Top 4 Barn Management Apps

Horse Tech Top 4 Barn Management Digital Tools

By Juliana Chapman, The Tech Equestrian

Managing horses is not an easy task, especially with all the demands these days. Keeping an accurate schedule that is easily shared with owners, riders, trainers, grooms and support staff can feel overwhelming. Luckily, there are digital solutions you can use to manage your barn more efficiently and help keep your horses happy and healthy. The Tech Equestrian highlights each solution below to find the right fit for your horse care needs.

BarnManager: Made for barn managers, by barn managers

Founded in 2012 by lifelong equestrian Nicole Lakin, BarnManager is a cloudbased software solution that helps horse owners and managers simplify their daily management responsibilities. Users can access BarnManager online to create horse profiles, store medical records, schedule appointments, make detailed lists, and much more. BarnManager has become a valuable organizational tool for stables across several disciplines.

Designed to incorporate the nuances of an equine business, the enhanced BarnManager Pro allows users to invoice for multiple horses, split shared expenses across multiple clients, put multiple horses on a single invoice, and ensure that the full amounts of payments are covered. The Pro plan currently offers secure ACH payments through Stripe Connect, one of the most respected and popular online payment providers, which will yield substantial savings in payment fees over major competitors.

BarnManager is committed to looking for new tools to help barns manage, organize, analyze, and grow their businesses.

Plan profile: 14-day to 30-day free trials; 3 plans to choose from (monthly and yearly payment options)

Free essentials plan for 501(c)(3)

Website: https://www.barnmanager.com

BarnManager is available as a web-based software/cloud-hosted solution.

Hippovibe: Manage Your Horses Digitally

Say goodbye to your whiteboard thanks to Hippovibe, a digital horse management tool with a task planning feature that makes keeping track of your barn chores so much easier. The functionality allows you to plan your horses’ daily activities and add all sorts of information, from who should execute the job, timing/duration, order and pertinent notes (no carrots, only apples).

Tasks are assigned to specific users, so everyone knows what he or she needs to do and what has already been done. The app is not only ideal for planning ahead but can also be used as a reference point to view historical tasks.

The Hippovibe solution can store all the related information about your horses’ health on the system. Now you don’t have to guess when the next vaccination is due or write down on a calendar. The historical health data storage is a user favorite and provides a more holistic view of a horse’s health profile.

Plan profile: 14-day free trial/book a demo. Quarterly or yearly pricing based on number of horses.

Website: https://hippovibe.com

Hippovibe is available on iOS, Android, and desktop.

Stable Secretary: Barn Management Made Easy

The Equestrian App: Helping People Help Horses

As one of the early barn management solutions, Stable Secretary knows how important it is to offer options when it comes to managing horses efficiently. The four packages include: professional – the highest level with the most features including payments and invoicing; performance – has all the health features plus the ability to record services and expenses; essentials – keeps track of all the basic health information and go! – developed for ‘on-the go’ professionals who do everything on their mobile device.

A new feature added to the platform is the scheduling tool that enables users to add tasks and appointments, as well as services (like lessons, rides, etc.) which can easily be converted into billable records. You have the option to add event information and keep it simple or you can add details like participants, horses, admin-by, locations, and more. Events can be one-time or recurring and allow for setting time perimeters including reminder alerts. The feature was created by StableSecretary to allow for all the nuances of scheduling horses and riders and to keep costs down for users.

Plan profile: 30-day free trial with 4 plans to choose from (monthly or yearly payment options)

Discounts are available to educational institutions and non-profits

Website: https://stablesecretary.com

Stable Secretary is available on iOS, Android, and desktop.

The Equestrian App was launched by founder, Patrick Husting in 2019. Patrick created the app due to the reality that there are many people involved in the care of horses. The app gives users the ability to connect with a community of trainers, veterinarians, farriers, boarders, and other providers. All the information is directly stored in the journal so everyone can stay updated on your horse(s).

A software designer by trade, Patrick created the app by listening to his customers. He wanted to enhance the user experience year over year with recurrent updates for equine business professionals. If you’re a bodywork pro, a farrier, a trainer, or barn owner, there are features in the app to help you connect with your clients and provide an unmatched equestrian business experience.

