How long do your horses take you?

I have just the one on D.I.Y and to feed, muck out, haynets water ect, groom, rug and t/o then faff about sweeping and tiding about 40mins :)
 
I have 2 at home, in at night, out during the day. It takes me 45 mins in the morning plus another 1 hour if I ride. I can do them in 30 mins in the evening if I need to but I usually take about an hour as I enjoy being outside with them after being cooped up in the office all day.
 
As of this week I'm down the 13 :( (One of my gorgeous boys have gone on LWVTB) and it takes me 3 hours in the morning (hays, waters, turn out, mucking, hays and waters again) then 1.5 hours in the afternoon (hays, waters, skipping out). 6 are in of a night, 7 are out 24/7 with hay as no grass :).
 
One on DIY takes 40mins to muck out and put bed down (16 x 14 stable), hay and water done, feeds made up and horse fetched in (field is only about 400 yards away from yard), rugs changed.

If I am in a rush I can do it in 30 minutes, on the weekend it can take me an hour or so when I am pottering about.

If I'm riding I add another 1.5 hours on.
 
Thats not bad for four. it takes me 1 and half to do two stables but one is deep littered and the other is not as far to dirty lol. thats Putting out, givining hay in feild as one is in a paddock with no grass. them two hay nets per stable one for night one for morning. both waters and more straw added and then feeds made. I could be quicker if i didnt stand roud talking for ten mins before i start lol. If im just doing mind which is deep littered i am done in 30 mins and that everything! :D
 
God I sound really slow! Only go on an evening during the week, and without riding it takes me 1hour 15- 1 hour 30!

I do give him a full groom every day tho :o :)
 
I have one on DIY, in mornings it takes approx 40mins to change rugs, feed, muck out, do netts, take him to field and put out forage in field.

At night i pull down bed, put in fresh water, bring him in, change rugs and feed, this takes approx 15mins, if i am giving a grooming session anything from 5mins to 20min depending on how dirty he is!!

none of this including riding time... or when you go to yard and discover choc chip muffins, this usually results in a cup of tea & a catch up with the others at the yard!!
 
I can get all jobs done for 2 in 40 mins but with riding, bringing in from the field... i cant get done in under 3 hourse & that's just riding 1
 
KAZJAZ said:
I have one on DIY, in mornings it takes approx 40mins to change rugs, feed, muck out, do netts, take him to field and put out forage in field.

At night i pull down bed, put in fresh water, bring him in, change rugs and feed, this takes approx 15mins, if i am giving a grooming session anything from 5mins to 20min depending on how dirty he is!!

none of this including riding time... or when you go to yard and discover choc chip muffins, this usually results in a cup of tea & a catch up with the others at the yard!![/QUOTE]

ha! yea tell me about it, I can add on at least half an hour just chatting!
Click to expand...
 
I just have 1 on DIY. To t/o in the morn about 2 min. And I have got it down to 8 minutes in the evening If just a skip out, rug change, net and feed. Working with horses too makes you naturally work faster than anyone else :D
 
So what is your routine? Please pick up on anything I can improve on!!

Arrive and take out feed buckets, make breakfasts and feed,

Take out Haynets, fill up and re-hang

Pull out tub trug waters and empty

Change rugs and pick feet

Take out to field ( field 2 mins walk ) but hard to lead two at a time out due to the gate

Muck out and sweep yard

Fill waters

Wash buckets and make dinners!

Evening

Mum brings in at 2 so I..
Skip out, top up nets and water
Quick groom and rug change
Feed and home

No time to ride :(((
 
Beans2000 said:
So what is your routine? Please pick up on anything I can improve on!!

Arrive and take out feed buckets, make breakfasts and feed,

Take out Haynets, fill up and re-hang

Pull out tub trug waters and empty

Change rugs and pick feet

Take out to field ( field 2 mins walk ) but hard to lead two at a time out due to the gate

Muck out and sweep yard

Fill waters

Wash buckets and make dinners!

Evening

Mum brings in at 2 so I..
Skip out, top up nets and water
Quick groom and rug change
Feed and home

No time to ride :(((
Click to expand...


Get 4 extra buckets so you can make morning feeds the night before.
Some extra nets would help with time saving, fill all of them when you have some spare time ready for use when you are in a hurry.

I often leave turnout rugs on overnight as long as they are not soaked through.
 
I have one on DIY.

To turn out (long walk) muck out, do waters, soak net. 35 minutes

Finish off takes about 15 minutes. Make feeds and bring in, check over and pick feet.
 
Beans2000 said:
So what is your routine? Please pick up on anything I can improve on!!

Arrive and take out feed buckets, make breakfasts and feed,

Take out Haynets, fill up and re-hang

Pull out tub trug waters and empty

Change rugs and pick feet

Take out to field ( field 2 mins walk ) but hard to lead two at a time out due to the gate

Muck out and sweep yard

Fill waters

Wash buckets and make dinners!

Evening

Mum brings in at 2 so I..
Skip out, top up nets and water
Quick groom and rug change
Feed and home

No time to ride :(((
Click to expand...

Mine is similar, hes already in when I get there so I;

grab nets and buckets & ball
clean buckets and fill nets
do feeds
turf him out onto the yard, pick feet out
muck out stable - refresh with new bedding if needed
do stable water
empty wheel barrow
groom and change rugs
hang net up
put him back in stable
give him his ball

thats it! If I ride I do it once everything else is done so I can just put him to bed when I'm done :)
 
Beans2000 said:
So what is your routine? Please pick up on anything I can improve on!!

