Please help! I need to know how to approach my boarding facility about feeding my horse more...?

They are great people and really care about the horses. I prefer my horse to have more weight than he does and I don't want to offend them. I have mentioned a few times that I think he is too thin. He has good teeth and no known health problems. I have offered to buy feed and supplements. He is pastured boarded with others. I don't want to make things uncomfortable but I am starting to get worrried. I just would like some suggestions on how to approach the situation in a way that will be the most effective without being rude. There are very few facilities in the area and this is the best one, I would rather stay there. Any suggestions would be helpful, thanks!

Please help! I need to know how to approach my boarding facility about feeding my horse more...?
Take them aside so it's not done in front of other clients and just say that while you appreciate everything that they are doing (great job etc), that you think your horse just isn't keeping the weight on as well as the others and you'd like to increase his feed. Say that you are more than happy to pay for the additional cost and while you realize that it may make things a bit more complicated at feed time, you'd really appreciate it if they could work around it until he's got some more weight on his bones.


As you said, be polite, friendly, smile and look open but stay firm because you are paying them, not the other way around and they should be more than willing to help you with that.
Reply:AL -You understand where I am coming from TOTALLY, I'm glad I am not the only one who thinks this is a harder task than it seems in some situations. Thanks for the support! Report It

Reply:Give them an extra $10 a month and say you want him to be fed x amount of extra food.
Reply:Being direct and open about the your wishes is the best way. Tip-toeing around the subject, insinuating your wishes, etc. will get you exactly where you are. Unhappy.





You don't need to be rude to be direct and firm. Just tell them, in no uncertain terms exactly what you want done for your horse. Thats it.
Reply:As someone that has horses I would just tell them that you will pay more money for extra food. He should respect your choice as the owner of the horse. Your horse might just have high energy and burn off calories faster then others. Also you could start your horse on like a scoop of grain and weight builder daily. Those would both help
Reply:just be kind and striaght forward and thats all you gotta do..your are there boss so if your paying and arent satisfied then im pretty sure that they would want to do everything they can to please you
Reply:Just say to tem would they mind feeding him a but more with each feed. You shouldn`t feel bad because you only care about him. Just be really nice and try to pop it into a conversation or something. Good luck.xx
Reply:Easy...just tell them you want to up your horse's feed, then offer to pay a little more each month.


Make sure it gets done, though.


If there's a problem, buy your own bale and give the extra yourself, while the boarding facility continues to feed your horse what they are being paid to.


Since he's in a pasture-type thing he must be low in the pecking order %26amp; is being bullied away from his food.


Maybe board him in a corral by himself and get his weight up.
Reply:well, you leave a few things out of the situation... is he pasture boared, meaning no stall, no grain, or is he pasture boared meaning he goes out to pasture everyday and comes in at night......


i would be straightforard with the owner. Tell them that you want more weight on your horse and are going to feed him more. They won't mind at all. And if you want them to feed him more(if they already feed him any grain) then just tell them to up his measureings. It wont be any big deal.


if he;s just pasture boarded meaning, no stall and no grain, then they might expect you to do full boarding or feed him yourself.
Reply:You need to just tell them you'd like your horse to eat more as you are worried and like him a bit fatter. Offer to do a feeding yourself as this may be the problem. I know boarders who just bring their feed can with the supplements they want and the extra feeds rationed out already and they offer to pay extra for the extra work of giving the more customised feed rations or simply give it themselves. Pasture boarding makes it more complicated than stall board. I have one mare here who needs an extra ration daily, but the trick is giving it to her so I trained her to go into the round pen we have on one field. I put feeders up in there and I have to stand by and carry a whip to keep the rest of the herd from invading her space so she'll eat. It's a chore, but it's what we do here. Not every place can do that, so your help may be what's needed.
Reply:First of all, don't forget that THEY work for YOU. You want them to feed your horse more, tell that.





Now, why do you want your horse to eat more? Are you concerned about its health? If so, have a vet check it. If he thinks the horse is underweight, have him tell the borders to feed it more.





Good luck.
Reply:This is a hard question to answer because I still have a few questions. If he is pastured boarded, do they just eat grass or do they get grain and hay? Our horses are in the pasture all the time during the summer, however they have so much grass to eat that we don't have to feed them extra. We were actually told our one horse looked a little heavy compared to last year. If they get feed a certain amount each day, and you pay for the feed ask politely if they could increase the feed since you like your horse fatter. Also, since they are around they everyday they might not see a difference in the horses weight. I really don't think that the facility will think you are being rude if you just explain that he looks a little skinny and that you would like to increase the feed a little bit to see if he gains a little bit of weight. You might also ask someone else their opinion on whether they think the horse is two skinny, like a vet or a fairer who has seen the horse lately.
Reply:well, I think that if you're just honest, and say to them that you would like to feed your horse a bit more, because you would like to put a bit more weight on him, I'm sure they won't feel offending or anything, if they care about horses that much. Also, you are the owner of YOUR horse, and it's your decision. Fair enough you don't want to offend the yard owners, but I think if you're honest, and firm, but not rude, and just explain to them what you want done, and maybe even offer £10 or $10 (or whatever your currency is!) more each month, to pay for the extra feed.





good luck and I hope I helped!!! I hope it all goes well!!! =D
Reply:I just offered to buy the extra food myself when i had this problem. I know how you feel though because the same thing happened to me recently. It is really hard because you don't want your horse to suffer, but you don't wasnt the person to dislike you at the same time you dont want to be kicked out or anything. Go with you gut and just approach her calmly and politly when you are alone. Just make sure that what you decide to do is ok because YOU are the one paying board!