Mucking out quickly?

[Fidget_Thief]

Hi all,
I'm having some issues right now haha. So I've started helping out a new yard that's really fast pacing and fast moving and I'm really slow at mucking out compared to the others. Ideally, mucking out here should take around 20 mins and I take just over that. She said she can't employee me till I am as quick and efficient as the rest but I always seem to struggle when under pressure.

So, how can I muck out straw and shavings quick enough but not compromising quality?
Thank you

 

[poiuytrewq]

You will get faster with time and once you know the horses. You get to know where the wet patch is etc.
I do a yard of 17 by myself on a Sunday morning. I can muck out redo water and hay in about 2.5 hours. Sometimes a bit either way depending if I need to bed many up or turnout etc.
I take the poo out, chuck bedding up, wet out then whizz round turning banks over and level, sweep back. It’s routine and getting into the swing of it!
Straw does take me a bit longer!

 

[Sussexbythesea]

Is she paying you at all? Sounds dodgy to me. In most jobs you start off being less efficient than more experienced staff but you should still get paid at least minimum wage.

 

[Fidget_Thief]

Is she paying you at all? Sounds dodgy to me. In most jobs you start off being less efficient than more experienced staff but you should still get paid at least minimum wage.

No, it's all voluntary right now but she said once I've got the swing of things we can see if I can join paid staff and it's only day 3 and already seems to be the only thing she's going on about is I'm too slow ?

 

[Fidget_Thief]

It was meant to be just volunteer work at the start and wasn't seeking paid work but might as well just stick around to get just a bit more cash

 

[[153312]]

Do not let yourself be bullied into working for nothing. Your time and energy is just as valuable as anyone else's.

Speed just comes with familiarity, you're new so of course will be slower than people who've been there a while.

ETA - hate mucking out shavings and I'm slower than with straw no matter how long I've been doing it

 

[Charley657]

I was always the slowest mucker outer on the yard. However, as I discovered when we switched what horses we mucked out, I was the only one doing it properly i.e. taking away wet bedding and poo every day. The others were doing only doing the wet bedding at the weekends when we had more help from volunteers.

I don't think you should be penalised for being just over the 20 minute mark, you will get quicker. Maybe find a yard who appreciates you though?

 

[AmyMay]

It’s always taken me an age to do a straw bed. A shavings one I can whizz through.

 

[Arzada]

If you are mucking out the same horses daily you will soon know how they use their stable and you'll naturally become faster. If you're mucking out for someone who has a day off then you will take you longer because you don't know the horse so well and more importantly you may find that people don't do a proper muck out the day before their day off thus leaving you to do a more thorough muck out and therefore take longer. As happened to me!

Mucking out shavings is much faster if you do this by hand, drop muck into a skip and when that's full into the wheelbarrow. One you've done the droppings expose the wet and shovel this up.

 

[spotty_pony]

Industry standard is 20 mins including bedding down, hay and water. You will get quicker with practise but if she is promising to pay you, a date of when this will start from may be a good idea just so you aren’t working for nothing for ages. If you are only volunteering at the moment she should at least be giving you something in return such as a ride on a horse or something.

 

[HashRouge]

Hmmm I don't think she should be holding the promise of a wage over your head! You've done a few days trial/ practice whatever, now she either needs to pay you or decide you are not right for the yard. Please don't keep working for free, the horse industry can be horrendous for taking advantage! Especially as you say she wants the stable done in 20 mins and according to you you're only just over that!

I used to do 9 in about 1.5 hours when I was working on an SJ yard, but I definitely wasn't that quick to start with. So you will get quicker, but you will need to make a concerted effort to. 20 mins should be easily achievable before too long.

 

[Auslander]

If it's a commercial organisation, you are not volunteering - you are being taken advantage of!

I run a small livery yard, and make bugger all profit, but I pay people who help me out!

 

[windand rain]

practise makes perfect but I am the opposite of most people takes me far less time to do straw than shavings as I find them heavy and takes longer to pick out the tiny bits of poo
Straw I can chuck up clean the wet relay and sweep in 10 minutes or so shavings takes ages but again find to do either properly really does take time

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Hi all,
I'm having some issues right now haha. So I've started helping out a new yard that's really fast pacing and fast moving and I'm really slow at mucking out compared to the others. Ideally, mucking out here should take around 20 mins and I take just over that. She said she can't employee me till I am as quick and efficient as the rest but I always seem to struggle when under pressure.

So, how can I muck out straw and shavings quick enough but not compromising quality?
Thank you

come work for me, my helper did my stables in 2 minutes, left all the pee in there I am peeved. 20 - 25 minutes i take

 

[chaps89]

You will get faster with time and once you know the horses. You get to know where the wet patch is etc.
I do a yard of 17 by myself on a Sunday morning. I can muck out redo water and hay in about 2.5 hours. Sometimes a bit either way depending if I need to bed many up or turnout etc.
I take the poo out, chuck bedding up, wet out then whizz round turning banks over and level, sweep back. It’s routine and getting into the swing of it!
Straw does take me a bit longer!

