I have come to accept the obvious. It is important to show not only that our program can be replicated but that those who replicate it can do so "successfully". (In America "successful" has come to mean making solid profits.)
What we do can be successful, though I prefer to think of it as sustainable, for others. The first step is to make solid plans for the program. That means considering legal implications as much as one considers it in any other business. One should first seek advice of a qualified attorney in your area. That does not mean someone who has a cousin in law school. That does not mean someone that has run a boarding stable for years. It means a business lawyer. Corporate laws vary from state to state. Federal tax law is the same in every state. If one is to operate as a non profit one must truly be a non profit in order to fit the federal tax code. In most jurisdictions a Limited Liability Corporation is likely to be the bet route to go. Currently such corporations can often be taxed in the family's personal income tax return so that profits are not taxed twice, both as a separate corporation and as income.
Step two is to make sure that you and the entity are properly insured. There are many different kinds of equine insurance. Make sure that you are only paying for policies that apply to your plan. Different policies are needed if one boards horses than if one owns all horses on site.
Step three should be to develop a plan that keeps costs down while giving the horse every thing possible to maintain a happy and healthy life. That means natural horse care. That means no shoes, no stables, no sugary feeds, no obese horses. It also means that other facilities that continue to condemn horses to the lives of suffering and poor health that stables, pasture blankets, shoes, and sugar and grains insure will condemn your operation for being inhumane and abusive.
Ironic, isn't it. (This wall of ignorance is cracking. Horses in the future will be more and more likely to actually be given the chance to live as happy, healthy animals instead of being "loved to death" by ignorant owners and operators who place more interest in having horses "look good" than being healthy.)
Step four is to get an accountant in early on your business plan. Beware of using an accountant that is a "horse person" if by "horse person" one means someone affiliated with the established horse world. In fact, it is imperative that one avoid being influenced by anyone that is a part of that world. (Key test: When asked, "Do your horses compete or are they "just" trail horses?" Leave promptly. You can learn nothing of value from anyone that thinks that there is anything of value in equating competition with the value of a horse.)
I realize that I might seem a bit evangelical about this,, but I genuinely believe that matching kids that need to ride with horses that need to be ridden is a service of the highest order. It is hard work. It is difficult. But it matters. I also benefit in ways not shown up on a tax return. Tomorrow I will prosecute a case involving the murder a a four month old baby. Yesterday Samantha joined me on her first ride on her 1/2 Corolla colt, Legacy. People that wonder how I can do the job that I have in the courtroom should be aware that what I do in the round pen makes the rest of my life tolerable.
I am wrestling with whether I should take on a new program. I am considering developing a consulting package to assist others in developing a program like ours. Clients would be able to come down and spend a week in the Little House, watch what we do first hand, participate in it, all the while working up a business plan for their future operation. This will be a lot of work. It will take a lot of time, but it might be worth the effort.
Can't be any harder than teaching a boar hog to walk on a leash.
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