Balancing Housework and Horses

[atropa]

Sorry for the boring post but how do you all make time to fit in your housework around working your horses? Both myself and my partner work full time, he gets home at around 5pm and I get home after horses anytime from 7-8.30pm. I've been feeling a bit guilty recently as he has been doing so much around the house while I'm out riding and sorting the horses.
I try to help out when I can by getting up early to do little bits and pieces in the morning, making meals in the slow cooker and cleaning on the occasional nights he's out late, but just wondering how everyone else manages to fit it all in and if there are any tricks I'm missing?

 

[MissTyc]

A few years ago, I decided to grit my teeth and pay a cleaner ... Best decision ever. I think I would rather go hungry than go without her now ... coming home late to a sparkling house (and she takes the puppy out for a play in the garden = bonus), and neither husband nor I feel resentful for having had to do the cleaning is priceless.

 

[PaddyMonty]

In our house it seems to be horses 99.99987%, housework 0.00013%. Happiness is not about housework

 

[Charlie31]

I have a cleaner too and agree it's the way forward. Mine comes every other week and it costs me £30 each time. Definitely worth it to not have to think about trying to fit it in myself.

 

[Snowy Celandine]

I suspect I will end up with the same conundrum well, I already have it actually. I can't ever manage to clean the house, do the laundry etc as well as the shopping, cooking, looking after and walking the dogs, feeding and mucking out all the other animals and having a social life!! I can't afford a cleaner but if I could I'd jump at the chance although my ideal would be to have a housekeeper who would do the cooking

 

[Wheels]

I usually set a couple of hours aside at the weekend for proper cleaning and just tidy up daily and have the odd blast round the living room with the hoover a couple of times a week.

Hubby in charge of cooking mostly and I'll wash up afterwards

He cleans the cars and mows the grass, I clean the bathrooms - that's how it works in our house

I get horsey time and he gets dog / shooting time and we help each other out with that

 

[Pippity]

Cleaner! Mine comes once a week and just does a quick whip-round to keep on top of things, which is enough to keep me from descending into utter squalor. I have a Roomba so I don't have to worry about vacuuming, and the cleaner can spend her time on other things. I also work from home quite a lot, so I'll do some housework while thinking through a work problem.

My mum still thinks I live like a slob but I think she's overly-obsessive, so it balances out!

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

I do 1/2hr every morning before setting off. Mostly that's tidying up and washing up, emptying bins, putting the washing machine on. When I get back I'll hang out the washing/put away the last lot and wipe down the kitchen counters. That's all until the weekend when I'll set aside 1/2 saturday to do all the rooms properly. Nothing is done to perfection, eg I don't move furniture to get under it. Just hoovering, ironing, de-cobwebbing the corners, changing the bed linen, wiping fingerprints off doors, wiping down all the windowsills/shelves etc, cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, if a window is looking particularly grubby I'll clean it with window spray.

Things like cleaning the tops of kitchen cupboards, cleaning all the windows including the frames, getting the dusty skirting board behind the sofa etc all gets done on an occasional basis, when it's disgusting/when I have time.

The biggest barrier I've found to having a clean home is other people not tidying up after themselves. I'm a "use something then put it back" type of person and I really notice it if others aren't, in terms of how long I spend tidying. If you have to keep tidying stuff away before you can clean, it makes the whole job take twice as long, which is why I try to keep on top of the tidying every morning. I don't have clutter or a junk room. If something doesn't have a place because it isn't in regular use/isn't stored and I can't think what to do with it, it goes into one of the plastic boxes which are stacked in the bedroom. Periodically I go through these and throw out or sell things which aren't needed.

 

[OrangeAndLemon]

My house is on the market so has to be clean & tidy everytime I leave in case estate agent pops around for a viewing. I work full time and live alone. Your question is the one I'm asking every day. Horse is full livery which helps a lot. The robot Hoover is helpful and can do upstairs while I do downstairs.

I don't have an answer for you other than once you blitz and tidy, it seems to take less time to then tidy as you go and keep on top of it.

