How long should it take to Muck out 3 horses

[Daisy cob]

Can anyone advise me please.

How long should it take to muck out 3, 15hh cob type horses, bed down, Haynets, water. Bring in. Clear up yard.
They are bedded on Elephant grass (Misscanthus) not deep litter as 1 is particularly messy.
Due to ill health, I have had to employ someone to do it for a while. But it’s taking them 2 1/2 to 3 hours. It used to take an hour and half. Am I expecting to much.

Your comments would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[DabDab]

No, you're not expecting too much, but for me good help would be my priority over quick/efficient help if I was incapacitated. So I would just pay any not worry about it as long as I was happy with the standard of what they were doing.

You could negotiate a daily rate that includes all daily tasks, no matter how much or little time they take?

 

[DabDab]

Welcome to the forum btw 😃

 

[cobgoblin]

I used to do our three in about an hour and a half... But I think it's easy to work out an efficient routine when they are your own and you're used to where everything is.
I wouldn't expect to go over 2hrs though.

 

[Pinkvboots]

An hour and a half tops, it takes me an hour to do 2 and that's everything including clearing the hard standing in field of droppings.

 

[Pinkvboots]

How much you paying per hour? If you don't mind me asking

 

[be positive]

I would expect them to average about 30 mins per horse unless there is a long walk to field/ muck heap etc, if the yard is reasonably well set out and there is not an exceptional amount of sweeping/ tidying I cannot see how they are taking up to 1 hour per horse, if they are doing them every day for a while they should be up to speed within the first week although they may be spending a long while mucking out trying to keep the beds perfect, they could also be spinning it out to earn extra cash.

 

[splashgirl45]

i would rather it was done properly and slowly rather than quickly and slapdash. we had a girl at our yard who always boasted how much work she was doing and i used to be impressed until she mucked my horse out when i was ill....she had hardly taken any wet out and had smoothed the bed over the top so it looked clean,,,,she never did mine again....

 

[Daisy cob]

Thank you all for the replies.
The person has been here a while now, and was supposed to be experienced. (pinkyboots)They get paid £9 per hour.
There’s no real distance to the Muck heap. And I had a fairly straight forward system in place. The standard is not what I would do myself, but we never feel anyone can look after our horses as we do. I was hoping for grooming and tack cleaning as well, but that hasn’t happened.
Its nice to know it’s not just me that thinks they should be quicker.
Keep sending your posts.

Thank you again
Daisy

 

[Daisy cob]

I would also like to Thank you all for your friendly welcome to H&H😁

 

[Surbie]

Oh crikey - it takes me just over an hour to muck out, rug (sweetitch, grrrr) turn out, replace water, haynets for the evening & night, get dinner & breakfast ready. The field is a 10-15 minute roundtrip away so I guess I am slooooow, even though my horse is messy.

 

[Pinkvboots]

I think that is a good hourly rate perhaps have a word and say that you feel the work could be done in 1.5 hours.

 

[Starzaan]

An hour tops.

 

[DabDab]

Oh crikey - it takes me just over an hour to muck out, rug (sweetitch, grrrr) turn out, replace water, haynets for the evening & night, get dinner & breakfast ready. The field is a 10-15 minute roundtrip away so I guess I am slooooow, even though my horse is messy.

Hehe, that's just the magic of horse yard time. If you had three to muck out and sort, I bet it wouldn't take you much longer than doing one now 😁

 

[HashRouge]

The problem might be paying an hourly rate - it's not in their interest to race through things! In fact, the harder/ faster they work, the less they get paid. Why not negotiate a rate per horse (assuming you're happy with the job they do)?

 

[MotherOfChickens]

good reliable help is hard to find. £9 an hour is not the best hourly rate, I used to charge £10-12 twelve years ago when freelancing. However, 2-3 hours is quite a long time provided they are fit and well with decent facilities. maybe change it to visit and split the difference-freelancers have to account for travel time too as its time spent not earning. Where I currently live, I'd not pay less than £15 an hour for someone experienced and insured and the local freelancers have a minimum of £25 per visit but then travel time accounts for that.

