Poop maintenance in the field!

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angellauren

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My 2 are on very good grazing at the moment and therefore have poo coming out of their ears. I'm not sure how big the field is exactly but I would happily add another 2 to the mix and the grazing would be sufficient still.

I am doing it every other day at the moment as I can't manage to do it every single day as it takes me too long on top of all my other responsibilities and quite frankly I don't have much of a life due to everything going on at home at the moment as it is!

I'm just 21 and me and my partner have moved in to a cottage in the countryside but it's a massive re-furb and a constant battle trying to sort the place out, the land is getting there but there's a lot to do, the stables are a mess, the house is finally getting there but it has not been easy, on top of the animals and trying to have somewhat of a life so we don't break up or lose our minds, it's been hard for a first time couple living together! Plus we both work a lot of hours. He's slightly more flexible than I am as he runs his own business so can leave when he wants and so on.

Now, the house is getting there, it means more responsibility as we need to maintain the place whereas before, it was a dump anyway and we couldn't do anything about it. I'm now going to be required to cook for him every night when I come home from work, I would like to go to the gym 3x a week for an hour after work which means I'll be back about 6.30 instead - not a problem, clean the house bla bla bla and it's my first time trying to juggle everything and find a balance and I don't know many people my age in a similar situation.

This damn poo picking is taking forever, I spent less time mucking out during the Winter months, dare I say it Winter seemed easier haha. It's a big space for one person to manage and I'm losing 3 entire evenings a week doing it when there is SO much else to do ALL the time. Is there another efficient way to deal with it?

Could we harrow the field once a week or something? Those who are strapped for time, how do you manage?

Just looking for advice really as I know a lot of women here have a wonder way of juggling everything with kids as well or something! We don't spend any time together and I never see my friends anymore because this place is just sucking us up. I need ideas on how to maintain a balance without compromising my entire life. It's all work work work and no pleasure whatsoever. And at 21, I'm feeling a bit deflated by it when no one else my age has any responsibilities and having someway of maintaining the fields would be a massive help as for 2 people, we're not winning!!
 
It would be worth you investing in a 'field vac' of some kind. You could probably take it round your field one hour per week and keep the field as clear as you do now.
Or if you can afford it, there may be someone in your area who advertises in tack shops etc, that they will do field maintenance.
 
having horses is hard-having them out and doing them properly isn't any easier that having them in IME. Having them at home is hard work. Not poo picking knackers the grazing.

harrowing weekly-well there are plenty of posts on here about the pros and cons (more cons IMO) in regular harrowing. your horses will be grazing in spread about, fresh dung. there's increased worm burden risks particularly for young and old horses and increased risk of grass sickness from harrowing. Many horses won't like the tainted grass if you can't rest the harrowed field for a significant time.

pay someone else to do it.

if they are on that much grass they probably have too much-section your field up and have a muck heap in each, to be taken away fairly regularly.much easier to whizz round once a day in a smaller area.
 
Do your horses need all the grazing? if not can you split up the field?

Only real alternative is to pay someone to do it - local teenager or proper contractor with a paddock hoover?

If you harrow you need to rest the field for a good few months as you've spread the poo all over.
 
Ahh good on you! Would love to see some pics of the place! I'm 21 too and would LOVE to be in the same situ (about to start uni though so that's not going to happen, LOL!) , don't forget about eachother! :)

If I were you I'd split the field into 3 or 4 :) If not, all the kids are on school holidays now, maybe see if you can find a reliable 14/15 year old you could give £15 a week to keep it clear? :)
 
If it were my field i would half if not quarter it?? I have two horses on my paddock, and my poo picking takes me litearally 10 minutes each day. Alternatively pay someone to do it for you, kids are on hols at the moment.
 
And breath. Cup of tea, bottle of gin.

Have I misunderstood or do you and your partner both work full time yet you're expected to cook and clean? What does he do round the home?

Two suggestions
A) get a nice person about your age as a grass livery.

B) devide your field into two and get some sheep in with your horses. Give up on poo picking and harrow before swapping the animals over to the other section.
 
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Welcome to adulthood OP :) But seriously, good on you for taking on so much so young.

I agree with others about splitting the field up. My pony is on a half acre paddock most of the time and luckily he poo's in one place so its a quick job to whip it out everyday after I've put the hay in the field. I too work full time, doing a full time degree as well as looking after the house. doing my horse and trying to have a life. You will get there. Just keep at it until you work out the best way to do things. x
 
Definately split up the field. It really reduces the time it takes as you don't have to walk so far between poops, the grass is shorter and easier to pick from too. I'd probably do it every day as it is quicker and seems less work.
 
