Horses are the pulse and heartbeat of any working ranch, training stable or boarding facility, but without customers to pay the bills and employees to care for the horses, any legitimate barn would cease to function. Luckily, the majority of customers are a pleasure to work with, and most barn employees are hardworking people, but sometimes a rotten apple in the bunch will chaff your skin like a burr on a saddle pad or tempt you to paw the ground and stomp your foot. Before you react negatively consider the following:

Take a Lesson From Your Horse-Be Fair but Firm
If you have ever watched a group of horses in a pasture or a mare with her foal, then you know horses are honest, fair and firm with their communication. There is no beating around the bush, no lying to spare feelings and if there is any sneaky behavior (such as a yearling colt trying to sneak a bite of his older, wiser pasture mates grain) the consequences are dealt swiftly and directly with a well placed nip or kick. While I’m not suggesting we bring these exact measures into our customer/employee relationships, there is a kernel of wisdom we can take away from our equine friends.

Be honest with your customers and employees and be very clear with your expectations – invoices are due on time, be on time for lessons, work is to be completed thoroughly and on time, etc. When voicing these expectations there is no need to be rude – just be honest. “It is important for Jennifer to be here on time for her lessons because we have several lessons booked after her and want to give everyone the time they need and deserve.” A statement like this is hard to take personally and it is fair yet firm.

Kill Them With Kindness or Sugar Cubes
Some people will always choose to be difficult no matter how you treat them, but many a challenging person (and horse) has been won over with kindness and their temperament sweetened with a little bit of sugar. Practice kindness with your customers and employees, with zero expectations that they return the favor and I guarantee you will see results. Keep in mind kindness does not equal weakness. Do not be so nice that you let others walk all over you, but rather meet negativity consistently with kindness, and go out of your way to help your clients and employees. When they see your sincerity they will respect you and want to return the favor.

Knowing When to Say Neigh
I once had a friend who managed a hunter/jumper barn that mainly catered to the higher income level horse owner. Full board was $800-$1,000/month and included a stall with daily turnout, feed, lessons, training, etc. She managed both the stable and the books and had one client in particular who was consistently late with her monthly board payment. At first she gave her the benefit of the doubt and allowed the customer extra time to get caught up, but the customer grew increasingly late each month and attempts to collect the money were often met with anger and frustration. My friend had a meeting with the owners to decide a course of action. The decision – to communicate to the client that her behavior was unacceptable and advise her of less expensive options in the area. There were roughly three other barns in the area that were not quite as upscale but still nice – with quality staff. Conversations like this in business are difficult but often necessary and my friend was running a business that had set prices based on the quality of the facility. It was unfair to the other clients as well as poor business to have a client who was not paying their bills.

The conversation went better than expected and my friend not only collected the remaining amount owed, but we helped transport the client’s horse to a new facility – free of charge as a courtesy. In the end she helped her business and the client as well.

Some stable owners make the mistake of taking any client they can get. This isn’t always a wise choice. A client that is a poor fit for your facility may be taking up a spot that could be used for a person who could be a great fit. Likewise, in some cases you may be doing the client a disservice if there is another option in the area that would be a better fit for them. Know how to recognize when something isn’t working out and take action. Make sure you are always respectful to clients or employees that are not a good fit and make an effort to help transition them. This will go a long way towards your reputation in the community and the industry itself.

Finding that perfect barn to board your horse can be a huge undertaking and should never be taken lightly. Here is a list that will help you in deciding if the barn you are checking out is the right one for you and especially for your horse.

Check out the horses that are currently on the farm. Are they healthy looking? Are they located together in one pasture or separated? It may take some getting used to for a horse that previously was in pasture with one or two horses and the new barn has a turnout of twenty or more. Horses who haven’t been in that situation may not know what to do.

Observe the other horses in the stalls. Ask how often the stalls are cleaned and what the turn out time is for the stalled horses. Make sure that the stalls are a decent size, generally around 12 x 12. A stall should be cleaned twice a day if the horse is to be stalled. If the horses seem agitated and nervous, it’s a good sign to look elsewhere. Take a look around at the ventilation set up. Are there fans of some sort to keep the air clean.

