useless at it, then hire a worthy professional.

 

Boarding barn businesses new and old are always looking for ways to boost the profit margin. Driving traffic to the barn door is always a tough part of the marketing strategy but once a prospective client is on site considering placing their horse in your care, it’s essential you’ve attracted them with enough positives in what you can offer to get them to sign up for boarding.

 

With all the local competition vying for the same boarding dollar, this stage can be difficult enough to achieve. But once they’ve signed your boarding contract, placed their deposit and turned up with the equine resident at the end of a rope, your next challenge is making sure you keep them happy so they stay. No stage can be taken for granted if you want to develop a successful business. And by successful, I mean a safe caring environment for horse and rider that makes money and a business that is a pleasure to operate.

 

Even though larger established horse facilities may have a steady stream of clients knocking on the barn door, there is always an attrition factor to consider. And as running costs continue to rise sometimes barn owners are not making the profits they used to and can be unaware of where financial losses are occurring or know what to do about them. Here’s some salient advice on how to build your boarding business better, from the ground up.

 

My husband Grand Prix dressage trainer Paul with a student

 

 

Offer A Mix Of Boarding Styles

 

Not every horse owners can afford or wants a full-service boarding barn. And even if they start out that way, there will be occasions when their horse may need a less intensive schedule of care. Times such as a horse being rehabilitated from a minor injury; an animal aging into semi-retirement; a young horse being added to a owner’s performance horse lineup.

 

While it is commonly thought a full-service boarding option will entice affluent clientele, it is also not always the best profit center within the business model. It is more labor intensive and costs more in supplies such as bedding and hay than a rough board option. And don’t forget the capital expense of providing the stall itself, the electric and other services such as hot water and bath stalls.

 

By creating a broader bandwidth of service options you can transition existing clients into less costly boarding or more expensive boarding options as it suits their needs. This will save you costs on recruiting new clients and build brand loyalty.

 

Do More Than You Say

 

A business basic to build brand loyalty is to over-deliver and under promise your services. If you build these ‘extras’ as costs into your fee schedule then you won’t lose money, but you will gain important positive experiences for your client. And be certain that what you do for one client you also do for every client. Playing favorites is a fast route to causing unnecessary resentment among your boarders.

 

Nobody likes to be hit with unexpected expenses so also be clear and upfront about what is covered in your boarding fees and what is not. Be as consistent as possible with what you do and how you do it, and if something is going to change give people plenty of advance notice.

 

While including a few inexpensive extras such as blanket swapping, daily horse hoof picking or free trailer storage on site will be appreciated, there are many other opportunities to add revenue to the top line.

  

 

Suggested Revenue Streams

 

Once the horse has arrived at your barn there are many offerings you can incorporate into your service structure to encourage a bigger spend. The best of these is training services for either horse or rider or both. Others include coaching at shows; grooming/clipping services; clinic offerings.

 

Here is a handy article on how to lure in lesson students. 

 

 

Literal Barn Building Boosts For Boarding Operations

 

If you are in the position of currently projecting a new barn build with a plan to develop a boarding business then there are many ways to get ahead of the game when it comes to functional barn design that will serve the business model best.

 

For the horse professional the performance horse barn may incorporate many niceties to make life easier. But whoever is building the barn and for whatever purpose, it is important to consider all design options before making a final choice.

 

Always choose substance and functionality first and foremost. Think about all the details. For example: hanging chandeliers may look pretty but require cleaning and may need tying off from gusty winds that channel through the barn.

 

Nailing Down The Business Plan

 

Aside from a career as a horse professional I have an extensive resume in corporate finance and experience operating various businesses. Every business will fail if they don’t do two things as I mentioned before; Control their costs and ensure they income is more than their total outgoing expenses. Not surprisingly many people start a business because they have a passion for a particular pastime or an interest in a certain industry. But amazingly although they have zero experience in accounting basics, don’t know how to read let alone create a balance sheet or how to nail down a business plan, they don’t seek to learn these necessary skillsets before embarking on running their own businesses. Which will almost inevitably result in the business running them.

