Co-op barn

Question
I'm wondering have you ever heard of a barn that is run on volunteers.  I'm a show mom and have shown myself for 20 plus years. My family has had some bad experiences with the show barns in our area. We would like to have a barn based on other experienced moms or dads.  Do you think this would work?

Answer
Debra:

Im sorry but my expertise is not in management. I would say from my experience that a professional show barn is probably much more likely to have personell that are qualified and certified in their areas of specialty, training and management as opposed to a group of unknown people with various experiences and maybe some without experience. Furthermore, i also think the liability for the kind of set up you are consiering may be quite high- as there probably wont be a certified standard of experience and screening that would be employed for a "volunteer" situation. Id be very careful about that. Im sorry you had bad experiences, but a professional establishment is most likely to be the best qualified for appropriate managment and training practices. I dont know if this helps at all, but I would think about this carefully and consult with both industry experts and legal experts before you expose yourself to a difficult situation. Good luck.