Why switch
Spreadsheets, group chats and a whiteboard got you this far.
Here is what changes when the day’s jobs, each horse’s record and the people who need to know all live in one place, for a price a small barn can afford.
What goes wrong, and what changes
Spreadsheets
The problem. One sheet for feed, one for vaccines, one for who owes what. Nobody is sure which is current, and everyone with the file sees everything.
What changes. One record per horse with feed, weight, medications, vaccines and documents, and each person sees only what their role allows. Upload your existing sheets to get started, and download everything whenever you like.
Group chats
The problem. Updates, photos and “did anyone feed the mare?” scroll away in a thread. Boarders ask the same question again, and a new groom cannot find last week’s instructions.
What changes. Messages sit next to the horse they are about. Owners get a page of their own with photo updates, and a handoff note tells the next person what to know.
A whiteboard
The problem. It is only right if someone keeps it right, it cannot leave the barn, and it cannot tell you the Coggins expires next month.
What changes. A Today screen with chores, appointments and doses due, on every phone and on a TV in the tack room. Care that is due is flagged before it is late.
Side by side
| What a barn needs | Stable SideKick | Spreadsheets, group chats and a whiteboard |
|---|---|---|
| Everything about a horse in one place | One profile with photos, feed, weight, medications, documents and a care schedule. | Spread across sheets, binders and old message threads. |
| Knowing what needs doing today | A Today screen with chores, appointments, doses due and a handoff note. | A whiteboard or a text thread that someone has to keep current. |
| The right access for each person | Roles and tab visibility you set for your barn. | Everyone sees the whole sheet, or nobody does. |
| Keeping boarders informed | A boarder view, an owner portal link and messages inside the app. | Photos and updates sent one by one. |
| Seeing what is due before it is late | Care schedules, document expiry alerts and low-supply alerts. | Remembered, or written on a wall calendar. |
| Winter blanket and turnout decisions | A planner that reads the forecast for the hours you choose. | Checking a weather app and keeping the list in your head. |
| Printed sheets for the barn | A daily sheet, stall cards and a stall QR code, printed from the app. | Typed up and printed by hand each time. |
| Writing to your boarders | Designed emails you word your own way, with your barn’s name and logo, sent to the roles or people you choose. | Typed fresh each time in an email app, or texted one person at a time. |
| Getting numbers into other tools | Accounting files for QuickBooks Online, Xero and Wave, Zapier or Make through webhooks, Google Sheets and an open API. | Retyping figures from one place into another. |
| Getting your records out | Downloadable lists and a full backup the owner can take any time. | Yours already, but scattered over many files and phones. |
See the designed emails and the integrations.
Move over at your own pace
Upload the sheets you already have, or add horses one at a time. There is a step-by-step moving-over checklist once you have an account.