Totally agree with splitting the field, and particularly with undergroundoli's suggestion of harrowing/resting half, plus getting sheep on it. We have 21 acres across some quite hilly and varied terrain so it's split into summer and winter grazing. I never poo pick, it's just too big an area, so one area is harrowed and rested from the horses while they graze the other. Sheep are on the whole lot all year round and cattle in summer. Seems to work well! Electric fencing is your friend :)
 
Split the field, get a speedskip and a good sized barrow. A small barrow fills up so quickly it feels like you're constantly pushing it back to the heap rather than filling it with dung.

I've also left it for a while so that the horses start to use just a few areas and the grass stays clean. But you do need to get them into a smaller area so that they aren't overfaced with too much grass.
 
Get some electric fencing and split the field up, you may still have to devote a few hours to getting the section that they aren't grazing clear but that would be a one-off once it was done, then the section they're in will be much easier to keep on top of. It will still require maybe half an hour a day (this is what we do in a small paddock for our 2 geldings and that only gets rid of the droppings done in the last 24hrs, poo-picking nightmare!) to keep clear but there really is no easy route for a committed poo-picker sadly :(

If you are so short of time that even this is burdensome then perhaps consider one of the machines though I have heard they are a pain to clean out as you can imagine.

Disconcerted that you have to be full time cook/cleaner for the man, make sure he's pulling his weight and you've got the balance right.

Good luck and hoping everything becomes less stressful once you've settled.
 
I have a 160l wheelbarrow which is great. also get the other half to cook tea for the pair of you if you are too busy-mine works a 50 hour week with a 2+ hour daily commute and can manage that.
 
Thank you for the replies guys.

It has been a massive learning curve for both of us as he hadn't lived in the country for years and I had been out of horses for a few and neither of us knew much about land management, we're learning still! We've got about 6.6 acres in total. We went from seeing each other twice a week to living together in a complete dump (you don't want to know about some of the things we came across when ripping the place apart) 7 months on and it's starting to look more like a home! I will have to make a before and after topic for sure at some stage. It does get frustrating as for 2 people to keep on top of it is demanding but so worth it. You'd never get me back in town again!!!

undergroundoli - you're correct. He isn't the least bit domesticated and if I had more time I wouldn't be complaining but I feel under a lot of pressure when he still manages to spend time with his friends and so on. I get a little jealous and ratty when he's 32 and I'm 21, it should be the other way around surely?! :P I like playing housewife but I don't have the time which upsets me because I want to be able to come home and cook dinner but instead I come home and I'm outside until 9pm at which point I'm too knackered to even think about food. We need to establish a routine where we're both happy and living a balance with maintaining the place, the horses, friends, work, gym and time together. We'll get there!
 
One thing I made perfectly clear before I moved in with my other half (he was wrapped in cotton wool and treated like a baby until he left home at 38!!!) was that he would have to contribute to cooking and I was not going to be his substitute mother. As it's turned out, he cooks more often than me, now, as he finishes work earlier and he likes to eat earlier than I do, to carry on with boy stuff. This means he cooks his OWN dinner a couple of times a week and a couple of other times he cooks for both of us, so I can finish up with work. Set the boundaries now. Playing housewife as you put it will wear off VERY quickly!!

Pasture wise, I would agree with splitting it into manageable paddocks.
 
It is fun to be all domestic goddessy sometimes but what you are doing is giving him an expectation about how things will be. As FS says playinghouse wife wears off and then renegotiating who does what when is much harder as you've effectivly taught him its ok for him to be out with his mates and for you to do the work. I've seen so many of my friends do this.

If you decide to section your land and poo pick a paddock I'd recomend doing it three night a week and getting him to do the days worth of cleaning and cooking whilst your at it. Otherwise get him to cook on your gym nights.

People dont really need to be domesticated to produce some spag bol and then wash up afterwads. Make sure you praise him loads and dont mention him having done a rubbish job, positive reinforcement. Just like horses.

good luck. I dont envy you the position your in. getting 'you time' and seeing your friends is way more important than housework. Dont feel bad about skiving off down the pub and leaving the washing up.
 
I gave up poo picking last year. We have split our field into 2, we graze one part for 6 months and the other for the rest of the year. We harrow the paddocks during hot weather or frost which desperses the muckand kills the worm eggs. we also lime every 4 or 5 years.
 
I'm lucky that my OH cooks tea while I poop pick and ride. If you're having to cook as well can you cook three meals worth at once and freeze two portions so you only have to reheat things? Could free up some time for you.
 
