stable slobs vs horsy hygienists

Haynet washing?!! Do people actually do this??!! They have waaaaay too much time on their hands! I have 6 horses, mostly rescues and spend most of my time on my yard shovelling s**t and mending fences. Any spare time I get I'd rather spend doing an extra groom or mending a rug. If my haynets get too minging, I buy a new one for £2! Guess it would be fun if I could pay someone else to do it though....
 
Horses live out 24/7, no rugs, so no stables to worry about.

Horses feed from large round bale feeder.

Tack gets cleaned when it needs it or before a Show.

Grooming kit gets washed in the spring once the summer coats are through.

Feed buckets don't really get washed. They get left outside so the rain etc tends to do most of the work for me.

Horse gets groomed before ride. Youngster gets brushed when I have a spare 5 mins before or after a ride.

I keep the concrete hard standing where the round bale feeder is as tidy as I possibly can with 2 muddy horses, 2 muddy cows and lots of chickens wondering over it all day and all night.

I don't poo pick. I do rotate the fields with our cows and sheep and the chickens are always pecking around the place.

Basically, I try and create as natural environment as possible for my horses and also do what needs doing rather than worry about what I think I should be doing.

At the end of the day it works for my horses and it works for me. That is really what it is all about.
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I am going to have to admit I have washed a haynet!
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In my defence I don't use them to feed in, only for soaking and they tend to get slimy! Not washed by hand just chucked in the washing machine with grooming kit.
As for the rest try to clean tack once a week, scrub water and feed buckets when dirty, lift mats and disinfect stable in summer, sweep most days but leave it if late.
 
I like everything to be just right - within reason. The things I pay most attention to are those that help make my horses life more pleasant & comfortable - she is so willing and genuine in her attitude towards me/work that I always strive to give her the same in return.

I like to wipe my bridles over each time I ride (actually makes life easier as prevents build up of grease) but depends how much time I have, at the very least bits are rinsed straight after riding so my horse never has to put up with dried, hard bits of old feed/yuch in her mouth - and I consider that to be purely an act of respect to my horse. Saddles I'm not so fussed as they don't really get dirty but they are soaped & balmed at least once a month whilst girths/saddle cloths/boots are washed & rotated regularly so she never has old dried sweaty/dirty clothes on.

I like to keep her rugs reasonably clean and muck free so she has a big top rug that obviously does get mucky but I brush the worst off that and her underugs are kept reasonably clean and I have enough that she has spares whilst grubby ones are laundered.

Stable is not disinfected that regularly but is kept very clean and any dust/cobwebs are removed regularly.

Feed/Water bowls rinsed daily. Don't use haynets.

YO is very neat and tidy so whole yard is usually pretty immaculate anyway.

Reading this back I think I do sound pretty anal but there are benefits! E.g It saves time to keep everything the way I do - I never have to have a big clean up because I keep up with it all as I go as I go along and I can always go to a show at a moments notice because everthing ready anyway plus all my tack/equipment tends to last forever because it is so well looked after - you would never see any of my rugs/tack on the floor!
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I don't clean things for my horse I clean them for me...especially dusting stables. Personally can't stand dirt. and cleaning relax's me. So here comes pedantic me.
 
I used to have a pristine horse and a pristine stable until I tried to combine working, motherhood, and a second horse with cushings disease. I dont get time to play pretty ponies anymore
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I consider feet picking out, checking over for cuts, bucket washing, mucking out and throwing up the bed to dry to be really important. Everything else to me is fitted in if and when I have the time.
 
I guess which category I fall into depends on your standards more than mine.

Tack: I wipe it over with a tack wipe if it is really minging after a ride. It gets cleaned properly about twice a year. I have separate tack for shows.

Numnahs and girths are washed when they get filthy/wet with sweat or rain. All in my home machine.

Rugs are washed and proofed once a year, except coolers which I wash at home in the machine about once every couple of months, in my rugs bags.

