Follow these tips to ensure the proper fit when selecting a blanket or fly sheet for your horse.

Read more: Blanket and Fly Sheet Measuring 101

by Nikki Alvin-Smith for Horizon Structures

The idea of building two barns instead of one to develop your horse business is double the fun and double the pleasure, especially when it comes to building farm income. While obviously the capital outlay is doubled, so is the opportunity to build a diverse business portfolio. This inherent diversity can help assuage any downturns in the marketplace and also provides the initiative to maximize sales in areas that are trending upward in popularity.

To best understand the benefits of how the expense of the enterprise is optimally leveraged it is well worth consulting an accountant experienced in farm business operations. Between amortization and depreciation, possible interest deductions on financing costs or tax credits for school or local taxes, the financial spin on the initial capital outlay can make the dual barn project viable.

Additional benefits of the dual barn system are flexibility within annual business planning, ‘on hand’ enthusiastic help availability and educational event opportunities that can be held to garner business income.

The practice of larger horse farms operating both a lesson/boarding horse barn and another structure to house their own private horses used for show/breeding/sale or for horses coming in for training is not an uncommon occurrence. There are good reasons why this is a great idea and with some entrepreneurial spirit at the ready, many horse property owners can enjoy great success building an equestrian business.

The structures at the facility, their design for fit, form and functionality constitute the major expense in the farm project development.

Here are of the pros for opting to build two barns instead of just one. And remember, the barns don’t have to be identical. Barns come in a myriad of designs and price points. Today’s popular modular construction offers endless possibilities for complementary styles. The bounty of options in siding/roofing/colors and configurations in these almost ‘instant’ set up structures that are quickly on hand facilitate the chance to get busy building up business quickly. Let’s take a look:

• Two business income streams and two different brands can be devised that offer marketing across two entities that can cross promote and market services.
• Flexibility in business planning and income and expense management.
• Mitigates liability and accident risks.
• Offers better time management opportunity for owners/trainers/staff.
• Provides options for different caregiving practices and schedules at each barn.
• Potential labor resource for private use barn with enthusiastic local equestrians keen to improve their talents/income.
• Helps defray likelihood of profit reductions due to a one-line business model experiencing interruption due to issues such as disease outbreaks or market changes.
• Provides privacy and security for owner’s private horses, clientele, and business.
• Offers suitability in structure design for different purposes for each build.

Cross-pollinating between the two business enterprises and cross-marketing can elevate the exposure and profit for both. For example, this could be in the form of semester-based lesson programs that include educational visits to the private barn on a schedule of events designed around elevating the boarder/student experience. Such events can yield additional income and brand loyalty and provide added value to those clients.

Managing each barn on a separate basis gives the opportunity to choose different product lines, feedstuffs, care levels and hence labor expenses for each business entity.

Read more: Dual Barns Mean Dual Customer Base