Overnight work at a boarding stable

[notapproved]

Is there a good reason to have someone in a boarding stable at night? I want to have a confrontation there after hours, and I had it in my head that maybe the guy who works there stayed overnight because...I don't know, they're really expensive animals and fires and emergencies are a thing. (And very wealthy people board there, the type to "spare

Comments

[orange_fell]

Mod note: Please add the approximate time and place that your story is set.

[phyloxena]

I certainly read " something happening in stables at night in other books, and in Sopranos, which is passably realistic, there is a fire at night, and a lot of people are there. You may actually call these job openings and ask them.

[dysonrules]

You could always give your character a reason to be there, possibly to check on a sick or pregnant animal? Horses with colic need to be prevented from lying down. He could be up all night walking the animal (although he and other employees would probably do it in shifts if he usually works a daytime job). If he only needs to be there for a little while, why not have him drop by to pick up something he forgot (or possibly lost) there? What time of night would it be? More plausible to find a reason if it's early night and not 3:00 am.

[penknife]

My first thought is that if the stable offers foaling services, there may be a mare who's close to foaling, and that's why someone is staying there overnight. A "spare no expense" stable would probably also have a security system with video cameras, so if you need someone to notice a problem and come investigate, they can. (Especially if the stable owners live in a house on the same property.)

[enveri]

Typically, many boarding stables have staff that live on the premises.

Racing stables (which house very expensive animals) have grooms that live in a dormitory onsite, as well as other staff and often the trainer. Modern stables have modern security systems; motion detecting lights, etc. Some possibly would have dogs.

They might have a security guard patrolling, but such things are expensive, and I doubt most owners would be willing to have the costs passed on to them.

In centuries past, you might have had someone sleeping in the loft of the stable, but... most people would not be boarding their horses in that time period. :)