What you learn:
- The strengths and limits of whiteboards, spreadsheets and stable management software
- Which option fits which size and type of stable
- What to look for when you choose a stable management app
Option 1: Whiteboard and paper
Good for: small private stables with few horses and a team that is always on site.
Advantages: free, simple and visible to everyone in the barn.
Limits: you can only see it when you are in the stable, there is no history, changes are easily lost and health data, documents and costs cannot be stored.
Option 2: Excel or Google Sheets
Good for: stables with one person who manages everything and likes working with spreadsheets.
Advantages: flexible, cheap and accessible from anywhere.
Limits: spreadsheets are hard to use on a phone in the barn, there are no reminders, several people editing at once leads to errors, and access rights are difficult to manage.
Option 3: Stable management software
Good for: stables where several people care for several horses – for example show stables, training and sales stables, breeding farms and livery yards.
Advantages: one central place for horse data, daily tasks, health records, calendar and finances; reminders for due appointments; access on phone, computer and stable screens; individual access rights.
Limits: it costs money and the team has to get used to it. For one or two horses it is often more than you need.
How to choose
Ask yourself three questions:
- How many people work with the horses? The more people, the more a shared digital plan pays off.
- How often do plans change? If plans change several times a day, a whiteboard is quickly outdated.
- What do you need to document? If you need health records, invoices or information for owners and buyers, paper and spreadsheets reach their limits.
What to look for in a stable management app
- Easy to use for grooms and riders, not only for the office
- Works on phone, computer and ideally a screen in the stable
- Health records with reminders
- Task planning per person and per horse
- Access rights for sensitive medical and financial data
- Transparent pricing and a free trial
Where Hippovibe fits
Hippovibe is built for stables where several people take care of several horses. It combines horse data, task lists, health records, calendar, feeding plans, finances and a digital stable board. See how it works for livery yards and show stables. Pricing starts at €3 per horse per month, and you can test it for free for 14 days.
