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

 

 

 

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..