The app has partnered with Barn Pros to offer features that easily define their barn, such as stalls and which horses are in those stalls – this includes the ability to create QR codes to post on the stall which are scannable by the app. Another partner is Equine Discounts, where you can save up to thousands on items you purchase for your horses and farm.

Plan profile: Free to download; with 3 plans: Gold; Silver; Bronze

Website: https://equestrianapp.com

The Equestrian App is available on iOS, Android, and desktop.

Equine Management Winter Turnout - How Much is OK?

Adobe Stock Images

By Michele Harn, M.S.

Mid-south temperatures over the recent Christmas Holiday weekend could have been easily posted for the upper Midwest. How should horse owners respond to extended subfreezing temperatures? How much turnout time is safe? Do horses need to be stalled in freezing temps? Barn managers and horse owners’ response to these challenging weather days is as vast as the horses and activities they pursue with their equines.

Wild horses and northern climate horses do well in sub-zero temperatures. Nature provides quite well for horses in both their instinct and seasonal changes in hair coat. Horses will naturally seek shelter from wind to maintain their body temperature. And most have hair so thick and insulating, that snow will pile-up and not even melt. They also seek the sun to warm themselves. Stick your fingers deep into the hair of a dark horse on a sunny day and feel how very warm the skin is. Thoughtfully placing shelters in turnout lots will help horses maximize their exposure to sun and minimize exposure to wind.

Horses in the mid-south tend to be very active throughout the winter, and as such, have different challenges during deep-freeze days. Some horses may be partially, or fully clipped thus needing blankets or stabling to keep warm. Some have shoes, making frozen and possibly icy ground treacherous. Paddocks that have become rutted from extended rain can be painful, even dangerous, for horses to walk over when the ground freezes. Depending on the condition of the ground, horse owners may opt to limit time outside. Others may have the luxury of large, grassy pastures that provide good footing even when frozen. Muddy lots may freeze on top but remain muddy below so it can be slippery, especially when horses start running around on a brisk morning. Often there is rain preceding a deep dive in temps so it is important to walk the area where your horses will be once the ground is frozen.

For horses that are stalled more than normal there are a few environmental conditions to evaluate. The utmost importance is air quality. Horses kept in stalls with barn doors closed are at risk of being exposed to elevated levels of ammonia, a potential danger to horses’ upper respiratory tract. Cleaning stalls several times a day will help. Horses can become bored or cranky when stalled for an extended period. Frequently feeding hay and stall toys may entertain your confined horse. If possible walk them in the barn aisle or indoor arena for a bit of exercise to calm their mind and keep their legs limber.

Joanna Wilburn, owner, trainer, and manager at Rollingwoods Farm in Olive Branch, Miss., along with sisters: Dr. Ruth Wilburn and Sally Ross Wilburn Davis, were the 2020 USEF Ellen Scripps Davis Memorial Breeders’ Cup award winners proving their knowledge in breeding, managing and raising Welsh ponies for performance and show. Their ponies are not hot house flowers. “Preferably they stay out 24/7 with run-in sheds, but they tend to stay out, even in cold rain,” Joanna explains. The ponies have access to round grass bales 24/7 and all receive small square bales of higher test grass hay twice a day. Joanna notes the round bales keep them busy and warm. In bad weather she gives more of the richer hay. All ponies come into the barn twice daily to be fed. “If they’re wet or shivering they stay in the stall longer to dry out before going out again. With prolonged wet, cold weather they all get under cover in the barn or arena until they dry out and then they go back out again. At Rollingwoods the emphasis is on ponies living outside ‘being horses’” Joanna is quick to add.

Windyrein Farm owner and manager, Kim Carpenter Clark, describes their plan when extreme winter weather hits their farm in Eads, Tenn. “We have Eventers, Jumpers, and Dressage horses in training who are typically turned out overnight. These horses are accustomed to being in stalls on a 12-and-12 schedule: twelve hours in and 12 hours out. When the temps get frigid we keep them stalled and prioritize water and hay consumption, while trying to keep their routine as unchanged as possible. When they are able to be turned back out, we make sure they have access to water and throw as much hay to them as possible. We monitor windchill and blanket them based on their coat and if they are body clipped. We find the amount of layers needed can be very breed specific, Thoroughbreds needing the most blanketing. Of course, the body clipped horses wear as many layers as they need, including hoods. We do not turn out in cold rain, blanketed or not.” Living onsite makes this around the clock care possible when the occasional arctic blast dips into the mid-south.