No idea how to find time to go to the supermarket, my fridge is permently empty so I filled up the freezer last night to help avoid takeaways.

 

[swilliam]

If you don't do any housework, after a while it doesn't get any worse, and you get used to how it looks, so it stops being a problem!

 

[Crugeran Celt]

In our house it seems to be horses 99.99987%, housework 0.00013%. Happiness is not about housework

This.

 

[DabDab]

Personally - wooden floors, small house with minimal surfaces, tidy as I go, and OH who likes doing washing, very low maintenance garden. Paperwork stacking up is what my main problem and consequently my handbag ends up as my filing system.

I used to have houses requiring a lot of cleaning and it got on my wick, so I've gradually engineered myself into the lowest maintenance living accommodation I could manage - life's too short to spend it cleaning

 

[Rowreach]

I do think the key is to keep things tidy, put stuff away, and get in the habit of giving things a quick flick round regularly. The big stuff can then generally wait till you get round to it.

I recently visited some horsey friends though, and the filthy state of the house and the smell of it nearly made me gag Lord knows I don't mind a bit of mud and dog hair, but ewwwww.

 

[ihatework]

I don't - cleaner once a week prevents a complete deterioration into mingingness, the remainder of the time I take pride in building my immune system up

 

[amandaco2]

In our house it seems to be horses 99.99987%, housework 0.00013%. Happiness is not about housework

ditto

 

[milliepops]

live in a tiny tiny house and throw away most of your stuff. Then there's a limit to how far wrong things can go :lol:

I clean the bathroom when it starts to bug me (5 min job) and clean the shower while i'm using it. Sling the hoover round quickly now and then. Wash up daily. That's about it. And then on a rainy day when there is no horsey fun to be had, I wipe down the surfaces, skirting boards etc and congratulate myself on my domestic goddessing.

 

[AppyLover]

I tend to clean during my lunch break the days I work from home, but we have 2 house rabbits aswell so I find myself hoovering the living room carpet atleast 3 times a week haha. The rest of the house gets a hoover once every few weeks but think I'll get someone in to clean the carpets in a month or so 😁. Wouldn't say the house was dirty just abit untidy In places haha saying that's i do need to go clean the bathroom today.

After almost 3 years of horse ownership I'm finally going to be able to have some fun so the house can look abit iffy until winter haha

 

[SpottyMare]

Cleaners once a fortnight to stop the place getting too horrendous!
I'm single, have a full on full time job where i'm expected to do extra hours and in addition to 2 horses on diy I have 2 high maintenance dogs and a cat so something had to give. I'm also very lucky in that on the days when my mum comes over to let the dogs out at lunchtime for me, she will go over the downstairs with a hoover and do the washing up.
In between, I keep it hygienic but don't get overly worried about fluff and dust..

 

[DabDab]

Cleaners once a fortnight to stop the place getting too horrendous!
I'm single, have a full on full time job where i'm expected to do extra hours and in addition to 2 horses on diy I have 2 high maintenance dogs and a cat so something had to give. I'm also very lucky in that on the days when my mum comes over to let the dogs out at lunchtime for me, she will go over the downstairs with a hoover and do the washing up.
In between, I keep it hygienic but don't get overly worried about fluff and dust..

I'm jealous - my mum can destroy my house in an hour. She genuinely just doesn't even recognise the chaos she leaves behind bless her.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

I've managed to negotiate two early days at work where I'm at my desk by 7am and am home between 4.30 and 5pm to help counteract the guilt, so I feel your pain OP. Horse is also on full livery which helps, although I still find I spend increasing amounts of time at the yard.

As for practical tips, I prep a bunch of dinners at weekends and then freeze everything in bags so on the nights I'm not in until late OH can just heat stuff up for us with minimal fuss/mess. We have a greyhound that gets himself into anything left on the counters which helps motivate me to pop everything in the dishwasher as soon as we're done.

Laundry waits until the weekend (unless it's sweaty saddle cloths which seem to be in the washing machine most nights!) and then I do multiple loads to stay on top of everything.

