An Interview with Barbara Timmer
By Larissa Cox
I had the pleasure of interviewing Barb Timmer, the owner of New Song Stables in Custer, Washington. After more than 15 years of owning and managing a marina, and completing law school, Barb turned her attention to horses. Though having no previous experience in the horse industry, Barb turned New Song Stables into the premiere boarding facility in the county. Today, she offers her story, as well as advice for anyone looking to enter into the equine industry, whether it be in owning a horse, or owning a whole equestrian facility.
So Barb, why did you buy the stable in the first place?
My daughter is a horse lover and a horse rider. When my daughter was younger we often talked about when she grew up. We talked about her having a horse farm and I could have a little place in one ‘corner’ and she could ride horses and I would watch her children, my grandchildren. We also talked about having a farm where all the animals were miniatures. Neither of those are quite exactly what happened, but there is a horse farm and I do play with my grandchildren here! My daughter lived in Michigan for six years before she moved back to Washington. One summer when she was visiting in Washington she told me about a neighbour of hers who raised Andalusians. She said that every year they had a foal and when that foal hit the ground it was worth $40,000! “Wow!” I said, “Now that’s a great retirement program!” Of course, then she explained that a breeding program like that wasn’t quite so easy to put together. The next day we were driving on Birch Bay – Lynden Road on our way into Lynden. We saw a “For Sale” sign on a barn next to the road and she casually said ”Buy me that farm and I’ll put together a horse breeding program for you.” And that started me thinking about the possibility of actually buying the stable.
When you were looking at a barn what made New Song, then Solid Oak, stand out?
Well, I wasn’t really looking for a barn. I saw this place for sale, and that made me think about buying a barn. I live at Birch Bay and my Mother lives in Lynden, and this place is halfway in between, right on the way. So the location was great. It was in pretty good condition, the main barn and attached arena were less than five years old, and the small barn, closer to the turnout paddocks, was built pretty good. Twenty-five years earlier, my husband and I had purchased an old Marina outside Olympia. It was a place that needed a lot of work just to keep it from falling apart and sliding into the bay, and I knew I didn’t want a place like that again. So I liked the fact that it was in pretty good shape. If either of those things were not there, I wouldn’t have looked at it twice. The owner’s daughter was willing to work for me for a year and, since I didn’t know anything about managing a horse stable, that supported the possibility of buying it. Once I was thinking seriously about buying the place, my sister and I toured several other horse stables in Whatcom County to get a feel of the industry in the area, and what the issues were with having a horse stables here. We heard nothing that was discouraging enough to change my mind. So I made an offer, and here we are!
Did you have a philosophy that guided your business decisions?
I had had previous business experience. For 17 years I had owned and managed a small marina in Thurston County, just outside of Olympia. There are many similarities between owning a marina and a horse stable. I knew I had to make a profit. I knew what location to board a horse at was choice that people made, and I had to present an attractive interesting place for them to continue to choose to stay at my place. I wanted a place that fit in well with the neighborhood, and was appealing to visit and to live next to. I think the mission statement for the Stables describes my thoughts/philosophy well: “a place for fun and education”. Our first priority must be safety. I talked with a lot of people to find out what ‘horse people’ want and I try to provide those things within reason and in a way that still keeps this business profitable. I want to be a good community participant. I find people interesting and I want to make it an interesting place for them to be. I do think it’s interesting that all of our horses are owned by women and this is really a ‘women’s barn’. It has been good to see strong, independent women here. This is an aspect of the business that I like very much. Although, I don’t have any objection to men coming here as boarders or as helpers to their friends or wives! Another aspect was that everyone told me that word-of-mouth is strong in the horse business. So I knew we had to operate in a positive way so the word-of-mouth would be positive.
What do you find are the biggest problems in running a barn?
Problems at the barn: rising costs of hay, grain, help. What to do with all the horse manure. Keeping the barn full so it does pay its way…taxes.
How did you go about finding good people to staff the barn?