In summary, there are a few simple management tools to help your horses make it through frigid winter days. Keeping your horse’s internal heater fueled is key to surviving temperatures below freezing. A horse’s gut produces heat when digesting hay and water keeps the gut from becoming impacted. Offering hay several times a day and providing warm (not icy) water will ensure your horse’s heater does its job. Shelter from wind, cold rain, and snow allows the natural hair coat to maintain its insulating properties and reduces heat loss from windchill. Blankets in several weights provide warmth for those horses with inadequate hair coats. Having a second blanket is a good idea in case one becomes wet from rain or melting snow. Winter is barely getting started, but following the recent arctic blast, it’s important to make plans before the next Snomageddon hits the region.

Keeping the Water Trough Thawed

Michele Harn’s DIY insultated water trough the morning after December’s Arctic Blast

By Alicia Johnson

It’s that time of year again… the temperatures have dropped across the mid-south, and many horse owners are fighting the annual winter battle with Mother Nature: keeping the water trough from freezing. Keeping your water tank thawed and your horses hydrated is paramount, as lack of water can cause dehydration-induced colic. In its early stages dehydration can be hard to detect in horses, so it is imperative they always have access to clean, fresh water.

While there are many commercial products available on the market that involve water-safe electrical heating units, there are DIY options as well. Michele Harn, MS, Equine Nutrition and owner, Kalos Sport Ponies, Wis. and Tenn., has numerous suggestions to help equestrians keep their horses’ water flowing freely all winter. She says, “Wind and contact with cold surfaces are major factors in stability of water temperature.” First, she suggests raising the trough off the ground. This can be done by simply placing wood underneath. Next, wrap the tank with reflective, flexible insulation material. If you’re concerned your horses will want to chew on this, wire fencing can be placed over the insulation. An insulated top which partially covers the trough will also be a great addition to reduce the surface area of water exposed to the wind and elements. Pink styrofoam-type insulation from a home improvement store and wood framing work well to construct the top, and this side of the trough can be placed outside the fence so horses aren’t tempted to pull it off or chew it. Michele suggests using a plug-in type water heater, as the float type can be pulled out by horses and can even burn a plastic trough if it doesn’t have a wire basket preventing it from touching the sides.

For those equestrians who may not have power in their barns or access to electricity near the trough, Laura Lutz, Barn Manager at Redemption Road Horse Rescue in Jackson, Tenn., provides many practical solutions to keeping your water tank from freezing this winter. She suggests wrapping the trough or tank in insulation- this can be aluminum stuffed with hay or even water heater jacket insulation. For a smaller water bucket, you can place an old tire stuffed with straw around the entire thing. A floating object, such as an old soccer ball, thrown in the trough can also be an affordable option to keep your water flowing. “Anything that can promote movement in the water will help prevent freezing,” Laura states. Another suggestion Laura offers is to fill milk jugs with a salt water solution. Saltwater has a lower freezing point than freshwater and should help your horses’ water stay in liquid form when the temperatures drop below freezing. However, if your tank does freeze, a sifting shovel works wonders for not only breaking up the surface ice, but for removing it as well. Leaving ice in the tank will only further drop the temperature.

After spending lots of time and effort busting up water troughs last winter, Mindi Harrison, equine trainer, did some research and found that powdered molasses added to the trough works wonderfully. She puts a couple of cups of powdered molasses (available at the Co-op) into her water tanks and says even when the temperatures become bitterly cold, the tanks don’t freeze, but take on a more “slushylike” texture. She also sprinkles some of the powdered molasses right on top to encourage her horses to drink.

Tanks with little water in them will be more susceptible to freezing solid. So, if the temperature falls below 30 degrees for more than 12 hours, be sure to keep your water trough full. Whatever the way you offer water to your equines, it is important to remember that the trough still needs to be dumped and cleaned- even throughout the winter months. Offering horses fresh, clean water is a great way to encourage hydration and decrease the risk of colic episodes throughout the winter.