Kitchen gets a full once over at the weekend, and then tops wiped as and when during the week.

We only really use two of our bathrooms so they're the ones that get the main focus...if I'm having a particularly bad week I'll just tidy the one that guests use and we slum it until there's more time.

We have wooden floors so generally cope with a quick sweep, though we could probably sweep/hoover more often but life often gets in the way.

 

[TheOldTrout]

What's housework?

 

[poiuytrewq]

I find it very hard!
Like you my O/H generally gets home before me, after I've done horses. It was fine but we moved to a barn convo a few years back and it's 3 times the size of our old house, and appears to grow cobwebs and dust for fun ��
I can't stand dirt or mess so can't leave it, can't afford a cleaner. I've had to lower my standards a little but just do bits when I can.

 

[SpottyMare]

I'm jealous - my mum can destroy my house in an hour. She genuinely just doesn't even recognise the chaos she leaves behind bless her.

I do have to play hunt the pan/colander/etc, but i'm getting used to where she puts things now, and it's a small price to pay for the sheer joy at coming home to tidiness where all has been chaos so I am well aware of how fortunate I am

 

[SpottyMare]

What's housework?

*Like*

 

[cauda equina]

we moved to a barn convo a few years back and it's 3 times the size of our old house, and appears to grow cobwebs and dust for fun ��

I have a similar problem with my house (formerly an actual pigsty, now just a metaphorical one).
I wonder if buildings have memories, and stubbornly try to hang onto their original purpose

 

[Antw23uk]

I dont really think about it to be honest. We tidy as we go, do a mid week hoover and always hoover and mop the whole place Saturday or Sunday and I'll damp dust bi weekly but I think be organised, put things away, tidy as you go and wipe down as you go. If you spend all week wiping down the shower and sink after each use (30 seconds) then cleaning the bathroom on the weekend takes five minutes. Same for the kitchen. My home is always tidy. It might not be clean but it will always be tidy and thats half the battle won.

I'll often meal prep my lunches for the week which saves me a fortune in time and money. The OH generally cooks dinners whilst Im with horses. Its all about being organised and cleaning as you go.

 

[Antw23uk]

I have a similar problem with my house (formerly an actual pigsty, now just a metaphorical one).
I wonder if buildings have memories, and stubbornly try to hang onto their original purpose

I feel your pain, bloody barn conversions!!!! Ours is all one level and I swear the whole place can get dirty with just the opening of the front or back door!

 

[Embo]

Don't know how those of you who say 'live with it' can do it! Yuck

We are similar as OP, we both work full time & commute to London. We have two house cats. OH gets in before me most evenings and generally does most of the cooking in the week. I will help if still cooking when I get home. I will tidy kitchen afterwards.

I do weekly shop online whilst sitting on train to work on a Monday. Gets delivered generally on Tues eve which OH puts away.

I tidy as I go and give things a quick scrub/wipe if needed in the week and will properly clean at the weekend (dusting, hoovering, bathroom & kitchen full clean etc) OH sorts the garden and I will do everything else, but sometimes ask him to do the lounge/dining room if time is short. Laundry is done at the weekend, we both pitch in here and get first load on & hung out asap Saturday morning. Sometimes Friday eve.

Big clean is sometimes only done once a fortnight, but I can't leave it any longer than that.

When you get a routine, it just becomes second nature. I start and finish in the same rooms. It takes between 2-4 hours for full house clean, that's not that much time in the grand scheme of things.

I love the feel and smell of a nice clean house so I do prioritise and make the time to clean properly. I understand it's not a priority for some but not doing it makes me feel anxious.

I too, have been shocked by the state of other's houses, definitely not for me!!

 

[FfionWinnie]

Just do it when horse is having a day off once in a blue moon or get a cleaner. Or pay your oh back with kindness

I find having visitors is a good motivator too!

 

[Cortez]

I have solved this problem and now have a complete balance - the stables, horses, yard and fields are immaculate. That's it. Keeps me happy, OH is welcome to clean the house if it bugs him.