Partly by trial and error, which I don’t recommend! The previous owner’s daughter worked for me for a year. When that didn’t work out, I hired someone who had worked part-time for me. She liked the power that being a boss gave her, but she abused that position. When Susan Adrian was boarding her horse here, and doing training here, we had talked about what could be done differently. By that time I had owned the stables for more than a year, and she fit the bill when I needed someone else to be manager. I still didn’t think I knew what was needed to run the place all by myself. Watching her, I have seen how much more there is to having a successful barn, than just buying hay and paying the bills. I’m glad to have Susan – she’s been good for New Song Stables. All the help that we have now is good. I let Susan hire the other people we have working here.
Why did you rename the barn New Song Stables?
I didn’t want to use the name that the previous owner had used because I wanted it clear that there was a new owner. Also, if I had kept ‘Solid Oak’ as a name, I would have wanted to plant some Oak trees around the place! But Oak leaves are poisonous for horses, so I couldn’t do that. I chose New Song after a lot of thought. It symbolizes to me a new beginning. I feel our lives are songs, and this is a new song for me. It’s something I had never done before and I wanted the operation to be as strong and powerful, as rhythmical and graceful, as many songs can be.
Besides owning and maintaining New Song Stables, what else do you do, or have you done?
I’ve already said I owned and operated a marina outside Olympia. For three years while operating my own private marina, I also operated a marina for the Port of Olympia. That gave me a different perspective. My marina had 110 moorage slips, sold fuel, and had a small convenience store. I had a partner at the Port’s marina and together we managed over 400 moorage slips, and were responsible for all the maintenance on the docks and about twenty acres of land used for parking and grounds. While owning the marina I had it completely rebuilt, getting all the permits, writing an environmental impact statement, going to hearings, etc. During that time the County bought out the local water system and installed a sewer system in the neighborhood. Since we were a large part of the neighborhood focus, I was very involved in all of those discussions, planning, and zoning. At the Port we had to make presentations to the Port Commission, be the front persons for the Port in discussions of live-a-boards, maintenance, stores, etc – anything that is sometimes involved in a marina. We went to boat shows and had promotions at the marina, too. At my own marina, the issue of selling gas and diesel on the water was big. The EPA requirements were changing and tightening up and that became very costly.
After 15 years of marinas, I went to law school. For three years I drove daily to Tacoma, about an hour one way, and worked with a trusted employee to keep my Marina running. By this time, I was no longer working at the Port of Olympia. When I had finished law school and taken the bar exam, I had an opportunity to sell the Marina, and I took it. A marina, like a horse stables, has a lot of maintenance to the physical facility; it needs periodic infusions of a lot of cash.
So then I practiced law in Thurston County for several years. I worked mostly in Family Law and juvenile law, although I also did misdemeanors. I still do legal consulting and document reviews, etc. I liked that too.
My children grew up around the marina business. They know boats and fishing. By the time I was practicing law, they were both out of the home, in college or just out and teaching.
In both the marina management business and in practicing law, women were in the minority. Maybe that’s why having mostly women in our barn is so significant to me now.
While I was managing marinas and raising children, I also earned a private pilot’s license. I had always wanted to fly, and at one point I said to myself, that no one was ever going to get it for me, so if I wanted to learn I had better go out and do it myself. That was fun, sometimes a little scary. But I stayed with it and finished it. I like flying, but the time and money it takes were not available for awhile and I got out of it.
I also earned a real estate agent license. My Dad sold real estate in Whatcom County for more than 40 years, and I had learned a lot from him. By the time, I earned my license me and my husband had bought and sold a couple of houses, and with my back ground, I found the learning interesting and the test not too hard. Of course, that’s expired now, too, but it still gives me a perspective that is helpful.
My greatest loves are my children and grandchildren, my family. Outside of them, I enjoy gardening, especially vegetable gardening. I have grapes near the stables, now, and this year, I should be getting a decent harvest. I like watching plants grow, digging in the dirt, and seeing the results of that work. These days, while it’s warm enough, you’ll often find me on my knees in the dirt. I proclaim the goodness of home-grown, organic food to everyone who will listen, and promote using composted horse manure for mulch whenever possible!
By Larissa Cox
