Priorities during winter- especially interested in multiple owners!

McNally

McNally

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I have moved to my own field from livery this summer- Built stables etc and of course along with no "livery bill" came a few more horses (partly also to the no companion when one is ridden side of it)
I now find myself with 2 horses of my own- one who needs to be worked as much as possible, one who i aim to keep ticking over. My daughters youngster and a shettie companion (not ridden and lives out with shelter)
My main tasks are 3x stables, nets, feeds etc and all that comes with it. Poo picking the fields and riding them.
I finish work at 1.30 and have to be at school to get my daughter at 3.15. I'm finding things a bit tough! I've no lighting (saving for some decent solar lights) but can use my car lights a bit.
Whats your top priority? I'm finding my yard looks scruffy, things are not getting put away and i hate it! I do a bit in the morning but am again a bit pushed!
I'm thinking riding is top then stables then the fields- less poo as they are in more now!
I Try not to ask too many stable tasks of my daughter, although she's perfectly capable but i would rather her use her limited daylight time to ride and do things with her pony as he's only 4 and she's worked very hard with him this summer.

Time saving idea's please- How do you cope? .....then theres the house and meals.....;-0
 
Do you have enough land to leave them out - or is that no an option - saves plenty of time!

I don't get to ride in the winter due to lack of daylight so for me morning and evening are both done under the cover of electric lights. For years we hooked the lights up to car batteries in the stables which was pretty good if you coudl do something like that?

I don't bother too much about how the yard looks in the winter - sweeping etc is for weekends unless I feel inclined in the week! Priorities for me are stables, feeding, haying, and rugging. 3 live out 24/7 so they get hay outside in three big tractor tyres. I have to poo pick the restricted turnout paddock my horse is in during the day, but in the winter the rest of the field gets left. Its 6 hilly acres and with 5 horses on it - it gets harrowed and rolled in spring so I dont worry too much about the poo :)
 
ALways had mine on full turnout, this year I have one on livery.

-I walk dogs when doing horses (footpath behind yard plus 8acre field for run)

-Harrow in winter

-Live out of my freezer and slow cooker

-Have good coat (workmans hi viz coat not failed me yet), gloves, boots and ear muffs

-A head torch in car, at stables and in a waterproof container at field

-Good hand cream, Bodyshop hemp stuff is brilliant.

-I dont care my car is covered in muck and mud

-I attach glow in the dark material to my rugs so I can see them in the dark.

-I have grass matts in my gateways and now have just invested in a 10 x 10 feeding area (I feed hay on the floor)

-I have really good heavy duty tarpaulin to store hay/straw under.

-I fit riding in when I can. Not on my top of priorities tbh but then every horse is different. I sometimes fit in a 15min long lining session.

-I do my turn out horses before my livery as I have lights there.


Re lighting you can buy a small second hand generator for about 60 quid and run a few lights off that OR homebase do sell small battery operated lights enough to muck out by
 
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My top priority are the stable chores, riding always seems to dwindle a bit over the winter but normally I don't mind as they usually have a busy summer although this year is a different story!
 
Invest in more hay nets so you can fill the weeks worth at the weekend ( you can pick up easily on ebay )

Same with the feed; My neighbour who is a doctor and has three horses so v busy, makes her feeds up at the weekend and labels them ( she uses large yoghurt pots ) keeps them in a cool bag

Head torches are a must, I love mine :D
 
Ok, I used to do this when mine got to school age.
From the age of 4 to when she was about 8 I had 3 or 4 in & 2-4 out ... then we had more (but thats not your issue)had 5 - 7 at a time.
Go down yard at 6, feed, muck out, water, sweep up if time (5 mins drive then)
Get home by 7.15/7.20 to get her up, breakfast & off to school.

Early afternoon, ride 1 & lead another for 40 mins, or lunge 2 for 20 mins each, belt to school for pick up.

After school ride or lunge another whilst she rode one too. Pooh-pick paddocks with torch. She used to make up feeds etc or brush off small ones from an early age.

Mondays were sacrosanct tho - nothing ridden at all.
Yard completely swept down, haynets filled for as many days as possible, leaves raked - general tidying.

Weekend for competing or hacking/schooling/tack cleaning etc.

