How to do a fast muckout

[dawnhazeldine@gmail.]

I'm hopelessly slow at mucking out. From start to finish including brushing up it takes me about 25minutes. I have my other horse coming back to me, and obviously I will have to muck him out as well. It takes me quite a while and I end up being at the yard about 3 hours after I've done all the associated jobs and I'm not even one of these anal people who gets a ruler out to get perfect lines on beds and stuff.

i use shavings. Does anyone have any tips to help me do it quicker?

 

[AmyMay]

I don’t think 25 mins is particularly long ??‍

 

[doodle]

I’m the same. Feed, turnout, hay (soaking it) water, muck out add straw and layer of shavings under and sweep take almost an hour! So I don’t think 25 mins too long. It took me longer to do shavings as I have to have it perfect.

 

[sportsmansB]

Hey
I do 8 every morning on shavings in about 45-50 mins
1) bring wheelbarrow as far in to stable as poss & get rid of horse if you can (mine have horses in). Closer wheelbarrow = less steps and less mess
2) lift out poos first - toss some bedding up sides to sift out lumps if not in good piles
3) if you know the horse most pee roughly in same place - scrape back top layer of bedding to find wet patch in rough area
4) lift out all wet patch
5) quickly turn over rest of floor and fluff up
6) pull down from sides and even off top of banks
7) really good brush around, do drinkers / buckets etc
8) A good skip out late afternoon or evening makes all the difference, if you can
In my time I am emptying wheelbarrow at least twice too.

I am really only doing this while my horses breakfast settles before I ride. But the more you do the quicker you get!

 

[PurBee]

It took me about that long doing a shared large stable/ mini barn for my 2 horses. But what really has sped up the mucking out was giving them an outdoor hardstanding area off the barn to loaf about on and leaving the double doors of the barn open. They poop outside a lot now, and there’s maybe 4-6 poops in the stable....so mucking out is way quicker. Easier to shovel up poop from hardstanding than searching through shavings!

Over time ive extended the hardstanding area to half acre and its a godsend, so can highly recommend aiming to change stable management technique for easier quicker muckout, and more relaxed horses. (Im assuming from the way your post was written youve got them at home and not on a yard?)

edit: you mention yard, so perhaps my suggestion not possible.

 

[milliepops]

i don't understand how it takes so long
I whip the droppings out with a poop scoop because i can get several in one go and minimise tooing and froing
and then if there is wet to be taken out, shavings fork
re-set bed
sweep the front back
5 mins, done!

I sweep the yard after turning out, 5 min job with a corn broom and use the scoop to pick it up.

 

[Carrottom]

It depends on how messy the stable is. As long as the horse is out I would expect to clean it in 15 mins and allow 5 more if adding bedding. I try to have a system working from one side to the other and positioning the barrow so don't have to move to it with each forkfull.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I have 2 on deep litter straw. I can turnout, hay ( nets done night before) water, skip out and sweep up within 25 mins. I dont really think 25mins to do a shavings bed properly is excessive. Could you deep litter and muck out once a week?

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

i don't understand how it takes so long
I whip the droppings out with a poop scoop because i can get several in one go and minimise tooing and froing
and then if there is wet to be taken out, shavings fork
re-set bed
sweep the front back
5 mins, done!

I sweep the yard after turning out, 5 min job with a corn broom and use the scoop to pick it up.

This is very similar to how I do mine through winter months. I do fill nets twice a week to save time daily.
Feed 3, change rugs as needed and throw out, muck out 3 x boxes, 3 x water, 3 x swap nets, make up 6 feeds (PM and for next morning) 30 mins total, maybe 5 mins more if sweeping yard.
OP, I rinse all buckets twice daily and thoroughly scrub once a week. I level muckheap daily, tho once a week I'll give it a good tidy up and stamping down.

