Why a stable app needs roles and access
As long as you look after the horses alone, one app on one phone is enough. As soon as the first employee arrives, the first client with a boarded horse, or a vet who would like to enter records directly, the question comes up: whom do you let into what?
Giving everyone everything is convenient but unwise. A client has no business seeing other clients’ horses. A seasonal helper doesn’t need to change health records. The farrier doesn’t have to know how much you pay for hay. The opposite extreme — letting nobody in anywhere — means in turn that you enter everything yourself and the team works blind.
Roles and access in iPalomino solve this dilemma with four clear roles. You don’t configure dozens of checkboxes. When inviting a person you choose who they are for your stable, and the app shows them what belongs to that role.
Who sees and edits what in the app
Choose a role and look at the stable through its eyes. The table shows what that person sees, what they can also edit and what stays hidden from them:
The owner of a boarded horse always works only with their own horse — they don’t see the other animals, their records or the running of the stable at all.
Ranch worker, professional and owner of a boarded horse
Ranch worker: staff on the farm and in the stable
A groom, carer or seasonal helper needs to know what to do today and with which horse. They therefore see the animals and their profiles, health records, medication, tasks and the calendar. In addition they have access to the feed stock, which they can update — when a hay delivery arrives, they enter it themselves — and to the contacts, so that they have the vet’s number in an emergency.
Professional: vet, farrier, trainer
A specialist who comes to you needs the animal’s history and a way to record what they did. They see the animals, health records, medication, tasks and the calendar. They can add a health record, a medicine with dosing, the date of the next visit and a task for the groom. They see neither the feed stock nor your contacts.
Horse owner: clients with boarded horses
A client who keeps a horse with you wants to know what is happening with it and to have its data on their own phone. When inviting them you select their horse — or several horses — and they see only those: profile, health, feeding, tasks, appointments, documents and the feed that belongs to the horse. They can edit them, add to them and upload documents. They don’t see the rest of the stable.
If a horse owner leaves the stable, a copy of their horse — profile, health records, documents and tasks — stays in their own account. The horse leaves together with its history.
How to add an employee or professional to the stable
- Open the stable’s settingsAt your stable tap “Invite people with a code”.
- Choose the roleProfessional, ranch worker or horse owner. For a horse owner you also mark their horses.
- Send the codeThe app creates an invite code and prepares a message that you send via WhatsApp, text or email.
- The person enters the codeWhen first launching the app or later in the settings. The stable appears for them within the scope of their role.
- End access at any timeWhen a seasonal helper finishes or a client leaves, you cancel their access in the settings.
The whole joining procedure is described step by step in the article invite code for staff and professionals.
Who roles and access help
Horse owners
Even the owner of a single horse has people around them: a vet, a farrier, a trainer, a friend who feeds the horse now and then. You can give each of them access to the right extent — and withdraw it when it is no longer needed.
Farms and breeders
A family farm where several generations help out and seasonal helpers come in season. Farm staff see the tasks and the stock; the owner has an overview of everything, including who entered what.
Ranches and stables with a team
A boarding stable is where roles make the most sense: the team sees all the horses, each client only their own. The client feels in the picture, and you don’t have to answer ten messages a day.
Professionals: farrier, vet, trainer
A professional who serves several stables has all their clients in one app and, in each stable, exactly the access the owner gave them. They enter things once, in the right place.
The most common mistakes when sharing a stable with a team
Sharing a stable can go wrong in two directions — through too much openness and through too much caution:
- One account for everyone. You don’t know who entered what, and you can’t take access away from one person without changing the password for all.
- A seasonal helper with the owner’s rights. One unintended tap is enough. A ranch worker cannot delete animals or change the stable.
- A client who sees everything. Other clients’ horses are none of their business. A horse owner sees only their own animal.
- A vet without access. Then it is you who copies records from a slip of paper. A professional enters them personally and correctly.
- Access left in place after someone leaves. A former employee shouldn’t see what goes on in the stable. Removing access takes a few seconds.
Properly set roles and access mean you stop thinking about them. Everyone has on their phone exactly the part of the stable they need, and you can be sure nothing important disappears.
An overview of who entered what
A shared stable stands on trust, and trust on oversight. For every task, appointment or record not added by the owner, the app shows who added it. For a completed task you see the name and the time. Nothing happens anonymously.
The rights are also set so that people don’t overwrite one another’s work. A professional and a worker can delete only what they added themselves. A horse owner cannot change tasks that also concern other clients’ horses. And the feed stock that a worker updates cannot be deleted by them.
Notifications and reminders tell you what has changed in the stable: a new task, a confirmed feeding, a health record from the vet. And you divide the work among people through tasks for grooms and the team.
The stable has fifteen horses, nine of which belong to clients. The owner invites two grooms as ranch workers, a vet and a farrier as professionals, and nine clients as horse owners.
The grooms see all the horses and the daily tasks. After her visit the vet enters a vaccination directly in the records. The client Jane opens the app and sees only her mare: today’s feeding confirmed, the farrier booked for Thursday, the vaccination recorded. She knows nothing about the other clients’ horses — and they know nothing about hers.
Frequently asked questions
Which roles does the app distinguish?
The owner of the stable, a ranch worker, a professional (vet, farrier, trainer) and the owner of a boarded horse. You choose the role when creating the invite code.
Will a client see other clients’ horses?
No. A horse owner sees only the horses you assigned to them when inviting them, and everything that concerns those horses.
Can the vet enter health records?
Yes. A professional sees the animals and their health records and can add records, medication, appointments and tasks.
How do I cancel access for an employee who has left?
In the stable’s settings you will find the list of connected people and end the access there. The stable disappears from their app.
Does sharing a stable cost anything extra?
Sharing a stable with an invite code is part of the app.
Related features of the iPalomino app
When working with a team you will also use these articles:
Your whole ranch in one pocket.
iPalomino is now on the App Store. Download the app and try it in your own stable. An Android version is in development.