You have to end up being quite disciplined & a bit army like about setting routine & sticking to it :o:o
 
Leave them out 24/7 if at all possible, if not deep litter beds & just muck out properly at weekends.

Leave the poo picking, crows will help & rain will help turn it to mush in field, have field harrowed at a later date.

Its your yard, no one is going to tell you off for not sweeping up once in a while or not putting everything away

Make feeds up in bags at weekends ready to put into skip buckets.

Get a decent head torch.

Teach OH to cook ;) or live out of freezer/slow cooker, or toast & cereal.

Chill out, and don't put too much on yourself, its winter, they won't die from lack of excercise :)
 
Can you not get a farmer to harrow and roll your fields come spring? Would save time on poo picking :)
My priorities are stable (Muck out/feeds/haynets/waters) then ride. I prefer to muck out without the horse in there.
 
My boy needed to be worked as much as possible to keep his weight down! But couldnt do it all so started loose schooling! Saved time as no tacking up/untacking etc just a quick session in the school and your done.

Everything is done on Saturday - feeds for the week, haynets for the week, yard tidy etc
 
I'd def get your self some lights, battery neon strips are pretty good if you can't manage anything else, it made a big difference to ours. That and filling a weeks's worth of haynets and feeds in one go. I'd also be getting your daughter more involved TBH, even if it's just sweeping the yard for you and helping put things away at the end of each day.
 
I have stable lights but no manege - work 9-5.30 so in winter riding tends to be just weekends unless I have a half-day or early skive off. I don't stress it....horses just have some time off- minimal or no clipping. Little or no rugging.....They come in at night cos I don't have enough grazing for 24/7 T/O.

I make up nets in advance....and poo-pick by head-torch:D Tidy yard on a weekend in daylight.

I buy hay /straw in bulk over winter and have it delivered to save me going out on a weekend to collect it.
 
We have three in full work, and I try to keep them living out for as long as possible into the winter. At present they are still out at night, but spend a few hours in during the afternoon.

I have them on individual turnout so that it is quick and easy to feed them in the field if necessary.

If and when they do start staying in overnight then they are on rubber mats with a sprinkling of Megazorb which makes mucking out much quicker.

I don't worry about tidiness unless it actually constitutes a safety hazard.

Non urgent jobs are done at the weekend.

When I pick daughter up from school I have a drink and snack in the car so she can have that on the way home so she can get into her jodhpurs and ride straight away to make the most of the light.

If you don't want your daughter to help much with the stable chores because it interferes too much with her riding, then perhaps she can help with the household chores instead?
 
I've managed to get up to 8 (2 in foal:eek::eek:) from your situation so be careful.

Best tip in the world is get them out. Heavy rugs if needed (and I'm really really starting to doubt that one too). I spent around 4000 on shelters which I am putting beds down in for first time this year (late foal). Big bale haylage ad-lib in fields. Ride when you can as 24/7 turnout they really don't need much - I sometimes don't ride from show to show in the winter and I have a 6 year old. I had brought in my international cribber who looks like a hat-rack and her late foal but turned them back out when my broody came back from vets on box rest. Result - hat rack now a fat score of 2 and she would have been close to 0 before. It really is the best way.
 
My priority in winter is making sure my horses routine and management is maintained. Riding for me is limited to weekends due to work and no riding facilities other than country roads.
I use a head torch permanently from Sept through to March and get on with it as best I can. Priorities are the same for me every day - AM - turn out, muck out, check horse over with head torch in dark, lay bed for night and water. PM - get horse in, feed, poo pick by head torch, move fence for strip grazing, give him his hay, water, check over and go home.
I have managed for years with no water or electricity and a field stable that he is in at night all year round. I have my head torch and loads of water butts for water. Hay and bedding is in the spare stable and always well stocked. My riding time is from end of March through to end of Aug when it is light enough to ride at 6am before going to work. I maximise this time and ride every day come what may.
I question everything I do in order to check that there is not some labour saving device to cut down on time or some way I can be more efficient in my routine. But if I was finiishing work at the time you do, I would certainly be fitting in a ride every day.
 
