Are you a scruffy or tidy horse owner?

charlie76

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I was accused last week of having OCD of the equine kind!! The reason being that I will always groom and hoof oil my horse before riding her and she always wears white boots and a white saddle cloth.She always goes to bed groomed with her hooves oiled and I clean my tack twice per week and wash her saddle cloth and boots.
I also make sure I clean my gaiters and boots before riding.

My bed is mucked out well everyday and I like to lay it flat and even. I also will not leave my stable door open or not sweep up after myself. My rugs are neatly folded over the door- am I really weird or what!?!
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I've been told the same thing
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I spend literally an hour grooming before I ride, and my bed must have NO poo in, the bare matting no specks of sawdust, and the banks must be level, and the bed flat :3
 
I'd definitely not like you! I'm afriad I don't see the point in grooming a horse thats just going to go back in the field and get filthy again
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. He's never had hoof oil on in the 9 years I've had him. He's brushed if he's muddy underneath where tack and rugs will go, but apart from that he's left. His bed is spotless though, and I like a swept yard. My boots are filthy, and I can't think when his tack was last cleaned
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I've been told the same thing
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I spend literally an hour grooming before I ride, and my bed must have NO poo in, the bare matting no specks of sawdust, and the banks must be level, and the bed flat :3

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Yay, that makes 3 of us now! Wohoo, dont forget to change your sigs guys!!
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im like that
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could put a spirit level on my banks
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the ned is always groomed with her feet oiled her and her tail shiny
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but i cba with my tack tehe (dont use it enough take to look doing everything else) haha
 
I'm not a scruffy horse owner, but horses that are not rugged 24/7 12 months are the year are not supposed to be groomed thoroughly everytime you ride, it will take too many oils out of the coat needed for protection from the weather. I groom my horse in the places where her tack will go to prevent rubbing... basically i do whats necessary. My horses have everything they need. My synthetic saddle is cleaned once a month if it needs it.. my leather bridle is cleaned when it gets dirty. I try to keep myself tidy!.. well i'm better then i used to be...
 
i like everything clean tidy and neat - but then i used to be a groom and where i worked everything has to be spotless and the horses had to be impecablely turned out - its now just a habit!
 
LOL. I am definitely like that! I groom my horse before and after riding, always clean her tack and fold and clean and repair her rugs often. Her boots are always washed. I can't stand things just left with dried mud on them. she has a white pristene saddlecloth as well. Buckets always clean (my horse won't drink it if its got hay or rubbish in it) Oh yes and the tidiest stable with absolutely no poo. Hooves oiled probably more than once every day and feet picked before and after riding. Its funny I used to work at Lush so I take a real pride in my horse's beauty appearance, my friends think she's super model horse!!
 
Im partly the same. Bed is perfect but neddy HATES being groomed and the only time he stands still enough to get hoof oil on him is once hes got his tea! Having said that, neddy is normally a lot neater than I am - Ive normally got lick-it all over me
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To make u feel happy though, there is actually a lady down our yard with OCD, she spends ages putting his rug on and making sure the buckles align correctly etc and god forbid anyone turns his water bucket round so his name isnt showing
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Everybody says I have OCD too
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I am obsessive about my stable and hate other people mucking it out, I am getting better but still don't like it. My feedbowls and water buckets are so clean I would probably eat my dinner out of them and they are replaced as soon as they look tired. Haynets are replaced if they wear thin or get holey
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Everything has to be spotless when it comes to my horse yet I am quite a messy person
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I'm definately NOT a tidy horse owner (although I used to be)! Sometimes I'll give the horses a "proper" groom - normally before a show but otherwise just a quick brush to get the mud off! I only clean my tack before I go to a show and they normally go to bed with their winter turnouts left on overnight!!!

I do like clean beds though - although I woudn't spend hours doing it - I normally do my beds in about 4 minutes each!!!
 
