Just wondering what you guys think. Is it included in your boarding fee? What if it’s the who horse breaks it? What if the person/boarder breaks it? Does it depend on the thing broken? 

Fence? Gates? Doors? Hooks? Latches? Crossties? Buckets? Whips? Manure forks?

Well, I have a horse that is quite destructive. He demolished four panels at the trainer’s and has demolished a gate and a panel at home. I offered to pay the trainer and  she said no. The big turd likes to rub his butt on the panels and they just go crunch. Have a friend who boards and a Percheron at her place demolished two stalls. I think she asked the person to find another place to board and paid for repairs herself. I would say you are responsible. 

I board, so I will answer this from my boarder perspective. My horse ran through a wood fence during last summer. I offered to pay for the replacement of the damaged parts, but they said "no worries, it is a farm--things happen." And feeders get damaged from time to time--the barn owner replaces/repairs. Hay rings get damaged--barn owner takes care of it. I've seen broken pitch forks on occasion also--barn owner replaces. Not saying any of that is right or wrong, but these are things I have seen/experienced.

From my limited experience, everything you mentioned falls under general maintenance and would be covered in the monthly cost of boarding. However, if someone ( someone’s horse) is particularly destructive, we have charged the owner extra to cover the cost of repeated repairs. In one particular case the owner had a large breed horse that would “sit” on the continuous panels and bend them all to heck. After replacing 3-4 panels at $150 a pop she moved him to a different location.

I will say this, some equine insurance policies will cover the cost for the horse breaking things. I do not know specifics, I just read it in my contract. That being said, all you can do is offer to replace it. I'm sure the barn manager/owner is able to write it off somehow for taxes. I also agree that if you have a horse consantly breaking stuff then I would look at it completely different. 

I boarded most of my life and I dont think I have ever seen the boarders charged for damages. However, if it is an ongoing issue, I know I have seen them be asked to find a new place.

Agree 100%. I have boarded my whole life, and have never seen a boarder responsible for damaged goods. If it's ongoing, that's a different story. 

I agree with this - I would not think of charging anyone for typical damages. But if a horse became a beaver and started eating my barns and fences I would #1 charge for at least the materials to repair and #2 either have the owner muzzle the horse or ask them to remove the horse from my property. 

Horses gonna be horses and poop happens. I've seen a horse tear around a field so full of themselves that they couldn't or didn't want to use any brakes and fly right through a 3 panel (vinyl) fence like it wasn't there. It was all high spirits, nothing more! 

I have boarded pretty much my entire adult life. I have always offered to pay for the damage if my horse was the one that did it. With that being said, farm owners should expect that things will get broken. A one time occurance should not be an issue, however, if your horse repeatedly breaks something then the horse owner should def pay. JMO.

I have lived all over the world and some facilities have strict contracts in place they make the boarder liable and even charge fines if a stall is not cleaned or a mess is left. Other places I have been the owners simply did not care what went on. I found the strict facilities attracted better quality boarders and the rougher places had boarders that caused drama and damaged other people’s items and horses. One place I was at would charge a $5 fine if your stall was not cleaned and horse was not out in pasture by 11:00am if you left a mess in the wash rack it cost you $5 each time. I actually enjoyed this facility because it was always clean and drama free. I have been at another facility that had bad boarders that stole feed and would move other people’s horses etc....essentially the place was under the control of a couple of bullies and the owner was too old to do anything about it. I had a nice mare tied out in a run that was attached to the round pen and one of the bullies knowingly let a very bad mare in on her, by the time I noticed my mare has multiple kicks and bites that were bleeding, the bad mare had on a full set of shoes and so it tore my horse up bad. I left and went to a better facility. Anyway my point is if you get a solid contract in place and you police your facility you will get better quality boarders in. Some facilities will not take on boarders with horses that chew and damage stalls!