 

[milliepops]

This is very similar to how I do mine through winter months. I do fill nets twice a week to save time daily.
3 x boxes, 3 x water, 3 x swap nets, make up 6 feeds (PM and for next morning) 30 mins total, maybe 5 mins more if sweeping yard.
OP, I rinse all buckets twice daily and thoroughly scrub once a week. I level muckheap daily, tho once a week I'll give it a good tidy up and stamping down.

yup, i hate haynet day but it's pretty blissful to just swing by the pile and grab some ready made ones
i do feeds in the evenings while filling up the swimming pool water buckets. I wouldn't have time to ride if I spent 25 mins just on each box

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

MP, my carrot to ride, is to get yard done as quickly as possible .
If really pushed on a winter evening after work, I can get all in and rugs done, physical check and be on my way in 10 mins and because of the way I've set my yard up, I don't 'have' to change footwear, just pull on old coat over top.
Though I never usually leave the yard in the morning without doing 'everything' ?

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I have two, one on straw over wood pellets and the other on shavings. While they are eating I drag the water trugs out, clean and start to refill. While they are filling I change rugs and put them out, don the rubber gloves and grab a poo bucket, take out poo and place in a wheelbarrow which is in the stable with me. Leave the wet, tidy the bed, sweep up, empty wheelbarrow and fill their nets. Hang nets, make up next feeds, close doors. 30 minutes max and on a Saturday they get a full dig out of the wet, new straw and shavings added.

 

[ownedbyaconnie]

One of my best time saving tricks is to minimise the toing and froing. So I muck out, put haynet and food bowl on top of wheelbarrow then walk to muck heap, empty barrow, walk to feed room, do feed, walk to hay barn, swap haynet for full one and walk back to stable.

I also have pellets in the pee corner then shavings on top. Pellets get taken out once a week and the rest of the week I just pick out the poo. Although still not as quick as I like as mare ALWAYS buries her poo. I dream of days where she leaves it neatly on top of the shavings for me to just scoop out.

Then there's doing as much as you can at the weekends like filling haynets, preparing feeds etc.

 

[bouncing_ball]

MP, my carrot to ride, is to get yard done as quickly as possible . ?

I’m not currently DIY but I was always the opposite. Ride / exercise first. Chores last as I was guaranteed to complete all chores.

I could do two on wood pellets, hay, feed, water in 20 minutes.

The lay out of yard helped, all very close.

 

[EnduroRider]

I do three and morning routine takes 45 mins. I skip out with gloves and a bucket and do two boxes whilst they are eating breakfast. One horse always finishes first so he is then rug changed and turned out, then the other two are finished so rug changed and put out. Skip out the last box and then do all the sweeps and square ups in one go, followed by waters for all and put in fresh nets and lunches for all. Lastly I run a broom over the yard.

I find it is much quicker to do each activity x3, so all sweeping back, all waters etc rather than every activity in one box and then ever activity in the second and third. I only skip out and level up in the mornings, I take the wet out of one box every night on rotation, only takes 5 mins to pull back the bed, wet out, relay and replace. Doing one a day gets them all done twice a week so it never mounts up to a mammoth task.

I am pretty fussy about beds being kept clean and find that doing so by hand gives a better result than I can do in the same time with a fork. Also agree that skipping out last thing in the evening makes a big difference. I do all my haynets and feeds for the next 24hrs in the evening.

Edited to add... never go anywhere empty handed. So on the way back from the muck heap I will pick up the haynets, as I put feed in to the farthest stable I take my broom to sweep the yard on my way back down again.

I do notice that different people just move at different rates, not sure if that is just natural variation or linked to the need to get done and be somewhere?!

 

[HorsesRule2009]

I can do 7 boxes including waters yard swept and barrows emptied in 1.5 - 2 hours.
Including fresh straw for everyone and all banks turned daily.
Horse tied outside, water bucket out/emptied cleaned hose in to fill.
Wheelbarrow in up to bed, visible poos taken out bed thrown up taking out any more poo/wet that's found.
Quick sweep out of floor.
Start pulling bed back down /turn banks level off and add fresh straw sweep front of box water back in followed by horse and on to the next sweep yard down to next stable door and start again.

 

[Annagain]

I worked out the most efficient route and routine and I stick to it. I never go anywhere empty handed, and I rarely double back on myself. It really works and doing that same thing day after day saves the thinking time, you just do it on autopilot. Being last one on the yard and usually on my own helps too - talking to people interrupts my flow! When I just had Archie, I had perfected my routine to do everything in 7 minutes.