Arrive and take out feed buckets, make breakfasts and feed,

Take out Haynets, fill up and re-hang

Pull out tub trug waters and empty

Change rugs and pick feet

Take out to field ( field 2 mins walk ) but hard to lead two at a time out due to the gate

Muck out and sweep yard

Fill waters

Wash buckets and make dinners!

Evening

Mum brings in at 2 so I..
Skip out, top up nets and water
Quick groom and rug change
Feed and home

No time to ride :(((
Click to expand...

Leave in turnout rugs overnight. Its amazing how not having to change rugs saves time!!

Ok I am gonna get a thrashing for saying this. But I don't change the water everyday. I just top up with fresh. If it is dirty looking I change it, but otherwise just leave it. I also don't wash out my feed bowls every day. Everthing gets a good wash and scrub at the weekend. Also I don't pick hooves out in the morning. Just the evening when she comes in from field. Unless I am riding, then her hooves get picked out.

You could also fill nets over weekend.
 
Beans2000 said:
So what is your routine? Please pick up on anything I can improve on!!

Arrive and take out feed buckets, make breakfasts and feed,
Do as be positive suggested and by extra buckets, so arrive make up all feeds and give breakfasts

Take out Haynets, fill up and re-hang
Get a couple of extra haynets. Do they need haynets at this point if going straight out?

Pull out tub trug waters and empty

Change rugs and pick feet
As other poster said, do you need to change rugs?

Take out to field ( field 2 mins walk ) but hard to lead two at a time out due to the gate
Is there anywhere you can safely tie up near to the gate? You can tie a piece of baler twine to the headcollar for peace of mind when tying up.

Muck out and sweep yard
How long is this taking you? Can you do it quicker? eg. full muck out 2 one day, just skip out and top up bed other 2, rotate this routine daily

Fill waters
I would personally empty waters at this point, rather than doing it earlier.

Wash buckets and make dinners!
You will already have done this or do it now and don't do it first thing

Evening

Mum brings in at 2 so I..
Skip out, top up nets and water
Quick groom and rug change
Feed and home

No time to ride :(((
Click to expand...

Just some ideas
 
Last edited:
Two and half hours each end of the day to do 7. That does include walking the fence lines of any fields in use, and lugging haylage nets over to two living out, feeding the cows and hosepipe filling various troughs.

Skipping the large field shelter out, spending 10/15 minutes handling yearlings (brush/feet etc), brush/cuddle and rug change the poorly horse currently living in the field shelter.

Plus mucking out one, maybe three if weather poor.

Probably could do it quicker but I enjoy pottering and see it as a relaxing time before and after a stressful job. Riding is down to the weekends now.

As soon as I win the lottery I will potter on the yard to my hearts content all day long.
 
Ten in, three out, takes me two hours to turn out, muck out, hay, water, and then half an hour to sweep yard and hay barn and put all evening feeds in boxes. This is all done by 7am.

Then I go in and have breakfast, and come out at 7:30am to start riding. I have anywhere from two to seven to exercise, so it can take me most of the day.

Evenings are nice and quick - bring in, change rugs, pick out feed, chuck into bed. Evenings take about an hour, and most of that is spent picking feet out!
 
I only change rugs as tbh I have so many stable rugs it would be silly not to use!

And I hang nets up for the evening they get turned out before they start on there nets again. :)
 
I have two on DIY. To actually muck out doesn't take long - I pick the poo out while they eat breakfast - they're both on shavings with rubber mats - so about 10/15 mins and it's done. What does take the time is rugging, taking to field separately (won't walk together - one old and slow, other young and fast) then the muck heap needs to be kept pristine so there's a lot of stomping down to level it. Yard needs to be swept outside my stables - cobbles - they look pretty but are a pig to sweep. Then buckets to wash, haylage nets to fill. Ends up taking me a good hour and 45 min to sort everything and leave ready for the evening.

You would think in the evening it will take minutes but.... I like to bring them in then faff, brush, talk to them, love them, have a cuppa, chat to other liveries - can easily take another hour :D

I either ride in the morning as soon as it's getting light or school in the evening under the floodlights.
 
Suggestions for how you could speed up -

I make up all breakfasts the night before and leave them ready, so those who get breakfast get it chucked into their mangers first thing. Anything who doesn't get breakfast goes straight out BEFORE I start doing anything to boxes. Those who have breakfast go out as soon as they've finished eating.

I don't use haynets on most horses as a loathe them, but one horse needs them or he'd colic himself to death the way he wolfs his haylage down. I fill two for the morning each evening so that I can just hang them up first thing and not have to re-fill.

I fill water buckets while I'm doing something else - leave the tap on low and get on with mucking out etc.

I can tell which horse will need bedding the next day, so if I need straw I fill our second barrow with straw and use that, or if I need shavings or paper, I get a bale or two out in the evening and leave it outside the right box for the next morning.

I make up all feeds for the evening after I've mucked out, and leave them in boxes. This way I can just chuck horses into boxes in the evening, and if it's a real emergency (like we had a couple of weeks ago when a livery fell off and ruptured her spleen, needing an ambulance and someone to look after her baby and toddler until her husband got home) I can chuck everything in in about ten minutes if I don't change rugs or pick out feet.
 
I have one, stabled at night. Takes around 45mins of a morning (incl stable duties), then around 2hrs of an eve. This does include riding and faffing about though.
 
My lad is out in day and stabled at night all year round. Takes me about half an hour in the morning to feed him, turn out, check electric fence line, muck out and do water.
In the evening it takes about 1 hour to wet his hay, fill haynets, move his electric fence line for the next day, and get hay pile ready for the next day and poo pick.
Riding adds a good hour and a half on and that is the only time he is groomed. Although most evenings he usually wants a scratch with the curry comb if he is itchy!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top