I would suggest to him a rota of he cooks and cleans four nights a week and you poopick and care for the horses and you cook and clean three nights a week and he poo picks and cares for the horses. that way both will be done in a short space of time and you will have evenings to yourselves. I would however divide the field up into two acre paddocks first and move the horses as and when they are in need to more grass so the grass always looks like a well mown lawn.
My oh didnt like the horsey bits but he still did it and he also did the nappies and bath time for the kids on his nights at home. So it is possible either that or do both together. Never let him impose on you or it will destroy your relationship
 
I poo pick every day. I. Have 2 horses and they produce 1 barrow load of poo between them everyday it only takes me 10 or 15 mins a day to do tho as I just whizz round while they are in eating their dinners.
 
Others have neatly covered the poo picking, so time for an old bachelor to tell you all about cooking!:)

Get yourself a deep freeze, some freezer bags, and a microwave.

Cook in bulk, split what you've cooked into meal sized portions, stick them in your bags, and pout them in the freezer. It takes no longer to cook a large pot of curry or stew as it does a small one.

Then you can use the microwave to thaw out and heat up what you fancy.

Now you've got the land, you can think in terms of some of your livestock for home consumption. Just don't name Larry the lamb or Freda then hen and you will do just fine!
 
Agree with Dry Rot....also, if you are doing all the cleaning etc, then there are such things as take-aways! I feel bad advocating this, but once in a while it doesn't hurt diet-wise and once in a while he can put his hand in his pocket....IMHO!

If he can afford to go out with his mates, he can afford to at least treat you to a take-away IF NOT take you out!!

From a confirmed singleton OAP who came to her senses too late :)
 
You have to learn that you can not be everything to all people, and have to decide what is your priority. It takes a good 3 years to house train a man and if he's had his mum as a skivvy which she will have loved, unfortunately it will take even longer. Have 2 wash baskets and only wash your clothes and not his, my daughter did this and it made her boyfriend cut down on his washing, and never do the ironing. You have to divide the meals and decide who cooks what days.
DIY, have your jobs and his jobs, I do the painting because he has no patience, my daughter bought her own screw driver as her boyfriend is rubbish
A bit of poo on six acres is not harm anything, it may be unsightly but its not the end of the world. When you get the time like some one else has said divide it and have one area as a trash paddock for winter, perhaps borrow a couple of sheep or get someone to mow it as its far easier to poo pick on short grass, but honest I would not worry. I have spent the last 3 weeks pulling ragwort and my field is scattered with poo but I am more bothered about the ragwort. Enjoy what good weather is left because it will soon be wet and soggy.
 
Ditto everyone who is saying to split the field. I have 6 paddocks, each approximately half an acre, and poo pick morning and evening. Takes me about 15mins total overall each day. I have once or twice given myself a 'day off' from poo picking, and boy I've regretted it the next day!!! The key for me is to keep on top of it, little and often instead of one big lot every few days, so much easier!
 
It may be controversial but in 27 years I have only poo picked my small paddock. The 6 acre field has a always had either two horses or ponies on it and I have never poo picked. It is harrowed early spring and late autumn when ground is hard.

Beetles and birds deal with the poo, the ponies naturally choose areas to be dropping areas and do not graze those . we top the field late summer and local farmer puts a few sheep on.

Never had a worm problem and it makes keeping the equines a pleasure.
 
First off, hats off to you for taking on so much, cooking for OH whilst working full time (if he gets off work as and when it suits I'd personally insist he takes his turn on gym days!) and keeping horses too.

Joyous70 said:
If it were my field i would half if not quarter it?? I have two horses on my paddock, and my poo picking takes me litearally 10 minutes each day. Alternatively pay someone to do it for you, kids are on hols at the moment.
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You could calculate the size of your property here to work out the acreage and fence off a couple of acres with tape for your horses. By having two or three paddocks on rotation, you're at least only scouring a small area at once to find the poo, probably halving the time it takes in the process and preventing your horses from over-gorging at the same time.

In doing so, you could always have someone local cut hay off the rest, or just keep it for winter trash paddock?

Personally, I find that by splitting my 2.4 acres into 3 (sometimes 5 paddocks), daily poo-picking takes me about 15 minutes a day. I tend to do it when they're eating bucket feeds so they come in, eat, then go out when I'm finished. Job done.
 
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With 6.6 acres and only 2 horses I would defiantly split it up, probably into 4 :)

When I first moved in with the Oh I was the same as you , my house sparkled and shone, that soon got tiresome when he did not help out :(

Now I refuse to tidy up after him, he soon gets sick of his own mess, although this time around it is taking him longer to realise, and now that harvest has started, it won't get done, so it will be left to me again :(
 
A kind friend pointed out that visitors come to see ME, not to inspect my house.

Since that day, the cleanliness of my house has deteriorated but the quality of my friends has improved!;)
 
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