- Arrive, go straight to feed room (have to walk past it on the way to stable) and do his tea.
- Take it to his stable and grab water buckets and previous night's feed skip.
- Empty water buckets, rinse feed skip, put buckets under the tap and turn it on to a trickle.
- Grab wheelbarrow and tools, leave tools at strategic point and take wheelbarrow to hay shed.
- Collect hay, return to stable, stopping to pick up tools on way.
- Empty hay, muck out (he doesn't poo in his bed which helps)
- Start to head for muck heap (leaving tools at strategic point again) via tap - swap buckets under tap as first one should be full by now and pick up old feed skip. Take head collar with me.
- Drop feed skip off in feed room (on way to muck heap), empty wheelbarrow, rinse it out so it's clean for hay the next day and put it away, stopping to pick tools up on the way.
- Get the boys in. (M's stable is left ready for him)
- Put water buckets in A's stable

Now I have Charlie too I haven't times myself but I think it probably takes about 12 minutes to do them both. My routine is slightly different but I still stick to what I worked out was most efficient. I empty waterbuckets and put them to refill when I arrive and use A's to fill C's big trug (he throws little buckets around but I hate carrying the big one) so I do a bit more toing and froing with them. I don't have a spare feed skip any more (poor Charlie just has Archie's hand-me-downs) so I do stables first then take feed buckets to the feed room on way to muck heap and do my feed on the way back. I get their hay all in one go, drop some off in C's stable, then go to A's to empty the hay out and muck out and then muck out Charlie's. Charlie's not as easy to muck out that's the majority of the extra time as is an extra trip to the field as I now get three in and I can't quite manage three and the gate!

I save things like scrubbing buckets (they get a rinse every day), cleaning out excess haylage from hay bars and putting in extra bedding for the weekends when time is less pressured.

 

[scats]

I do 2 horses full muck out (which includes 2 wheelie tips), brush up, waters and grab haynets (pre-filled) in 20 minutes.

 

[Otherwise]

I do notice that different people just move at different rates, not sure if that is just natural variation or linked to the need to get done and be somewhere?!

This is the biggest thing for me, I can take 20 mins if I'm being slow or 10 mins if I pull myself together and just move quicker. It's the leisurely taking my time moving the fork from the bed to the wheelbarrow and back again that takes a surprising amount of time as opposed to trying to get the job dones as quick as possible so moving quicker.

 

[zandp]

When I was working at the riding school I could do 6 - 10 in 40 minutes, depending on which horse it was - it was the time we had between lessons going out so getting all the riders on and them coming back, 2 of us on the shift, 1 used to take horses out, the other would be mucking out and tacking up what was needed.

Now I'm not working there and haven't been for 2 years I'm back to pottering about with my 2 stables, if I'm in a hurry I can get both done in 30 minutes, 1 on straw and 1 on wood pellets. Normally I don't worry about the time though and just get it done - but do all the jobs in both stables and then move to the next job - so both beds, both waters and then both hays.

 

[fidleyspromise]

I've always been able to do a bed in 5 mins - pooh out, bedding against wall, wet out and back down. Current mare takes 20 minutes as she mixes it so thoroughly. Doing bed properly I end up removing 1-2 wheelbarrows out whereas used to fit 4 stables in each wheelbarrow. She hates to be stabled but even in her shelter she is as bad.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Mucking out at work is on average 7mins a stable. All on shavings. I don't like shavings forks I much prefer snow shovels - you can fit more on it! Go in, sweep back the bed from the door, put any excess hay in the corner under the feed bowl, scoop from front to back, turn over the banks and add bedding if needed.

Mucking out at home ... How long is a piece of string! Mine are on straw and I spend far, far, FAR too much time procrastinating!!!

 

[SEL]

I took forever when I had straw - 2 horse who like to mix it all up.

The big mare is deep littered on wood pellets and is now a 10 min muck out. Little mare on chopped rape straw and she poos in 1 corner so you'd be pushed to take longer than 10 mins with her. I dig out wet at weekends.