Be sure to talk to the owner about health schedules. Is there a regular worming schedule or is it up to the horse owner? Do they regularly check for worms first to be sure the horses even need the medication? Find out how vaccinations are scheduled, if all horses are required a negative Coggins. Are new boards or sick horses kept in a quarantined area and if yes, ask to see that area. What is their process of disinfecting areas.

Another item of importance, yet sometimes overlooked is how the facility handles manure removal. Where is it stored until removed from the facility? This is can be a huge hygienic concern as well as an increase in fly manifestation.

What type of indoor and outdoor lighting do they provide? Is there a sound system in the arena area that assists in lessons and training. What does the flooring look like – rubber mats on concrete? Do they use cross ties or hitching posts?

Take a look at their wash racks. Is there hot and cold water? A wash tub to clean tack? Is it clean and well kept with cleaning supplies and hardware in an organized place?

What does their tack room look like? Is it clean and tidy? Do you have your own space where you can lock up your things. Is there are place to securely store your saddle? This is important because you want feel comfortable leaving your things without concern of someone else using them or them ending up missing.

You may also want to check out the restroom facilities and lounge area. Is it clean, spacious and preferably climate controlled? Does the lounge area provide for viewing of the arena? What is the outdoor parking like? Do you have easy access if you need to bring in a trailer?

Ask about arena hours and if there is a way to schedule time for use. Most important is there a responsible person on site 24 hours per day to insure safe keeping of the horses and facility. Safety is most important and having someone within walking and viewing distance of the barn should be mandatory.

Take a walk around the facility and check out the condition of the fences both in front of the property and in the pasture area. They should all be in good working order eliminating any opportunity for a loose horse or possible injury. What do the pastures look like? Are they grassy and abundant or mud and rock.

What is the feeding arrangements? They should feed at least twice a day at regular intervals and be consistent in the amount and type of feed. There should be plenty of clean, fresh water, with access to salt and minerals. Check out the water buckets of the other horses and check for cleanliness of both water and stall.

It is a MUST that you have ready access to veterinary and farrier services for routine and emergency care. Can you use your own farrier, veterinarian or trainer?

Ask for references or talk to other boarders at the facility. You can also check with the local veterinarians to insure that the place is reputable. Stick around for awhile and watch a riding lesson or people working their horses. Notice how well the horse works in the arena footing. Does it appear to be slippery or too deep?

These are just some of the items to look for when on the hunt for a great boarding facility. I am sure there are more but this will provide you a starting point check list to begin your search.

Now until December 31st, if you refer a horse farm to LaRaedo and they subscribe, you will make 50% of their monthly subscription for six months!

That equals $23.50, $43.50 or $88.50 per referral every month (depending on the selected subscription).

This offer is open to ANYONE with a love for horses and especially those that board their horses. And the more farms you refer and subscribe, the more money you can make each month.

Hey horse boarders, let your farm owners know about this great farm management software product. You will not only have your own account access to the software to view the daily maintenance of your horse but you’ll also receive this added 50% referral benefit for six months.

More good news, even if the horse farm owner signs up for the free 15-day trial on the very last day of 2010 and begins a paid subscription upon the end of their trial in January 2011, all referrals will still receive the 50% reward benefit.

Farm owners, start the 2011 New Year out by using LaRaedo horse farm management and invoicing software and stay more connected with your horse boarders and staff while keeping all horse boarder maintenance information in one place for easy access.

Use the simple, automated billing feature to submit a fully itemized invoice to all your boarders at the end of the month. Or create an easy on-the-fly invoice for any immediate invoice needs.

It is LaRaedo’s vision to assist all farm owners in staying connected with their customers, keep an on-going horse maintenance and billing history and know where to go to get easy access to all their boarders’ information.