 

There’s no point in making things up to tick the boxes or estimating everything, the plan needs to be complete and one that you know you can deliver. Because otherwise your business is doomed to fail before you even begin. This means knowing all costs and keeping track of them. And regardless of how good this plan starts out there will be circumstances down the road in business when you may still need to pivot the original business mission to continue to make money. But at least start out on the right ‘hoof’.

 

Consider options like offering niche services such as horse breeding, training board only options or child based programs like summer camps. You don't have to be all things to all people. 

 

Our Willowview Hill Farm only offers specialized services for dressage training board

 

 

Take Home Message

 

However much homework you do at the outset of beginning a new business there will always be changes along the way in the industry environment that will necessitate being adaptive and staying ahead of the challenges. But take heart, there is always a solution to any problem. And if you can’t find the answer look to your more successful competitors and see how they have managed to overcome similar issues. Networking and collaboration with your peers can be not only useful from a business standpoint but can also build strong personal relationships that will help you navigate other aspects of your life and provides an avenue for you to help them too. We all have our strengths and weaknesses.

 

As the English poet John Dunne wrote in 1624,

 

“ No man is an island,

  Entire of itself:

  Every man is a piece of the continent,

  A part of the main.”

 

We are all part of the horse community. And in community there is power.

 

All Rights Reserved. Copyright ©2026 N. Alvin-Smith - Author

 

 

 

Nikki’s Notes: Manage Your Horsey Housework By Grand Prix Competitor/Coach/Clinician and Published Author Nikki Alvin-Smith

Nikki’s Notes: Manage Your Horsey Housework By Grand Prix Competitor/Coach/Clinician and published author Nikki Alvin-Smith

 

I simply love spending time in the barn. While some jobs are less favored than others, I am very content to complete the majority of the horsey housekeeping tasks. But most equestrians want more time riding and less time barn cleaning. For me, the meditational moments of mucking out a stall can be a peaceful interlude but for many horse owners they find the daily chores are time-consuming necessities that take valuable training time away from their precious hours at the barn. 

 

A tidy barn is not only more pleasurable to use, but it also offers a more professional impression to visitors. A cluttered environment can also add stress, so keeping things tidy can help you focus and feel more peaceful in your barn.

 

Here are some tidy-up tips as a horse barn owner that you can employ to maximize efficiency and safety around the horse barn.

 

 

Make A Smart Site Choice

 

When you park at the supermarket you generally try to park close to the entrance doors. This saves time and effort walking back and forth with bags of groceries. Think the same way when siting your barn and the adjunct use areas. Careful selection of spaces not just for parking, but placement locations for manure storage, hay and bedding supplies and distances to turn-out paddocks, is a must do in the design phase.

 

The most common site design for a busy working horse facility, is to place the barn centrally on the site and span out the paddocks around the structure. But this is not always viable due to the restrictions of topography, geology and geography of the property. As a Portuguese fisherman once said to me when de-boning a complex fish for dinner, “You have to learn to work with the fish.” This is especially true if you have inherited a horse farm already built and designed by someone else. Existing farms can be improved with a little imagination. Review how you use the barn on a daily basis and eliminate those things that annoy you most or that cause the most problems. It could be an improvement as simple as adding a new gate to one side of a paddock or replacing worn heavy wooden entrance doors to the barn with sliding metal ones.

 

Minor changes are usually not expensive to make. You can have a concrete pad enclosed by three side walls installed for shavings storage or manure staging close to a barn that offers a drive-in option for efficient pick up utilizing a tractor with bucket attachment. Or have a ramp constructed with compacted materials that you can pull up to with a low-profile manure spreader on its downside to empty wheelbarrows of manure into the top. Sometimes a little ingenuity can save a big headache.

 

Consider the fire hazards and dust issues with siting combustible materials and supplies close to where the horses reside. Proximity of manure storage to the barn needs to be evaluated for its ease of use in all seasons. In summer, the choice of too close a site to the horse housing structure will encourage flies and other unwanted visitors to breed and infiltrate the barn, but if the manure site is too far away from the barn in winter in areas where there is significant snowfall, then manure removal can become difficult to manage over many months of cold weather. Best option for manure storage may be a transitional area where it can be temporarily stored and regularly removed.

