Barn Rules, For Everyone’s Safety


Whether you have 10 stalls or 100, it is always an important factor to consider what sort of barn rules you will have if your facility will be open to the public. This is necessary for barns that engage in any activities where customers come onto the property, such as for boarding, lessons or a combination of both, or where you have trainers at your barn.

One of the rules that you will find almost universally posted is No Smoking. This should always be the first rule that is clearly and prominently posted. It is not only required under every insurance policy, but also, smoking around barns is an incredible fire hazard.

Rules to consider after that should fall into 2 categories, safety and personal preference. Which of these rules you choose to include depends on what type of facility you operate, how busy your facility is and what age group your average customer falls into. Some of the items below could probably be combined, but I am listing them separately since not everyone will offer lessons, training and boarding, some may offer just one of the services.

Safety

Helmet Rules. This has been quite a controversial area over the years as there are some differences in standards from discipline to discipline. That can make it quite uncomfortable, as a barn manager, to enforce these rules, however, it is important to set one rule and stick to it. When I opened my barn I contacted my insurance carrier first and asked them for advice on what their coverage provided for and went with what they said. Actually, I am much more strict than is generally required. Helmet rules should be clearly posted in the barn, be in the board agreement, and also as posted near the riding arenas.

Putting away grooming supplies, tack, keeping aisle ways clean, cleaning up etc. all need to be spelled out. This can become more of safety issue than it appears at first glance, especially in a larger boarding and lessons facility. In barns with cross ties areas it can become a real problem. The grooming areas should have signage addressing this in addition to the barn rules list. Stepping into a grooming box carelessly left out can seriously hurt a horse.

Age of people allowed at the barn alone, and children at the barn in general should be discussed. This is an area that is often a problem at lesson barns, which can quickly become daycares if left unchecked. When getting into the lesson area you would be well advised to speak to your insurance carrier about what your legal liability is in this area. A parent who drops their young child off at your barn for a lesson, who then stays the entire day for a one hour a lesson, is not only unfair, but also puts you in a really precarious position. Legally, the assumption is that you are caring for that child for the entire time. This should be addressed with the parents in the lessons agreement ahead of time. You need to know what you are covered for under your insurance in terms of an unsupervised child and what you are comfortable with in terms of age. You should then clearly post rules to that effect. Simply not addressing this is worst thing you can do. It is much better to have a firm rule on this upfront than to find yourself in a position later, where you are deemed to be negligent and responsible if something were to happen to an unsupervised child at your barn. There is a good chance that your insurance would not cover you if they were harmed while not in a lesson.

And then there are dogs! There is nothing worse than arriving at a barn and being greeted by a pack of feral, bad mannered dogs. Not only is it terribly annoying, but this is also a serious safety issue. Dogs in a group become a pack and they can be very dangerous and destructive. We have a no dog’s rule. On very rare occasions, we will make an exception; however, the dog must be on a leash and be there for a brief visit, such as if someone is dropping something off, and only if there is no one riding and there are no other clients at the barn. Our own dogs stay in the well fenced back yard during the hours we are open to the customers. It is simply too much of a liability, and not only to the horses or customers, but also the dogs. Not only are dogs unpredictable, but so are horses.

Running in the barn. When you have young children around your barn, this rule needs to be posted. Children do need to be made aware that running and general disruptive behavior in the barn posses a risk for both horses and humans.


Feeding of Animals;  this rule is a good one to outline when you have boarders or a lesson program running. Often times you will have customers who will simply start to throw their own horses a flake of hay here or there and you have no idea when the horse was fed last or why that horse has hay and the other’s don’t or if the horse is off their hay. In a lesson barn it is vital, as the well meaning children simply do not have the knowledge to know what is and is not OK to feed a horse. Over the years I have seen horses almost fed some scary products. It is important to manage the feeding of the horses yourself to ensure their well being.

Signing of Waivers: A waiver for regular boarders, persons in lesson programs, or packages should be in the agreement material provided at the beginning of your contract. If you are hosting shows or have customers that will be coming in off the street or general visitors, a sign should be posted visibly letting people know that they need a waiver signed before entering or riding on the property depending on your rules.

Insurance: If your boarders or riders are required to carry certain insurance this should be included as well as in the general boarding agreement.

Proper Attire, especially with lesson programs, it is important to have rules posted about proper riding attire. This should also be in your lesson agreement.

Visitors, if you have rules about visitors to your barns you should post this somewhere clearly. Some barns require waivers; others, for instance, only allow visitors in designated areas.

Finally, No Alcohol and Drugs this is one that, when you have a public barn, believe it or not, you need to post. You would think that you would not have too, but in my experience you do. I have it posted right below “No Smoking”.

Personal Preferences

These rules include items such as:

Barn hours; what times you open and close, if you are open on holidays, and if those hours are different.

If there are rules about food and drinks in the barn, or the radio. Anything that is not particularly a matter of safety but more something that you expect your boarders to abide by and is a definite rule that you want followed.

A final consideration, depending on the type of facility you have, you may want to consider whether you need to post notices concerning ring times. If you operate a busy lesson barn or have multiple instructors you may have to post lesson times or have some rules about ring use. If your facility has several rings this can be easily worked around by having a designated ring for practice riding, at least on the days when there are several lessons running or during peak hours. Otherwise you may have to post times that the ring is busy and ask that boarders refrain from riding in the ring at that time, or at least yield to the riders in the ring taking lessons. This can be difficult when you offer boarding as the boarders do feel that they are paying for the luxury of being able to ride when the facility is open and at their leisure. That is why, if at all possible, it is better if you can offer 2 rings. If this is not possible, then it is essential that these rules are posted, and established up front and that the restrictions are for as short a period of time as possible, otherwise you will lose your boarding clients very quickly.

Make sure that your rules are clearly posted, and that you insert a copy with your board agreement. If there is a rule change post it and be sure to give everyone a copy of the rule change especially if it is a major one like a barn hour change or something significant like that. Rules that are of a legal nature such as helmet rules should be mentioned in your board agreement.

Having everyone on the same page in your barn makes for a happy environment. Your barn should run like a well-oiled machine. If everyone knows what is expected up front and if the expectations are the same for everyone and enforced, then your business will be a happier and safer place for horses and humans alike.



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