How Do I Start?
So here’s what you do to begin the process of receiving your holiday referral rewards:

1. Recommend LaRaedo to all your horse farm owners and encourage them to sign up
2. Send an email to info@laraedo.com or go to the LaRaedo Contact page
3. Supply your full name, email address and the farm owner’s name and farm name

We will keep a record of this information and once the farm begins a paid subscription, you will be notified and your referral rewards will be sent. As long as the farm continues a paid subscription, you will continue to receive your rewards!

So get started TODAY to bring in some cash every month for the next SIX MONTHS!

Do you really know how powerful you are? You have the responsibility of taking care of an animal that is the love of someone’s life. That person trusts that when they are away from the barn, you will make sure their horse is fed properly, watched over and have all the basic horse needs met.

How are you making sure that this is maintenance is being tracked and that your horse boarder truly knows how well you are caring for their horse?

What methods do you use to keep your horse boarder informed on things like how lessons are progressing and what areas need more practice? Can you provide them with links to lesson videos so they can see first hand areas of improvement and weakness?

How do they know when the farrier, vet or dentist will be out next for routine check ups? Do you have a method to announce regular horse maintenance to all your boarders at once? Can you add their requests to a list so they can see when it is to occur, when it has been completed and most importantly – how much is it going to cost them? Do you have a method of keeping them informed of their upcoming charges before they receive their month’s invoice?

I like to use the example of attending parent / teacher conferences with my kids. We’d have about five minutes max to go over what has been happening over the past two months of studies. I always thought that NOW was not the time to go over late or missing assignments and poor chapter test scores. NOW was too late.

Thankfully, some schools have incorporated a on-line tool for parents and kids where they can go in before the end of a card marking and find out test scores and missing or late assignments and be able to make a change to improve before the card marking.

That’s why I think it is so important to communicate well ahead of time with boarding customers before they get their monthly invoice. It is up to the farm owner to insure good record-keeping and inform their boarders of upcoming billable maintenance or any other horse care related task.

This kind of care will shout volumes of praise from horse boarders who need that assurance of knowing they employ someone that will work with them in the care and maintenance of their best buddy. They will be much more obliging to pay for fly spray application or a holding fee when they can see when it was completed before they get the bill.

You have a lot of horse power behind you. Today’s businesses are changing so rapidly, it is important to make a statement that will out shine all others. It’s time to use technology to communicate in new and powerful ways.

Have you ever stood up in front of a room full of people and ask how everyone was doing and you heard a few ‘Okays’, ‘Great’, may be a ‘Could be Better’. Well that’s when you generally say it again and this time with emphasis ‘How are you Doing!” and then you get a much louder response with more enthusiasm.

That is exactly what I am going to do with the next round of this contest because we need more enthusiasm, aka more comments! I’m thinking that maybe I needed to be more clear on what I was asking everyone to do.

What I Need from You:

We are going to run the contest for another five days, starting today thru August 21. I am calling all horse boarders and those that take riding lessons to comment below on what you see as the Wow! Factor at the farm that you spend your time and money.

Because the winner of the contest will receive a signed book by the author Ronaye Ireland called ‘How to Find Trouble Free Horse Boarding Even if you are New to Horses’, I am requesting comments from the boarders and lesson customers side of the horse farm business.

What is the “Wow!” Factor?

The “Wow!” Factor is that unnamed quality in a product or service that elicits a “Wow!” from the customer the first time they encounter it. Examples of a “Wow!” might be –

• One private lesson after every tenth lesson

• Refer a friend and receive one-month free board

• Half-price on all trailering to specific shows

It’s whatever it may take for the customer to have that feeling of “Wow!” what a great deal for me!

So please leave your comments below and let’s find out what your Wow! Factor experience has been at the farm you hang out with!

Simply click on the ‘comment’ button which will open up all of the comments that people have already provided, add your name, website (if you have one) and comment away …..

Are you ready for another cool contest? This one will last five days starting today, ending on Sunday, August 15. The winner will receive a fabulous and informative book called “How to Find Trouble Free Horse Boarding Even If You Are New to Horses” written and signed by Ronaye Ireland.