And then there's my gelding ..... I lose the will to live and lower my standards or I'd never get to work.

I find if I'm on my own at the yard then I can really motor through my routine. If other liveries are there it just seems to slow me down!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Mucking out at work is on average 7mins a stable. All on shavings. I don't like shavings forks I much prefer snow shovels - you can fit more on it! Go in, sweep back the bed from the door, put any excess hay in the corner under the feed bowl, scoop from front to back, turn over the banks and add bedding if needed.

Mucking out at home ... How long is a piece of string! Mine are on straw and I spend far, far, FAR too much time procrastinating!!!

Same ? I’m like wind at work. I’m pretty quick at my own in the morning before work. Then I get a day off and turn into a god knows what ?

 

[Julie Ole Girl]

Mine are at home and out at 7.30 but it can take me up to an hour as have deep straw bedding, on my knees poo picking, get wet top straw out, shavings then straw, 3 haynets, and lots of bowls to wash every day. Then drag bags of dirty straw and poo to my pile. Luckily I'm retired.

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Mine are both on wood pellets and it’s the easiest bed I’ve ever had to muck out. I usually only take out droppings in the week and wet at weekends unless they’ve managed to dig some up! I’ll add bedding then too.

Firstly I usually make up 20 buckets of feed at the weekend to last Monday to Friday. I also have enough hay nets to last all week. Luckily my storage stables and fields are located fairly close together. I leave turn outs on overnight if not riding in the morning. If I am riding I’ll groom so ready to ride and put stable rugs on.

I arrive at yard feed the pre-soaked feeds prepared the night before. When they are eating I take a wheelbarrow of hay to the field.

Then I start to sort out one. My old boy has a big breakfast so it takes awhile for him to finish. Firstly I take out all buckets and hay nets over to tap or storage. I then muck out and set fair. Takes about 10 minutes max.

When both finished eating I’ll either chuck both straight out or I’ll muck the oldie out first give a hay net and tack up and ride the other. I can get to yard by 6.45-7 and muck both out , do all jobs and ride one for about an hour and leave the yard by 9. I just don’t stop and keep everything to hand as much as possible.

Once the second box is done I sweep up outside both stables empty barrow and rinse out buckets (Scrubbing is for weekends usually) I then put pre prepared evening feeds in to soak. Job done.

 

[Equi]

I deep litter big spud so it will only take me longer if im doing my deep clean..but as said lift the soild bits you see then toss the rest up the wall and lift that..you can waste time lifting the tossed up poo every time you toss at the wall though, so toss it all first then lift. Im lucky with my minis that they are all super clean bar one, so i just have to lift the solid bits and deep clean when needed. One mini walks so her bed is deep cleaned out more often cause i am not going to wall toss for poos the size of a £1 coin lol

 

[Boulty]

Maybe try different bedding options & see if there's anything you find quicker & easier? I'm using hemp & only take the wet out once a week (you can leave it longer but I didn't fancy having to dig it out after it had been down longer than that). On the days I just take the poo out it takes me 10-15 minutes to muck out, hang nets, empty barrow & sort feed & water. I get about half a small barrow a day. When I dig the wet out it takes 20-30 minutes depending on how wet it's been & I get 1-2 barrows out (roof leaks a little bit in bad weather so a bit more wet to dig out) & I make most of my nets for the week up in advance which takes about 20 mins (if I wasn't weighing hay it would take half as long!).

 

[Jellymoon]

I’ve always like deep shavings bed even though I have nice mats underneath. However, one of mine buries his poo which takes me longer to muck out. Then I read in my daughters Pony magazine:’if your fave pony is super messy...try using less shavings...then you’ll have more time for riding with your ace mates and more money to buy matchy-matchy’. So I tried that. And it really works.
Shame he’s not my fave pony and my idea of matchy matchy is everything in brown.

 

[PSD]

Both mine are on matting so have thin beds. They are both cleaner this way, takes 5 mins max per stable. Scoop the poo out and the wet, sweep back and tidy the bed -
Job done. Maybe I get the speed from years of working on riding schools and having to do 20 stables in an hour and a half ?