If your daughter is old enough to have decent riders as friends (mine is 12 and has 2 very competent rider friends) and you have suitable steeds, I work on the 'invite a non pony-owning friend to ride' = both ponies ridden + some chores done - I usually poo pick while they ride, and after they're usually happy to fill haynets or sweep up or whatever. Admittedly ours live out and at home and I picked up 2 PIR controlled low wattage spotlights in Lidl for £10 each, OH has mounted them on the barn roof, one shines on the yard the other into the haybar), but we have head torches and a lantern that stands on the floor all run on recharable batteries that we used before that
 
Dog walking, ponies , me - in that order starting from 6am and finishing 7pmish. Work in between.

Ponies are youngsters who live out except in dreadful weather and not needing to ride is a huge plus timewise. Could walk the dogs on my land but prefer not to as ponies in field and one of them is not to be trusted.

Slow cooker is a big help when i'm too knackered to cook.
Also big bale haylege saves delivering hay nets all the time.
 
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I had four at home, now down to the luxury of two this year, which feels easy!

1. Daughter should be caring for her own horse - no matter how well she has done with the youngster, she should be helping you IMO. My stepson would be getting his horse sold if he didn't!

2. Get some caravan awning lights - they run off a car battery - we use one in our hayshed and its great - obviously you'd only have it in the stable with the horse when you're there (lights and wiring can be left, but take battery out..)

3. For me, general care comes first. Feed, water, hay, checking over and clean bed. Anything else is luxury - yard sweeping/muck heap tidying/poo picking and even riding comes after that. Ours get less work in winter unless I pay someone else to keep them fit if I'm competing.. I work away, so hubby does the horses, and does the minimum. Although I hate the yard looking scruffy, I realise its not the end of the world, and sort it out on my days off.. Buckets etc don't get scrubbed for the days I'm away. Its fine for a few days!

4. I only poo pick my tiny tiny winter paddock because I have to - its so small. The other fields, which they go out in when they can, mudrash permitting, I leave the droppings in winter, and the field is harrowed and rolled (and rested until winter) in spring.
 
I agree with doing as much on a weekend as possible!! I do all my haynets and feeds for the week on a sunday afternoon so come monday morning they are just to pick up!!

Head torch is a defo great suggestion i do all my mucking out at 5.30 on a morning before work then come evening when i finish work at 5 in the dark i can ride granted i am lucky enough to have arena with lights but if you did this you could do all your riding in the afternoon, and any poo picking could be done while your daughter rides.

Another suggestion might be to deep liter only skip out during the week then full muck out at weekends. I cant do this with mine as too dirty but girl on our yard does and works great for her saves loadsa time. :)

Maybe to help save poo picking you could hire a poo machine to do the whole field once a month!! and will collect everything up.

Winter is hard work with horses but no better feeling than snuggling them up in a nice warm stable on those cold nights. xxxx
 
I have 3 and they all live out as much as possible. The two boys need feeding everyday so they come in every evening for an hour to eat their tea and have hay.

One is retired and the other I don't ride over the winter as he needs all or nothing and I work full time so it's nothing. But I spend time in the stable with him everynight working on improving his confidence. At the weekend I do the same but in a paddock or in the school and I try to take him out for an in-hand hack at least once.

In the week (it's dark when I get to them) I make sure both are ok, pick out feet, feed them, give them a groom if they're not wet, do groundwork with the younger one.

My mare doesn't need a feed and lives out in a big herd in another field so I go down and check her and once or twice a week might pull her in for a feed and some hay if the weather is foul. She gets ridden both days at the weekends. She's lived like this for about 3 years and I've only owned her for a few months so even though I sometimes worry about not bringing her in every night, I don't think she actually cares.

So my priorities are feed and feet for the boys, followed by grooming and groundwork. I do all other jobs at the weekends. I'm lucky that YO isn't obsessed with tidiness. For my mare, I just make sure she's ok in the week and spend more quality time with her at the weekend.
 
Ditto head torch and rigging up lights using a gennie or batteries. The floor standing "workers" lights they sell in B and Q etc are good (they have a yellow pole about 5 foot high with 1-3 lights on the top). That way you can carry them into the stable to muck out and then move it out but still shining in when you get the horses in.

I would leave the poo picking and harrow like people have said, and semi deep litter their beds - I find this a god send. I use rubber mat with a nice think bed of aubiose. In the week i skip out the bed and dig out any wet patches (rare, only really my messy youngster!). At weekends I push the dry top layer back, take out all the wet, leave the bed up to dry all day and then relay the old bedding with some clean mixed in on top. I use 1/2 bale aubiose a week in each stable this way, and can muck out all three stables in 10 mins on a week day.
 