 

[Red-1]

In a yard I know, with a field and muck heap close by, taps that don't take forever, then I would expect to do 3 in an hour. I used to do a yard of 18 (when turned out in the morning) in 6 hours, so I know it can be done! It was done to a FAB standard including sweeping the yard and hay bar, including swilling the inside yard too. Feet were picked but the horses were only hoof picked/dusted off/rug change, not groomed per se.

If the horses were in for the day I would take 8 hours (with a break) but have 12 of them on a walker, re rugged and droppings done 3 times, new nets at lunchtime etc. That was do-able but a killer! The person in the afternoon would walker the other 6, bottom 2 beds, sweep the walker etc.

However, if not a pro, if a new yard, if everything is not set out ergonomically, if the horses were unruly, it would take longer. It is a good routine that quickens you up. Also, we semi deep littered on Miscanthus, so the morning person took droppings and any obvious wet, and squared up - not a complete bottom of each bed each time. The beds were bottomed every week, and 5 bales put in. Also, we were paid considerably more than £9 an hour, so were maybe happier to run round being rather energetic.

Are you well enough to visit one morning to see what is taking the time? If you go and they finish earlier, I would simply say that you are satisfied with the way they have done them, and that amount of time would be fine in the future. If they really do take that time then perhaps you could help them be quicker. If not, and it was only temporary, then as long as the work was done correctly and the horses were happy then I would be OK with that.

 

[Tiddlypom]

I used to do our three in about an hour and a half... But I think it's easy to work out an efficient routine when they are your own and you're used to where everything is.
I wouldn't expect to go over 2hrs though.

This.

Plus, £9 per hour for a freelancer is a low rate of pay for a short stint like this. Plus it's all well and good folk saying they could do it all in an hour when the pro grooms on here also relay that they're broken and worn out by the age of 30 and longing for office work... A good steady rate of work that you can keep up all day (with breaks for lunch etc) is the aim, not a timed whiz through.

 

[Auslander]

I pay my freelancer for 3 hours a week poo picking, and expect the fields to be completely cleared in that time. I couldn't care less if she gets the job done in 2 hours - I'm just interested in it being done properly, and she's brilliant. As it happens, if she does finish early, she finds something else to do to make up the time, which isn't expected, but is much appreciated.
I'd be inclined to say you want her for 2 hours a day, and this is what has to be done in that time - then if she finishes all the jobs earlier, she can leave earlier. That way, the onus is on her to be quick and efficient, not to wander around filling up an extra hour!

 

[fankino04]

On a friends yard there are 12 horses to do for the freelancer on the owners day off, in the morning she feeds, rug changes, turns out (5 mins to field) mucks out and does hay and water ready for the afternoon in 4-4.5 hours then does 2 hours in the afternoon to bring in, rugs, feet and feed. We were funnily enough talking about how her Sunday groom with help charges for 8 hours and their are 3 less horses at the weekend, I obviously think she needs to have a "word" but she doesn't like confrontation so the Sunday grooms get paid more to do less...

 

[Daisy cob]

I’d like to thank everyone for your replies to my questions. You have all been very helpful. Just to update you. I have now set a fixed price for 2 1/2 hours a day. Also had a chat about time management. The person is not a qualified groom and not as thorough as I like, but she is reliable and willing and kind to my horses, so that has to count for a lot.

Thank you again for your answers, any more comments are welcome.
DaisyCob

 

[Goldenstar]

I would except a freelancer to take two hours to do three horses including time each day to do extra jobs like cleaning windows dusting walls and ledges pulling up weeds tidying barns etc so they stay on top of everything .
If it’s just a basic muckout and sort and go just over an hour .
It’s hard to know exactly without knowing the yard set up .

 

[Goldenstar]

It’s worth trading speed for reliability IME .