No, you're not alone, I'm sad too. I wash everything every time it's used, I scrub feed buckets after every feed, water buckets every day and I hate heacollars that are stiff with dirt etc. I also wash my stable tools when I've finished with them so they are put away clean . . . . do you think we need therapy? I know I have friends who think I'm very odd but I live in a poxy little one bedroom flat and most my horsey stuff (no, not the stable tools) lives in my bedroom and, much as I love my horse, I don't want horsey smells in the bedroom, hence, as soon as they are finished with for the winter the rugs go off for washing/cleaning and then into a big zip-up storage bag.
 
Hi, I am probably more the scruffy type but then I would maybe more call it "less fussy" than scruffy. for me, exercising the the main stable duties just come first and if I am short of time that is what she gets, not much fuffing around otherwise. Also she hates grooming and bites and kicks so in the winter when she is all muddy she just gets the worst brushed off and I make sure that under her tack all is clean to avoid rubbing. I do not use hoof oil as I dont believe it is of benefit to the horse but my bed is cleaned out thoroughly every day - banks can be uneven though if need be. Tack I clean once in a moon I have a synthetic saddle which is great and my leather bridle gets a soak a bit more often as I am worried it could crack when dried out too much.
My stable clothes tend to get dirty in an instant so I re-wear them a couple of times as no point washing all the time - I don't know how some people can NOT get filthy all over once they are only near the yard ...
I do wash my saddle cloth regularly though and rugs get a clean once a year. I also attempt to keep her mane nicely pulled although sometimes that goes out of the window too ...
 
I can be scruffy and obsesed it depends what mood i'm in.At the moment it's scruffy.Rugs all over the place,grooming kit just lobbed in the box and have more hay and straw in the tackroom than in the hay store.But i will get very fed up with being messy and blitz the place.
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Not as obsessive as you lot! Am very fussy about horses' beds/routines/care/feet/poo-picking fields etc. Always pick out their feet every day. Never trim them up as I like hairy beasties
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Scruff bag reporting in, well not true really we always look reasonably smart but I am not a regular tack cleaner and so far I've never had a horse that's of the type to enjoy being groomed so only ever do what's necessary which in reality is not a lot.

Apparently I have a male attitude to horses as I'd far rather be in the saddle than faffing about.

Although when I have been on DIY I have always kept very nice clean beds.
 
Im filthy compared to you lot then! My mum runs round after me being totally over-picky (IMO anyway)! Im fine with the horses, I mean they are always groomed well before I ride with manes & tails combed out (Im trying to thin them) etc. however I would never oil their hooves unless for a competition! Whats the point? Im actually against it because I like to leave their hooves to their own devices unless they have crap hooves in which case oil may do them good.

I dont wash buckets after Ive used them (mine lick them clean!) as I once read that scrubbing plastic buckets brings up something in them which can be yucky tasting to the horse. Not sure if true, but Ive kept to it since!

I am OCD about some things though. Like the trailer and jeep is always tidy before shows and in the correct order of needing things. I HATE my horses mane being messy although somehow it always is. I must have a huge selection of rugs and boots taken to shows, just in case. Also like clean beds if a neds staying in and way too much hay and water is always available. I dont like other people doing my horses like I simply could not hack someone tacking MY horse up for me or even applying boots. People try and help me at shows but I end up having to redo what they've done. Oh and I do proper OCD things like have to check 2 or 3 times that the trailer doors are closed, tack room is locked, lights are switched off etc.! Driving to a horse show a few weeks ago I managed to convince myself something was wrong with my horse even though he had made no sound at all. I had to stop and check him, of course he was totally fine!
 
Work full time and having a family (well a hubby and teenager which amounts to two under fives!) I just don't have time to be a perfectionist - her bed is clean, but as she dismantles the banks for sport cannot see the point in them being perfect, her feed buckets soaked every morning and she is always groomed before I ride her (actually she is groomed every evening even if I am not riding) oh and her field is poo picked daily - so I probably sit on the fence.
 