 

Lose The Obstacle Course

 

There is nothing more annoying than having to move items back and forth to clean. Particularly when those objects are heavy or unwieldy to manage on your own.

 

Invest in a powerful vacuum with accessories that offer a good reach. Thankfully today you don’t even need to switch out filters to go from a dry vacuum to a wet vacuum. Which makes cleaning much simpler when you need to switch between tasks. While sweeping up with a broom is cheap, you are simply moving the dust and detritus around. Which is unhealthy for the respiratory well-being of you and your horses. Keeping floors clean will also minimize tracking of debris into tack rooms and feed rooms, saving the need for further cleaning.

 

Best practices for ease of cleaning are to keep blankets hung up and off the floor; place tack boxes in a designated space rather than in an aisleway; use collapsible saddle racks that mount on the wall;  place ropes/halters on bridle hangers by stall doors; hang tools like muck forks on the wall; elevate the bottom shelving for grooming/bathing supplies to a 12” or more off the floor so you can easily clean beneath at every turn.

 

It is also a good idea to avoid creation of hard-to-reach corners in the building as these will inevitably become a haven for spiders, vermin, snakes and other unwanted visitors. Instead place larger objects or items along a wall, rather than tucked in a corner spot.

 

 

 

Ditch The Water Problem

 

Snow melt, adverse weather conditions like unusually heavy rainfall, can all cause unexpected problems with flooding that require massive efforts to clean up. Try to get ahead of the issue by keeping gutters and downspouts clear of debris all year around and have overflow ditches in areas that are likely to be prone to excessive water run-off.

 

While these ditches may remain dry for much of the time, their immediate availability when they are needed is a boon for preventative care of any structure and its foundations. Running water run-off downhill to daylight away from paddocks, walkways and structures is a great way to discharge it.

 

Keep The Barn Bird and Bug Free

 

Ensure that soffits are guarded from intrusion and nesting by birds with wire mesh if you want to avoid cleaning up bird droppings from water buckets, floors and walls. Bird infestations can also spread disease such as West Nile and Avian Flu, so keeping your barn free of birds is a good idea.

 

Make repairs to window screens and door screens before the insect season arrives, to minimize having to clean windows and surfaces of flyspecks and cobwebs. Seal small holes and refresh caulk around window sills to keep insect ingress to a minimum.

 

Whenever you switch out light bulbs take the opportunity to give a thorough cleaning to the fixture and the surrounding area.

 

A Tidy Barn Is A Safe Barn

 

Even without a catastrophic event like evacuating horses from a barn in a fire event or a river breaching its banks and flooding a yard with torrents of water, the barn that is kept tidy will not only be more pleasurable to use, but it will also be safer. Fire safety measures and the ability to quickly batten down the hatches of a barn to keep animals safely confined to its interior are all good barn management practices.

 

In any emergency it is obviously advisable to have unobstructed exits, but even during daily tasks of leading a horse from A to B, the absence of obstacles in aisleways and by entrance doors offer another level of safety should the horse spook or crowd the handler’s space.

 

I was once complaining to my mother about the recurring routines that come as part of running a household and she gave me some sage advice.

 

“Do one bit of extra housework every day. Even that small extra chore you do in addition to the necessary daily ones stops it building up into a massive task.”

 

This works a treat.

 

The best ways to manage any task is by following a regular routine. And of course, get everyone to follow it!

 

 

All Rights Reserved. Copyright © 2025 N. Alvin-Smith - Author 

 

 

 

Special Invite to Owners of Equine-Related Businesses...Come Party!

Special Invite - Catskill Horse Magazine Fourteen Party

 

 

This is a special invite to the owners and marketing teams of all equine-related businesses. You are invited to come and celebrate the 14^th year of publication of the all-volunteer Catskill Horse Magazine and enjoy some special editorial support to grow your business.

 

Cash in on the success of the publication and enjoy a ramped up editorial and advertorial opportunity with a “Party Fourteen” package.

 

It includes 14 spectacular services to boost both brand and bottom line.

