Keeping Accurate Records

Keeping accurate records is as vital for horse owners as for business owners. Methods range from simple written records, to using double entry bookkeeping, to state of the art computer programs tailor-made for the horse industry.

Examples of records that should be kept are:

Boarding agreements
Wormer records
Vaccination records
Shoeing records
Illness
Horse medical history records (allergy's etc.)
Medication records
Injury records
Weight base-line records
Breeding operations records (mare care, stallion records, foaling info.)
Waivers
Incident reports
Training records
Coaching records
Bill of sales
Insurance records
Financial records

Emergencies can be stressful enough. Trying to remember dates of vaccinations and other pertinent information that the vet might need in an emergency can be difficult. You don't want to be trying to remember when the horse has his last Tetanus in the middle of an emergency! This is unnecessary when you have good records that are easy to access.

Financial records are especially necessary for business owners! These records are vital for legal reasons, such as tax audits or law suits. It is important to keep them in order so that you can easily access your records if needed. In a legal battle, if you demonstrate that you are organized enough to keep thorough records, this indicates that you are a responsible business owner and you are more likely to get a favorable ruling.

For tax purposes, you are required to keep your records for 7 years. If you are audited this is especially important. You will also need to be able to demonstrate that you have organized and detailed records for business expansion or financing. This is needed to show growth and financial patters in your business. It will also demonstrate to the bank that you are a responsible business owner.

Some other examples of situations in which detailed records can come in handy are:

you have sold a horse and the buyer has refused a vet check. In this case you should get and file a waiver stating that you advised them to get one and they refused. This is important so that if there is any dispute of the horse's soundness or other health issues later, you can show that they did not follow the advice you gave.

for any possible health disputes, such as horses in training or with boarders, full medical, feed, and farrier records can be vital.

if you are a breeding operation. Breeders must keep records of all aspects of their operation. Mares, Stallions and foals should each have their own set of records. There should be records for breeding dates, semen collection, vaccinations and foaling dates to mention a few. Breeders should also track growth rates of foals and plot them on a growth chart. This will help you identify if the horse has any problems such as osteochondrosis, a disease of the cartilage.

In order not to become a chore in itself, record keeping should be kept as simple as possible. You will, however, need to dedicate time every day to keeping your records up to date. Once you have found a method that works for you, keeping on top of it should take little time and effort or you will not be inclined to keep it up.

How detailed you keep your records depends on how much time you have to dedicate to the task. Next time, I will discuss record-keeping methods and the available systems.

Megan Dykeman- 2004 (c)

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