I work full time, riding is number one, otherwise they are a nightmare if there not getting enough work! Lunge or free school, saves lots of time!! I muck out in the morning feeds are all ready from the night before, they are on rubber matting and have a smallish bed so normally takes me 10mins for each stable, make up lots of haynets when you have time on weekends etc or get your daughter to help you!! Lots of pig oil on legs neck to save time on brushing, the mud doesnt stick to it and wipes off very easily.
 
Wow, loads of replies and some really good idea's

When i said i didnt expect my daughter to do much as she had worked so hard with her pony I maybe didnt put that quite rightly! She pretty much broke him in herself and he needs consistent work or he becomes very fresh- If she had to muck him out after school he's only be ridden on the odd day and become too much for her- also i dont want him to go backwards. In the morning she comes before school and feeds and t/o- she also does other bits she has time for ie- filling water buckets etc so she does pull her weight.
I work 7 days a week and forgot to mention although i finish at 1pm i often have to go back in from school pick up to about 5.30- Daughter comes too and helps at work. This again restricts her riding.
They cant live out as we have very heavy clay soil which becomes very waterlogged very quickly, although i intend that when its really cold dry frozen weather and they cant churn the ground too much they will stay out with hay.
I dont really want her friends riding one of mine tbh One being ex racer the other ex hunter but v 16.2 and can get strong. Another adult to help would be fine?
I will get more haynets and i forgot i used to buy cheap washing up bowls to make and stack feeds- will pop to pound stretcher!.
o/h is very good but i do get the comments of "working a full day then getting home to housework and having to cook a meal!"
Am very tempted by the harrowing idea but think my paddocks are possibly too small and will be poo infested! at least tho with them being in i will be able to significantly cut down.
Thanks all- keep any idea's coming!
 
Meals - we luckily have a huge rayburn hotplate, but on Sunday when I cooked a roast, I also made some flapjacks and cooked a couple of casseroles all while the roast was cooking. Last night I made another casserole while I cooked some spag bol in double quantitites - we ate one lot the other is in the freezer as a 'ready meal'. I work on the basis if I'm cutting up an onion or two it's no slower to do a bit more cutting up!

Casseroles get served with microwave jacket pots if no potatoes in the cassrole, there's plenty of other veg in the casserole. (I'm of the bung it in and see what it comes out like brigade, so this weeks are mainly beef and tomato, lamb and mint, and chicken garlic, mushroom and tomato )
 
I have 2, one in work and the other is the companion. I don't have stables and they live out all year so that helps. Currently I am working away from home 3 nights a week so I have someone to check them, feed and hay.

Important checks and riding is kept to the time when there is light, all other tasks are ignored. When its too dark to ride, lights are turned on, these are battery powered little strip lights and in the barn and yard area. This lets me keep the yard tidy, do hay, feeds for the week etc. When they were in they would be out in the dark until 7pm whilst the stables are sorted, yard swept etc

Poo picking is normally done on a daily basis where possible but when the light starts to fade this gets reduced to being done on a Sat and Sunday.

Whilst leaving the yard tidy and tools away is nice it is not essential. That said it doesn't take that much longer (5mins?) to put things away after use and then you know where it is. If it takes longer than this can you store them in a more convenient place?
 
Is there any reason why they can't be kept out 24/7? If your stables are accessed from within your field you could still have the stables as shelters for them to use as and when they feel like it.

We've kept our horses out for 19 years now, on the above arrangement, and I would NEVER have stabled horses again. They are so healthy, do really well, the time saved is enormou, and the costs are kept right down.

I guess the problem is if you are competing or hunting and have a clipped horse. Ours are unclipped, ridden 3-4 times a week, and exercise themselves the rest of the time. The other problem is how much land you have. We only have 4 acres but keep 3 horses on it. We work hard on the grass and keep it ingood nick, and it is certainly not tired.

I admire you for even trying to keep horses in!!
 
Riding isn't my priority to be honest. I don't mind giving mine a break over the winter, i aim to ride 3 times a week.

I fit riding in at lunchtime around clients :)
 
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