Bloody hell I don't think I have EVER in my life groomed a horse for an hour
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I think most of you would hate me TBH, not that I give a stuff. I only take the poo out of my bed, and the wet only comes out weekly. I do not bother with banks. I hardly ever brush out tail, usually has straw in it, I do wash it though and put canter spray through it (if and when I can be arsed). Tack is cleaned when it needs it, I own hoof oil but have never used it (I don't agree with over oiling hooves, leave them be I say). In the winter I only groom the tack area and leave the rest. I have NEVER cleaned my feed trug. My water bucet gets cleaned twice weekly.

On the plus side I am a demon sweeper!
 
I am definetly fairly scruffy
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, allthough would never leave pickles bed looking a mess, allthough I do tend to leave things in this little gap thing in my stable which looks quite messy, and sometimes forget to sweep the front. Allthough would never leave pickle looking really scruffy, he gets brushed where his tack goes before a ride then brushed properly after the ride, his saddlecloth gets changed when its dirty as do his boots. Allthough he doesnt see hoof oil, or mane & tail until show days, and my tack is sometimes quite bad
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I'm a scruff I'm afraid, although I DO clean my tack properly once a week (Usually) and wash her numnahs regularly.
If she needs a good groom I give her a bath and today I didn't bother to take the shavings out of her tail
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. Having said that, people laugh at me for washing her with shampoo and using fly repellent, and she's without question the smartest horse with the cleanest bed, on the yard!
 
I flick over with a brush before I ride (10/15 mins at most)... make sure girth and saddle areas are clean/free from mud. If I'm not riding that day I don't groom at all. I always pick feet out everyday and check legs for heat/cuts etc. Rarely clean tack. Deep litter beds in winter.

There aren't enough hours in the day as it is so the time I get to spend with my horses I prefer to be riding rather than preening them needlessly.

I shudder at the amount of hoof oiling going on. It really is bad for hoof horn and I wouldn't put hoof oil within a mile of my horses' feet. If you want to improve the quality of hooves then nutrition is the way to do it - pretty nail varnish will only make them worse.
 
Hmm, not OCD, but I do like him to be well groomed, more because I cant imagine it would feel nice going around grubby, I dont so shy should he
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. I would LOVE to be able to keep the barn tidy, but as He isnt in any more and therefore I dotn use the straw/hay, I personally dont see why I should be an unpaid slave to other people.

A few weeks ago I raked and swept the yard, cleaned out teh fridge and the kitchen area and no one said thanks - other than the yard owner and his wife!!! Then my mate got told off for using a haynet as it was messy, but she cleans up after herself (or I do if I am feeling generous)

I would just love a tidy clean yard. No straw only shavings, hayledge in haybags. all bales away in a non windy area. fitted feed bins so that there can be no spillade and mouldy feed. proper washing area and taps. Rug room , and have the everything in a certain area, like the tack room away from teh washing and feed areas and not near where muck barrows go past (so it doesn't get trodden through.
Oh and a shower!!!!
 
I sit on the fence i think, I have shavings beds on top of rubber, no banks (one of mine seems to get cast if you put them in and is fine if you dont), i skip out every day and muck out once a week.
2 of my ponies are out 24/7 all year round so in winter i brush off the tack areas but dont bother with the legs as normaly they are covered in wet mud and washing it off removes oils from the coat and softens the skin (think prune like when youve just gotten out of a bath) which encourages mud fever!

I clean my tack every time i use it, this includes conditioning it. i wash my numnah every time and have about 6 of them as mum wont let me put them in the dryer.

the yard is spotless, stables have no poo in them when just skipped out and the hay dropped at the front is thrown out. Feed buckets are rinsed when they look dirty, we have automatic waterers so they get cleaned when they need it!

In summer all 4 are brought in every day and groomed and checked (all out 24/7 in summer) hooves will be oiled if they start cracking but i'm a if it aint broke dont fix it girl.
 
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