Equine Law Blog

If you are the one who has fallen behind on board, it might be time to take a serious look at whether you truly can afford horse ownership – after all, the boarding stable is just one horse-related expense, and others are sure to follow such as veterinary bills, farrier bills, feed supplements, and equipment costs.  If you believe your economic situation is only short term and you can still afford to keep your horse, you have several options, including these:

• Try to Negotiate a Payment Schedule With The Boarding Stable.  Maybe the boarding stable owner will allow you a few extra months to become current on your past-due board bill.  If the stable has agreed to allow extended payment schedules, particularly if the stable has agreed to waive interest and late payment fees, boarders have every incentive to get this in writing.
• Show Good Faith.  Making no payments to the stable is an almost certain way to prompt the stable to consider drastic legal remedies.  But your continued actions of making payments could demonstrate your sincerity in becoming current in your payments.
• Consider Alternative Arrangements.  Some stables allow boarders to work off some or all of their board fees by doing chores at the stable (but stables that do this should consider this carefully and consult with their insurers to determine if they are properly covered for these arrangements).  Other stables, with the boarder’s consent, utilize the boarder’s horse in their lesson programs to offset board fees (but read the other posts cautioning about legal issues associated with this practice).  If a stable is open to these arrangements, it could mean less out-of-pocket expense for the boarder and less debt.

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