Ronaye’s book will raise your awareness and help you become better informed before making that commitment to a horse-boarding stable to care for your horse. The book also has some great information to help horse boarding farm owners improve areas that may be what their current and future customers are looking for in a horse-boarding farm. You’ll discover things like:

• How to choose the horse-boarding style that suits your lifestyle
• How to uncover hidden costs and build a realistic budget so you can afford to keep your horse
• How to avoid a $500 vet bill by paying attention to this safety hazard you never thought would be a problem

How to Enter the Contest

To enter the contest, simply add a comment below describing what you think is the best “Wow!” Factor a horse boarding farm business can provide their customers today. It can be from your own personal experience or from ideas that you may have that would be a great benefit for horse farm owners. The winning name will be chosen randomly using random.org.

What is the “Wow!” Factor?

The “Wow!” Factor is that unnamed quality in a product or service that elicits a “Wow!” from the customer the first time they encounter it. Examples of a “Wow!” might be –

• One private lesson after every tenth lesson
• Refer a friend to board at your farm and receive one-month free board
• Half-price on all trailering to specific shows

It is whatever it may take for the customer to have that feeling of “Wow!” what a great deal for me!

What is the “Wow!” Factor in your business? What keeps your customers happy and talking about your horse farm? When competing for business in a struggling economy, “good enough” is not good enough.

What does your horse farm do that is unique and not like any other horse farms in your area? Sometimes it is hard to tell because that “Wow!” Factor often happens when you are not even around. What are your customers saying about your horse farm when you are not around?

I know of one really great way to get your customers talking about the “Wow!” Factor of your farm. Try LaRaedo Horse Farm Software, which allows customers to log in and see how well their horse is being cared for, how training is improving or how lessons are going. With this type of communication and putting the customer first, they will not only be impressed, they will also be telling other horse boarders how innovative and proactive your farm is in maintaining their horse.

So be sure to leave a comment below for a chance to win an extremely useful and informative book that can be read now and referred to time and time again. The lucky winner will be announced on August 16. Good luck!

Equestrian Professional Magazine, Elisabeth McMillan, recently ran a video called “Protecting Your Horse Business From Cash Flow Culprits” regarding profitability and cash flow. She used an example of the cost of boarding horses and the issue that can arise from boarders not paying on time.


That got me to thinking about ways that might help farm owners retain great relationships with their boarders AND ensure that they pay their board on time and increase revenue in THREE easy steps.

Step One -
Offer them a login account to a horse farm software that will keep them informed of EVERYTHING they are currently being billed for so there are no end of the month surprises.

Step Two -
Use the software’s automated invoice system that will send out their invoice at the first of the month, indicating CLEARLY the charge for any late payment fees and when payments are due.

Step Three -
Add a couple dollars more a month to their monthly board for the use of this service that keeps them informed of not only their expenses but of the care and maintenance that YOU deliver every month to keep their horse happy and healthy.

It’s a no brainer and everyone wins. Nuff said – comments are ALWAYS appreciated.

Registration for LaRaedo is changing and it will make subscribing a whole lot easier for the farm owner. I decided to make a few changes to the Registration page on the LaRaedo Horse Farm Management Software website. Quick summary:

• No Credit Card is needed for the 15-Day Free Trial
• Subscription selection down to three monthly – eliminated the yearly offerings

I want the subscriber to get a real feel for LaRaedo and decided that fifteen days is really all it will take because the software is so easy to use. Software tutorials are available on my blog site under Software Tutorials (no duh) and there are links to the user guide when the account information is e-mailed after registration.

So upon initial login, a counter begins and each day it is decremented by one. After the 15th day, the subscriber will receive a notice upon login that they need to subscribe to the software if they want to continue using it. Pretty simple and a no brainer because by that time they will realize what a great revenue builder this software will provide for their farm.

Next, I decreased the number of subscription selections down to three. I eliminated the yearly price and only included the monthly subscription. Basically, because it is a lot easier should you decide to cancel – not that you would but just in case.

The monthly selection is determined by the size or number of horses that will be tracked using the software. A subscriber can start out with the small farm monthly charge and if they go over the alloted number for that subscription, the software will notify them that they will need to move to the next subscription price.

