Mucking out - 20 minutes per bed?

Hi, can anyone help? I have been told that it is considered 'best practise' that a normal bed (not deep littered) should take 20 minutes. Is this written anywhere as i cant seem to find any reference to it? Just interested to know so i can pass it on to my staff! Thanks in advance.
 
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amandathepanda

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If it took me 20 minutes to do each of my 9 stables each day, I would never get anything else done! I can do a full 'proper' muck out and bed down with fresh straw in less than 10 minutes and that's doing a proper bed with banks.

Why don't you try the manual of horsemanship as I suspect that is the most likely place to have time guides for mucking out etc.
 
Wow! Can I work for you? LOL, I wish we were allowed 20 mins per bed! Try 5 mins
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When I have previously employed grooms I have allowed up to 20 mins per bed. However they are bedded on shavings and I am a very fussy person on such things, no bits can be left or I fume!

I can thoroughly muck out a stable with shavings, change water, fill and put a haynet up in 20 mins and I am in poor health (I have lupus, a disease where the immune system attacks muscle and tissue). I take no excuses on either time or dirty beds, but I do demonstrate my method to new staff, I find it also helps to do this in order to show what standard you expect and that the time allocated is reasonable.

This method of putting my money where my mouth is so to speak has never failed me, it sets a standard and is respected without further arguement, and believe me in the past before doing this I had so many problems.
 
well, i have cardboard bedding on rubber matting, done meticulously every day, and it takes 5 mins in the morning to take out all muck and wet, put down disinfectant on the wet bits of rubber, and respread bedding, per stable.
water buckets, hay etc another few minutes per stable.
if i was doing a huge straw bed though, it might well take 20 mins to do properly.
 
20 mins is far too long for any kind of mucking out other than emptying a deep litter then I would allow 17 and a half mins!
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Sorry, I can and do every day a straw bed and it takes me no more than 10 mins at the very most.I lift up everything and stack against one wall, sweep, disinfect every 3rd day and put down.The fresh straw is added in the evening after Ive skipped out.I WISH that I could have all of mine on straw, Id save so much time and money
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. M.
 
20 mins is a lifetime doing a bed!

I do 5 full shavings bed (whole stable, thick bed, big banks, no rubber matting), scrub and refill water trugs, haynets and sweep yard in about 1.5 hours and I'm a lazy dosser who talks a lot, stops for tea and spends most of ther ime dancing to 80s hits down the barn
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20mins allows staff to do a bed to the highest standard, it really shouldn't take more than that unless bedding is limited or the horses are really messy.
 
It tends to vary with each horse. In work, the sec A mare is very tidy and I can do her in 5 mins but the sec D mare is a mucky cow and it takes me ages some mornings. I swear she entertains herself at nights by kicking her poo around then smashing it into her bed!
To do all 6 of them takes me about an hour and a half most mornings.
 
I used to muck out five stables, hay, water etc and sweep and tidy the yard in an hour, incentive being that I would then have time for a chocolate break!!
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I used to muck out five stables, hay, water etc and sweep and tidy the yard in an hour, incentive being that I would then have time for a chocolate break!!
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Yes, I have used that notion in the past- Must get my treat of a TWIX
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We once had a working pupil who thought it was normal to spend 40mins+ a box! then her tutor came to check on her and suddenly she mucked out in 10 mins!

She was such a lazy cow got sacked obviously as she carried on mucking out at her 40 mins when tutor went, also took her 1 hour to make feeds, we do have all the RS 40 horses feeds but takes me 30 mins max!
 
I do my little yard, 5 horses on it, in about 40-45mins. That is mucking out (shavings)- they are on deep litter bases so you do poo and the top layer of wee, waterbuckets and sweep the yard.
This morning I mucked out 7 horses and swept both yards (mine and the other yard) in 45mins but the waters were done for me.
It takes me roughly 6/7 mins per horse.
 
Take nets/buckets/tubs etc out of box, use a fork to get all big piles of droppings up and then using the fork fling all the bedding against the walls - any hidden bits of poo or wet will fall out and form a line at the bottom of the banks.

Once you've flung the whole bed up clear up the 'line' of odd bits of much and sweep just any wet that might be remaining to the front.

Then bring banks down and level the bed, then sweep out the front bit of the stable.