Omg how?! That’s under 9 minutes per stable for a full muck out!
I’m not doing it daily (in fact I muck out once in a blue moon) but I can manage 5 maybe 6 in an hour but that’s skip, take any pee at the top of the bed off and tidy the bid, remove haynet/waste hay and do fresh water and no wheelbarrow emptying. I do do a proper job though, I am quite fussy.

OP, shavings beds take me longer for sure, I’ve no idea why people like it as bedding!
However, she sounds like she might be dangling the chance of payment over you to try and drag out how long you will be a free slave for.
You obviously applied knowing it was unpaid, so why and what sort of set up is it - what are you getting out of it?
In fairness I’d hazard a guess a lot of us learnt to muck out at a riding school at a weekend, but probably in return for a ride at some point so we got something else out of it.
Speed is something that comes with time (if I have time I can drag out my mucking out to 45 minutes a stable!) and practice and we do all need to start somewhere.
However really you should be getting something else out of this too and she should be helping explain and support you in getting faster not just telling you and leaving you to it, that’s not helpful!

 

[Sossigpoker]

You need to establish your own routine.
This is what I do :
1. Pick up all droppings
2. Start from the left and move in a line , front to back , lifting the bed to the left, onto the bank and picking up any wet patches
3. Carry on doing these "lines" until you're on the right hand side of the stable.
4. Sweep the middle and put fresh wood pellets down (I use pellets under shavings)
5. Then start from right and do the reverse of steps 2-3, pulling the bed down from the banks
6. Finally , turn over the banks and remove any hidden poos that appear.

If I put a move on, I could do this in 15 mins but as I only do my own , I don't rush and take about 25 mins . The full time staff can do this in 10-15 mins per stable and we all have big beds.

 

[poiuytrewq]

Omg how?! That’s under 9 minutes per stable for a full muck out!
I’m not doing it daily (in fact I muck out once in a blue moon) but I can manage 5 maybe 6 in an hour but that’s skip, take any pee at the top of the bed off and tidy the bid, remove haynet/waste hay and do fresh water and no wheelbarrow emptying. I do do a proper job though, I am quite fussy.

OP, shavings beds take me longer for sure, I’ve no idea why people like it as bedding!
However, she sounds like she might be dangling the chance of payment over you to try and drag out how long you will be a free slave for.
You obviously applied knowing it was unpaid, so why and what sort of set up is it - what are you getting out of it?
In fairness I’d hazard a guess a lot of us learnt to muck out at a riding school at a weekend, but probably in return for a ride at some point so we got something else out of it.
Speed is something that comes with time (if I have time I can drag out my mucking out to 45 minutes a stable!) and practice and we do all need to start somewhere.
However really you should be getting something else out of this too and she should be helping explain and support you in getting faster not just telling you and leaving you to it, that’s not helpful!

I’m not the fastest! I do a decent job though.
As above familiarity is really helpful, I do a lot of the same horses weekly, it is however predominantly a backing/pre training yard so they all come and go.
Tonight threw me a bit! New bedding ?some kind of chopped straw so that will take a bit of getting used too (I hate chopped straw) I won’t be as fast in the morning for sure ?
The other thing is that in general racehorses are mostly cleaner than normal horses. Imo

 

[TheOldTrout]

I'm quite slow too, take a lot longer than 20 minutes! Partly because my mare tends to bury her poo and she wees on the banks so I have to take them down to remove the wet straw.

 

[Fidget_Thief]

Thank you so much, she messaged me a few hours ago saying I'm an unsuitable volunteer so I'm a little sad but instead of working at a yard I'm gonna treat myself to a loan horse... it may take a few months but this is my 4th stable I've worked at since the pandemic anr seem tk always get picked on due the most random things but thank you all very much for your kind words ?

QUOTE="Cowrie, post: 14866549, member: 153312"]Do not let yourself be bullied into working for nothing. Your time and energy is just as valuable as anyone else's.

Speed just comes with familiarity, you're new so of course will be slower than people who've been there a while.

ETA - hate mucking out shavings and I'm slower than with straw no matter how long I've been doing it[/QUOTE]

 

[bouncing_ball]

I’m not the fastest! I do a decent job though.
As above familiarity is really helpful, I do a lot of the same horses weekly, it is however predominantly a backing/pre training yard so they all come and go.
Tonight threw me a bit! New bedding ?some kind of chopped straw so that will take a bit of getting used too (I hate chopped straw) I won’t be as fast in the morning for sure ?
The other thing is that in general racehorses are mostly cleaner than normal horses. Imo

is that as they eat less fibre?

 

[Melody Grey]

Thank you so much, she messaged me a few hours ago saying I'm an unsuitable volunteer so I'm a little sad but instead of working at a yard I'm gonna treat myself to a loan horse... it may take a few months but this is my 4th stable I've worked at since the pandemic anr seem tk always get picked on due the most random things but thank you all very much for your kind words ?