 

“This is a ‘give back’ offer that provides an inexpensive yet productive venue for creative content that engages a highly targeted demographic of 165,000 readers/month in the equestrian marketplace across multiple disciplines and across the U.S.. I’m happy to be able to share our success with others and to help fellow business owners raise both their sales numbers and their profiles alongside a glass of giggles to celebrate the results at package completion, ” says Nikki Alvin-Smith. 

 

 

As a local .org (extra SEO, GEO and AEO booster) digital community magazine the “Complete Resource for Everything Horse” may have begun as a small affair. But spurred on by the talents of the contributing writers known as The Merry Band at the Catskill Horse and with a leadership driven by a deep desire to bring the horse community together, the magazine continues to outdo itself. Its content offers clarity in equine care and management and training practices, with an active Yay or Neigh review column and this popular with a reach much further afield than where it began in the beautiful Catskill Mountains region that is known as New York City’s summer playground.

 

To receive your Party Fourteen invite, please email Editor@CatskillHorse.org 

 

New Year - 2026 Marks 14th Anniversary of Publication

2026 will mark the 14th year anniversary of the publication of Catskill Horse Magazine and The Merry Band at the Catskill Horse is very proud of that achievement.

 

Now reaching over 165,000 views per month the readership has blossomed far beyond the reaches of where it began in the mountains of New York's Western Catskills. What began as an earnest attempt to create a central hub for all equine enthusiasts in the Catskill Mountain region of Upstate New York now finds avid readers up and down the Eastern U.S. and even across the seas. 

Feature articles found among the digital pages include an impressive array of topics from advanced level dressage training advice that professional equestrians appreciate; to research overseas of horse breeds under threat of extinction and activities and events that readers interested across multiple equestrian disciplines can enjoy.  

Amazingly perhaps given the increase in expenses and the changes in the publishing world the magazine is still free to read for all. And it is still the community resource its original mission intended. The premise was to spread human-authored thought led advice and education from its band of dedicated volunteer contributing writers and the editorial features, news pages and event pages have all delivered on that original intent.

Over time writers have come and gone. Some have moved along to create their own marketing enterprises or advanced their writing careers where others have continued on their life journey in other directions. For each one that has made a contribution however big or small we thank you. 

Helping writers and horse aficionados navigate their careers has always been a central part of Catskill Horse's ideals. To have played a part, however small, in helping a writer gain confidence through publishing their works or by providing thoughtful, full reviews of their books in the Yay or Neigh review column is a wonderful ripple effect of working hard to create the magazine.

The expenses of producing the publication are in part covered by the stalwart advertisers, and in part underwritten by the publisher Horse in a Kilt Media Inc.

The intention was always to keep the magazine available to all, and to create a diverse and inclusive publication that would help horse people and of course then indirectly, horses themselves.

As Catskill Horse Magazine canters into 2026 we hope and expect that to be able to continue. Though for security purposes it may be necessary for readers to enter an email address to enter past a viewing wall in the future. That is all yet to be figured out. 

 

A heartfelt thank-you to you all dear readers, and of course to our advertisers, and to our band of contributing writers and IT professionals. 

The Merry Band at the Catskill Horse wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2026.

Catskill Horse Editor: Nikki Alvin-Smith

 

 

 

  

Going Backwards In Your Horse Training - Not By Design

Grand Prix trainer Paul Alvin-Smith at home

 

Training horse and rider takes a lot of time and patience. It can also be a very rewarding experience for all parties. Trouble is, as a trainer it can sometimes be equally frustrating because just when you feel you have had a breakthrough with both horse and rider, they bob off somewhere else to work due to other factors like seasonal migration. 

Regardless of whether you are a horse trainer/instructor located in the fish bowl that is West Palm Beach or Ocala, Florida, or the similarly horsey neighborhoods of Aiken, South Carolina or the Hamptons - or you work in Upstate New York or New England, from time to time you may find yourself giving pause about taking on students who migrate elsewhere for half the year.

Of course the answer is to be the trainer that also migrates to better climes during part of the year with the entourage of students hopefully in tow, but this is not always practical. So the compromise of sending the horse out of town and flying in and out to pick up a very occasional lesson or a few days for a show is the norm. 