So starting out on the low end of the subscription is another way to initially determine how well LaRaedo will benefit their farm.

Anyways, the plan is to have all this completed by June 4th so be sure to check back and try out the new and improved Registration process. I think you are going to love it!

And once you try out the free trial – leave a comment below and tell us all what you think!

Waiting for you...

One of the coolest features of LaRaedo is the automated invoice and billing. The last day of each month all events that have been marked as completed are pulled into an invoice and itemized for the horse boarding customer. Everything that occurred that month, that was marked as completed and is billable will be listed line by line with the date the event occurred, a description of what was done and the name of the horse the item refers to.

The farm owner will receive an e-mail for each invoice created with a reminder to log into the software and review each invoice for accuracy or add any additional billable items. Once the invoice looks good to go, the farm owner clicks submit and an e-mail is sent to the horse boarder letting them know that their invoice is ready for viewing along with a link to the LaRaedo software so that they can log in, preview and print their invoice.

The farm owner can view the Billing menu and check on the status of invoices.

• Initially the invoice is listed as ‘Pending’ which means that the invoice can be edited or updated by the farm owner.
• Once it is ready to send to the boarder, the farm owner clicks on ‘Submit’, an e-mail is sent to the boarder and the invoice is no longer updatable.
• The farm owner can send reminder notices if an invoice is ‘Overdue’ or listed as ‘Submitted’.
• Once payment has been made, simply place the cursor near the current status such as ‘Submitted’ or ‘Overdue’ click and the status will change to ‘Paid’.

An invoice can also be created for any customer by selecting the ‘New Invoice’ button and then selecting a customer’s name in the drop down box provided. This comes in handy for customers that do not own a horse but may take lessons or use other horse related services.



This has been a summary of how the invoicing process works with LaRaedo horse farm management software. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below or drop me an e-mail at info@laraedo.com

I loved creating this software because I believe in its benefits. We have one common thread that runs through all of this and it is about the horses. Knowing our horses are well cared for and working with a farm owner that takes that extra measure to ensure that our horses are healthy and happy is the best feeling ever.

In fact, if I had a choice between a farm that offered this type of software to keep me informed of not only my horse but exactly what I pay for each and every month, when it happened and who completed it, I would be boarding on that farm in a heartbeat. So stay ahead of the game and begin now to make a big difference on your farm today!


Thank you to all my horse loving friends! These last several posts are in honor of my sweet baby boy ‘Dance’ (aka Save the Last Dance) who left us far too soon. He was in part my inspiration for this software and its continual benefit to all horse farm owners.

After you have completed the registration process, you will receive an e-mail as shown below.

***********************************************************************************

Hello Marie Taulbee:

Thank you for subscribing to the LaRaedo Horse Farm Management Software.

Login Access and User Guide software instructions can be found at: http://www.laraedo.com/user-guide

Your administrative account log in is: LaRaedo-Farm
Your Password is: laraedo

Click on the link below and begin enjoying LaRaedo: http://software.laraedo.com

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at the e-mail listed below.

Please read, as agreed to in the ‘Terms and Conditions’:

TRIAL SUBSCRIBERS: Automatic monthly charges will begin after the 30-Day Free Trial unless an e-mail is sent to info@LaRaedo.com or you cancel your subscription via PayPal prior to the end of trial period.

Thank you,

LaRaedo Support

info@LaRaedo.com

More Boarders. More Profit. More Freedom.

***********************************************************************************

Click on the LaRaedo link as indicated in the e-mail and you will be taken to the software home page:

***********************************************************************************

Now this is where the fun stuff begins. Once you have logged in, the first thing you do is review your ‘Account Settings’:

***********************************************************************************

To some readers, this may appear to be pretty basic but I have found that learning how to do things in pieces makes it much easier to remember than laying it all out in one big chunk.

I think that the basis of putting these steps into several blog posts is to show everyone how simple this program is and yet how powerful it can be for your horse business.

My next post will illustrate account creation and who really needs one.

Please provide me with any questions or suggestions below. I think that using the comments sections helps others that may have the same questions but just didn’t think to ask.