The two most important things are a) don't do something twice, ie don't sweep the front of the box whilst the bed is up and then again when it is down and b) move quicker! Do everything at a brisker pace and with more energy and it will get done quicker (don't go too crazy and fling the bedding over into the next box though
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I do 4 stables in about an hour. That's including filling haynets and water etc and sweeping the yard. AND I faff about... (hope my boss doesnt read this LOL) .They're on rubber matting but still need a full muck out daily. I do it fast by learning where each horse pees. I pick up the poos, then lift where will be wet, making a gangway to the front, sweep it out, then replace the bed. There's no need to lift the whole bed with a cleaner horse as it's all dry anyway.
I also promise myself a cappucino after..
 
I hear what you are saying and i agree, i can get a full shavings bed and everything else done in less tha half the time but the staff tell us they cant because they are mucking out 8/9 every day. The beds have to be absolultly immaculate as we are a referral clinic with lots of patients and the YM likes the beds pristine for both appearance and hygiene. We were told by someone from the BHS who has their horses here that 20 mins was the recommended guideline so just wanted to check if that was actually in print as we would like it done quicker! Can anyone think of any incentives that have worked for them in the past to encourage faster work? Just be interested to know what has worked for others?
 
The incentive could be to send them for a trial at the dealing yard I worked on, it was depths of winter & I would be mucking out in a strappy top as you worked alongside the owner, OMG!!! I have never seen anyone who could muck out as fast as him, you were EXPECTED to keep up, & there was grief if you didn't!! Everything was done at high speed, including getting the horses ready to travel, he had these hideous white pull on over reach boots which didn't stretch at all, my knuckles would be bleeding trying to get them on, & he'd be shouting "Get a bl....y move on, we're going to be late!" PM me for his number, he'll help you get them speeded up alright!!
 
Ditto! It takes me at least 20 minutes to do one, but I'm talking about a full, deep bed not one of those two handfuls of shavings in a corner of a rubber matted stable! And do it properly and remove every scrap of poo . . .

How on earth can you muck out properly in 6 minutes??????? I used to have an Arab gelding who was so filthy I had to keep him on shavings or shredded paper and mucking him out took the best part of an hour to get the box really clean. If he was on straw you'd need to take the whole lot out every day
 
The BHS guideline used to be 20 mins per bed when I trained.

I do both of ours, water, haylage, sweep yard in 40 mins - 5 of that my lad who is pristine the rest OH's mare who is filthy!
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I can muck out a big straw bed, fluff up all banks and sweep under 2 (alternate the swept ones daily obviously), bed down again 10-15mins (for a mucky mare). am expected to at work-you just have to go up a gear! thats averaging 10-12 straw beds/day too.
 
i do full muck out on a straw bed for fairly messy horse.takes me about 5-7mins depending if shes had an overnight party in there.
take out droppings on shavings(10bales) bed for a 'normal' horse and it takes about 5mins.
one is on minumal bed and mats and that takes about 5mins.
they are only in for a max of 12 hours though which makes a difference.
a full muck out with a full shavings(10bales) bed for one of mine who was really messy used to take me about 15mins and i took out about 3 sacks of 'waste' each day!
 
It takes me 10 mins, but mine is a 15 x 15 straw bed and I only leave a little square for the door bare, so a lot of bedding to move about. Hay and water would be extra on that, so would new bedding.
 
Blimey, I wish I could do my beds this quickly......mind you, its probably talking, drinking tea and stopping to pet the cat
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Takes me about 10mins to do mine, although that is with a mare and foal in there. I have a half shavings bed on mats. I take out all the poo, wet, strands of hayledge, also take out any wet from under the banks.

OH's horse is messy and wet, that takes about 10-15mins too, on chopped straw. Takes longer because the mats need washing down every day.
 
Good god, some of you sound like typical bossy slave driving horsey women. Give your staff a break. I have a suspicion that some of you have a high staff turnover? Berating staff 'cos they're not going super extra speedy sounds like bullying to me. Ever heard of the carrot instead of the stick approach to motivating your staff.
 
I don't even take that long to do my own horses let alone the ones at work. In the morning before work I have 15 minutes to feed, turnout and muckout Murphy as I really struggle to get up early as we are so short staffed at work, it is really tough at the mo. I feed Murph, then muck out around him, tossing the banks up, then turn him out and finish the bed and change his water, do his haynets and make up his evening feed.
We have paper at some of the yards at work and this has to be mucked out properly every day or it gets really heavy, even so I take no more than 10 minutes to do a bed and that includes digging the banks out.
 
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