Horse and rider can regress in their training no matter how much effort has been put in by everyone to date. But at the same time, riders and horses will still be learning something, even if it is somewhere else with someone else. It is best to view this as an opportunity.

The reality is that often equestrians come to you in the first place for help to fix something they are having a problem solving that has occurred either in their own or their horse's progress. Usually rather predictably, both. The issues are often based in the horse's previous handling and training, and are mirrored in the student in front of you as a mini-me version of their previous trainer's methods.

This is inevitable. Trouble is, you solve the issue and progress the education of both horse and rider and eagerly move on, building on what you now feel is a solid foundation. Then the pair disappear elsewhere and it all goes backwards and starts again.

As a trainer you obviously cannot be everywhere and wouldn't want to be anyway, but it is nevertheless a seasonal situation that makes you wonder if your efforts are all rather pointless.

I was once advised that you should be careful who you work with equestrian training wise as you will end up riding and looking like they do in the saddle, with similar good and bad traits. As humans we all have shortcomings and no-one is perfect. For this reason it is essential as a trainer you also continue your own education in a positive direction to improve yourself, otherwise your own bad habits will become ingrained and the students down the line (and their horses) will suffer the consequences.

 

My husband Paul and I are both Grand Prix trainers and regularly travel to continue our education

 

This isn't to say that the rider and horse haven't learned a new technique or improved during their transitory time with you, just rather it will be very difficult for them to continue that progress under a different tutor especially when that tutor is one that set them up for the problem initially. 

The tutor is usually is totally unaware of what has created the pause or halt in rider and horse progress. No-one is at fault, it's just that we all are learning and are all works in progress.

Paul working at home 

 

At the end of the day the best way I advise my fellow trainers to deal with this disappointing reality is to try and be satisfied with what has been achieved to date, and hope that the difference that you did make in the horse/rider partnership will hopefully resurface at some future point. 

Otherwise training wise you feel you are just treading water when the student returns to you the next year, and seems back to where they started with you six months before. Send them on their way with good wishes and just hope they have retained some of what you have spent time imparting and training. 

Not that you really have any choice in the matter anyway. It's simply a part of their equestrian journey and yours. 

Paul Alvin-Smith working with a student at a clinic

 

Though the poor horse is the worst one off for he truly is in for a confusing time. And that is the crux of it all for me. But as a lovely chef at a Portuguese restaurant once said to me as he de-boned a freshly harvested and beautifully cooked fish at our table, "You have to learn to work with the fish." Indeed we do..

 

A Farmer's Life - Weather Woes For Hay Season 2025

Working with what Mother Nature dishes out comes with the territory in farming life and this summer season has thus far offered a menu of upsets in the weather forecast game.

 

Even when you've disseminated information from several different sources you find the variety and discord of so called weather models is so major that you simply can't figure out what to do about knocking down hay. 

Sadly local news stations like WTEN, an award-winning weather reporting team that was headed by the notable Steve Caporizzo, the former Chief Meteorologist at NEWS10 before his retirement last month, doesn't seem to ever mention weather as it regards to the farmer. Despite the Upstate New York regions heavy reliance on farming businesses. Meaning, give us percentiles and chances of rain and offer more specific regional coverage especially in farming areas the Catskills region rather than always focusing on population hubs like Albany.

Many regional farmers have 'gone for it' with mixed results - working against the forecast variances and calling their own forecast. Basically desperate to get the 1st cut in to try and salvage the 2nd cut being available at all.

 

There are plenty of hay crop losses to rain, and of course many other farming enterprises are suffering with other types of crop problems too. Flooding, drought areas, fungus/insect damage due to high moisture etc. If you own horses you've likely already experienced the clover 'dribbles' with your herd, as the abundance of both red and white clover due to the heavy Spring rainfall predominates across much pastureland.

It seems that farmers are always whining about the weather. I guess it's a reasonable assessment. Growing and harvesting crops is so weather dependent it's hard not to understand the preoccupation that farmers have on the topic. 

