Had a very interesting conversation with one of my new boarders, as to who was in charge.  My theory is “My Barn, My Rules”.  Seems quite simple.  It was about grain. Really?!!!!

I find it extremely disturbing when a horse will not eat, especially when a horse is very underweight.  The owner was away, just for a long Thanksgiving weekend.  First time she was away in a long time.  She needed her time off.  She’d been taking care of this horse on her own for a while.  This mare has many issues to deal with.  Ninety days off of Colic surgery, Cushings, and Insulin Resistant.  Horse stopped eating.  Had a long talk with the surgeon and we both agreed to change the Senior Feed to an insulin resistant horse feed.  We backed off all the supplements she was getting, and we were going to start from scratch.  This is something we both agreed upon.

I didn’t want to call the owner and tell her, since she’d be home in three days.  It could wait.  Well according to the owner I should have called her immediately and discussed it with her before making any changes.  Okay, if she were home I would have, but I didn’t want to wait.  I wanted to get on this as soon as possible, and start getting food into this horse.  I explained to her that I usually will go with what a vet had to say as opposed to the owner.  I told her that she needed to trust me or move to a place where she would have total control.

Now with my other boarders, if you asked any one of them what type of feed their horses are on, and how much of it they are getting, they’d look at you like you had four heads.  They have no idea and leave it totally up to me.  After all, that’s what they pay me for.  Their horses are all fat and happy, and in turn the owners are happy.

As I was explaining this to the young lady she told me that she’s never had a barn owner who cared about what her horse ate or didn’t eat.  And I told her I’d never had a horse owner who cared or even thought about the reason their horses were fed what they are fed.  I then proceeded to tell her that I am ultimately responsible for the well-being of her horse.  I do research and talk to vets to make sure I am on the right track.  She said that it was not explained to her when she moved in, that I would be in charge of what her horse was given to eat.  Funny I never thought I had to.  I do tell them what I feed in the way of hay and grain, and she was no exception.  She told me about this horses special needs and I agreed to give her what the vet had prescribed.  Well at least the grain he prescribed.  The supplements were her choices.  That is until the horse stopped eating.

This caused me to rethink a lot of things.  Things that I never had any thought about.  All I know is that if I have a horse that is sick or not eating, I worry, I lose sleep until I solve the problem.  Whether it’s one of mine or a boarder, I take my responsibility very serious. Then I was thinking about what she had said about other barn owners.  I really started to think about how they would have handled this situation.  My close friends, I know, would have handled it the same way I did.  Others, I have no idea.

Bottom line is that this is my barn, not others.  The horses in my barn will be taken care of the way I determine they need to be taken care of.  If the owner has a problem with that then they need to move some place where they feel comfortable.  I feel very strongly about my beliefs based on too many years of experience, research, and veterinarian consultation.  I do accept input from owners, but my decision, after speaking to a vet, is the final say.  I will not tolerate abuse, or watch a horse die slowly.

If any of you board your horses, do you know what and how much is being fed?  Do you know why?  Do you trust your barn owner to make the right decisions?  Does anybody else do research and consult with vets?  Does anyone really care, or do you just assume, because your horse looks and feels great, that life is good?

Just something to ponder.