QUOTE="Cowrie, post: 14866549, member: 153312"]Do not let yourself be bullied into working for nothing. Your time and energy is just as valuable as anyone else's.

Speed just comes with familiarity, you're new so of course will be slower than people who've been there a while.

ETA - hate mucking out shavings and I'm slower than with straw no matter how long I've been doing it

UNSUITABLE and VOLUNTEER in the same sentence sounds damn ungrateful at best (and exploitative at worst).

Find somewhere that appreciates you- that’s no way to treat a volunteer!

 

[Fidget_Thief]

UNSUITABLE and VOLUNTEER in the same sentence sounds damn ungrateful at best (and exploitative at worst).

Find somewhere that appreciates you- that’s no way to treat a volunteer!

Yeah ? it's really hurt me tbh and I really thought I was learning much more than the others Combined. I've messaged my old yards seeing if I can come back at some point but for now I'm probably gonna do a share.

The industry really put me off for a career and was just gonna let is be a hobby but now I just want my own horse and just been left alone ?

 

[stangs]

If it makes you feel any better, OP, I once applied to be a volunteer, did one day, then got an email from the YM telling me I was too skilled and experienced with horses to be volunteering at her yard and that I should look elsewhere.... Still not sure how I managed to p*ss her off so much that she wanted to get rid of me even though I would have been the only worker on the days I was to do. And I enjoyed my day there!

 

[poiuytrewq]

is that as they eat less fibre?

Maybe, I guess. ?‍
They get visibly cleaner as they get fitter often, which would generally coincide with hard feed upped and forage lowered. so I suppose that must be a part of it.
That’s not as awful as it sounds, the forage isn’t just lowered but they want less the fitter they get.
That is a sweeping generalisation. You still get the minging ones who will eat their own body weight in hay ?

 

[poiuytrewq]

UNSUITABLE and VOLUNTEER in the same sentence sounds damn ungrateful at best (and exploitative at worst).

Find somewhere that appreciates you- that’s no way to treat a volunteer!

Right! We had a few people over the years come give a hand at the few yards I’ve been at and however slow we were always seriously grateful for the help!
There was one lady who did one to everyone else’s 4 at most but If she wasn’t there we had even more to do, she also brought a lot to the party in her own way. Everyone loved her coming in!

 

[windand rain]

Maybe read this thread but you should not be used and bullied Riding has always been my need to get people for no chores as I like doing them but even then the odd person doesn;t want that. Fine by me I just want folk to be happy in their surroundings.

 

[Bellalily]

No, it's all voluntary right now but she said once I've got the swing of things we can see if I can join paid staff and it's only day 3 and already seems to be the only thing she's going on about is I'm too slow ?

Personally I’d walk. That’s exploitation and utterly ridiculous as well. And it takes me 25 minutes to do a straw bed without doing anything else. My entire routine for two including hay nets, water, tidying up etc is 1.5 hrs.

 

[Bellalily]

Maybe, I guess. ?‍
They get visibly cleaner as they get fitter often, which would generally coincide with hard feed upped and forage lowered. so I suppose that must be a part of it.
That’s not as awful as it sounds, the forage isn’t just lowered but they want less the fitter they get.
That is a sweeping generalisation. You still get the minging ones who will eat their own body weight in hay ?

Horses should always have forage available, it doesn’t make them minging. I still hear far too many people who think they have to reduce forage to get their horses fitter. That idea is straight from the dark ages and should stay there. Neither of mine are overweight and have nice healthy guts thanks to ad lib hay. And no, I don’t have minging stables either.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Maybe, I guess. ?‍
They get visibly cleaner as they get fitter often, which would generally coincide with hard feed upped and forage lowered. so I suppose that must be a part of it.
That’s not as awful as it sounds, the forage isn’t just lowered but they want less the fitter they get.
That is a sweeping generalisation. You still get the minging ones who will eat their own body weight in hay ?

It's the buggers that drag their hay through their beds and Shred it into 100,000 tiny pieces that does my head in!

The yard is bedded on shavings and it takes us 5-7mins to do a stable. All Stables have rubber mats so we don't have huge great big beds. Still 2 bales in each box though. We use snow shovels! Honestly! Best invention known to man when it comes to mucking out shavings! Scoop out the poo, throw the rest of the clean stuff up in the banks, take out the wet, turn the banks and bed back down. Sorted.

Mucking out my own straw Stables can take anything from 5mins to 35mins depending on how much procrastination is going on ??

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Horses should always have forage available, it doesn’t make them minging. I still hear far too many people who think they have to reduce forage to get their horses fitter. That idea is straight from the dark ages and should stay there. Neither of mine are overweight and have nice healthy guts thanks to ad lib hay. And no, I don’t have minging stables either.

Racing yards don't reduce the forage the fitter they get. The horses themselves decide to leave it. They are still given the same amount every day. Some will eat it all some will eat a mouthful. They do not get ad lib as it is a controlled diet for them. If you gave ad lib to the greedy ones they would always be fat. The ones who don't eat it all do technically have it ad lib as it is always there for them 24/7.