 

No wonder then that many hay farmers choose to eliminate both the need for handling small square bales and succumb to the use of herbicides and drying agents and preservative to harvest their dry hay crop. There are tremendous changes going on with big pharma and the harvesting methods of hay going on right now, alongside a bunch of other nefarious business practices coming your way. If you want to learn more on that topic check out this blog on, "Hey - What's Happening in the Hay Herbicide World".  Chemical uses including salts, explain a lot about your horse's gut health, ulcers, leaky gut syndrome, hives, COPD and the like and what likely you are inadvertently doing to contribute to your horse's likelihood in developing these issues. 

 

It's a bit sad really. To see the smaller Mom and Pop farmers go out. Send their haying equipment off to auction and quit the business. Sell their land out for quarrying then development. But not too surprising either. Agricultural machines are expensive to buy, run and maintain. The cost of parts has almost tripled in many cases. Plus the ever rising cost of insurance, and the administrative burdens of collecting forms and tax for state governments. It's truly hard to make ends meet for many.

Labor wise many farmers find their family help all grown and flown the nest, little interested in taking on the very hard work that farming is and that they have experienced first hand.

Clearly horse barn owners running boarding businesses are struggling to make ends meet too - it's not just livestock farmers and dairy businesses. 

So - weather woes aside, the days of hay farming for the smaller enterprises are no doubt numbered. Artisan quality hay is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. 

There are simply too many clouds on the horizon.

 

It will be a very sad farewell. And for those of us who appreciate what our equine athletes need to reach their full potential, we won't have a place to turn for clean, green and non-chemical forage. And that truly is something worth whining about.

 

 

 

Canadian Hay In Your Barn??

If you buy hay from Canada to feed your livestock or in particular, horses, then you certainly know that a substantial price increase is highly likely in the coming months.  

Willowview Hill Farm, Stamford NY - Top quality horse hay organically grown and harvested in the Catskill Mountains of NY

 

Competition for hay sales from the Canadian market has always impacted U.S. farmers. At times of drought or extreme wet weather its import may have saved their bacon, but at most times the imports provide stiff competition for the farmers south of the Canadian border.

It is particularly difficult for farmers in States that are closest to this large production to compete with the imported hay that comes across the border. But it looks set for that to change.

As a New York horse hay farmer, I know keeping an eye on market forces is very important if our small farm is going to survive another year making artisan small square bales for the equine marketplace. There are many influences on hay prices and they are all set to promote higher prices as far as we can ascertain right now.

Mother Nature Can Be Kind Or Cruel

 

Aside from the imported hay competition, farms face many other rising costs. Not least of which is a 30% rise in insurance costs that has hit us again this year. Thankfully oil prices are lower. But repair costs for equipment are staggeringly high. And costs for fertilizer is even worse. As we farm organically the chemical fertilizer factor doesn't enter into our equation, but that is not true for most hay producers. Almost all round bales contain chemical preservatives too, so their expense will also need to be accounted for in the price.

Like many farmers we fix and mend what we can, but issues like a blown gear box on the discbine or a major tractor repair, can set a farmer back thousands and thousands of dollars, before the first blade of grass is even cut.

Hay equipment is expensive to buy and expensive to maintain

 

Of course, things don't break when you aren't using them, so we can expect more interruptions to hay production aside from the obvious one that is thrown at us every year by Mother Nature. The weather!

Like many, there is always the consideration to quit farming altogether. The demographic showcases that farmers are aging up and out of the business. It is sincerely hard work. And a roller-coaster experience of fighting with the weather, the machinery and the unknown factors that haunt the bottom line throughout the year can burn out even the most optimistic and hardworking individuals. It is a profession with a high injury factor and health risk too, and medical expenses are also through the barn roof for many.

So all in all I'd say take a good hold of the reins on your hay budget and expect a helluva ride. Because while we are bouncing about in the fields making hay while the sun shines, come Fall the clouds will be gathering as prices likely increase significantly. The only good news for hay farmers is that perhaps without the competition from large Canadian hay producers, they will have a shot at better margins for sales pricing overall to cover their own rising expenses.

When you see hay prices hit new highs, don't be surprised. Forewarned is forearmed. Stock up when you see good hay available on the market and buy the best quality you can to minimize waste. Don't fall prey to making false economies with poor quality horse hay that just brings a vet bill and a lot of mess to clean up come Spring. 

Come winter you'll need to be stocked up