Stables: I deep litter my straw so that only poo and visible wet gets removed daily. I add in a barrow full of straw to replace what I have taken out each day. With regards to my aquamax bed, all solids (including solid wet patches) have to come out daily due to the leaching properties of the bed. I am quite anal about making sure there are no bits left in the bed so it is kept nice for a long time. I put a fresh bag in at the weekend. They have mats down which are no longer sealed, but aquamax in the cracks helps prevent stuff going under the mats. I will probably lift them once a year to hose underneath. The tops of the mats are brushed daily but washed only when absolutely necessary (more often with the straw bed).

I do not wash hay nets as I don't usually use them. I never wash ropes unless I drop them in mud and then I rinse them under the tap. Horse's boots are rinsed under the tap but rarely go through the machine. My boots get rinsed after a ride but cleaned rarely. Again, separate stuff for my shows etc.

I rinse out L's feed bucket because he has beet and it sticks to the sides, and he's not greedy so doesn't lick the bowl, but I don't scrub it. I don't have to rinse George's as he licks it clean.

I keep my hay bars regularly skipped out and might take a cloth to them occasionally.

If the horse does another poo after I have skipped out, I have to pick it up.

They have fresh water put in their stable, but if they drop a few strands of hay in it I don't worry about changing it if they have a full bucket - won't kill them! I only clean the water buckets if they have been pooed in - more frequent with L as he poos and then pushes it up to the bucket!

I make sure my beds are swept back and outside the stables are swept, because it is a rule on the yard that you keep the outside of your stable tidy and clean, but I am like that anyway. We are not allowed boxes outside our stables and things have to be put on the hooks provided, which suits me because I am just as anal as the YO!

I don't poo pick the field because there are 7 geldings, including my 2, in the field. When I had individual fields I tended to do it sporadically, but went through a stage of doing it religiously.

My hay/feed/bedding area has to be kept strictly ordered and tidied or I get stressed out and itchy! I also have to keep it reasonably swept out.

The yard is run like clockwork with a yard rota for the YO if we want her to do jobs. There are yard rules (BHS type things) and obviously we have to pick poos up in the schools/on the paths. We have to sweep up after our horses on the yard and are not allowed to pour water out onto the yard. We also have to use the provided bucket on each tap to fill the buckets in our stables, so we go to and fro with the YO's bucket to fill ours with water!

The yard is tidy and clean and everyone knows where they stand as a result!

Horses are not groomed religiously except tack areas when riding etc. I like to wash their feet when they come in from the field, but we are not allowed to do this unless we use a bucket of water and she gets arsy if we use too much, so I just brush the mud off when dry. I like their manes and tails kept clean, brushed, trimmed etc.

So, I guess I am middling really.
 
Part slob! Tack cleaned only when I'm waiting for the vet. Bits cleaned after every ride coz of slobber on them. Rugs get washed only when they need it or annually, whichever comes first. Deep litter shavings bed been down 18 months and still fragrant and deep and warm. The only time I've ever washed a haynet is when ned somehow managed to pull the damn thing off the ring overnight and then trampled it and pooed on it. Top up water buckets for about 3 days when it's usually getting too erky so I empty and give a good clean out. Passionate about cleaning feed bowls after every meal though. It's right what Tia says that horses eat off the floor but they would never normally eat from the same place twice as they eat and move, eat and move non stop. Feed bowls get bits of ancient feed stuck to them and horse slobber and are a breeding ground for bacteria and a source of stinky smells that could easily put a fussy horse off eating. We are all supposed to sweep the aisles out ... I do (polishes halo) coz it looks neat and well cared for. Headcollars and lead ropes usually break or look so dreadful that I replace rather than wash!

I am rather anal about my tack/feed store and like everything in its place and all neat and tidy. Only way I can ever find things. I once ranted like a mad woman coz my ned's matching head collar and lead rope had disappeared and I stamped round the whole yard accusing everyone and peering rudely and suspiciously into people's stables. Someone asked me what colour it was and when I told them they said oh, like the one on your horse, standing over there, tied up at the fence??? Gulp.
 
I used to be a slob when I was a teenager - I used to think so long as they are fed, watered and happy who cares whether I've swept up etc etc.

But now I'm the total opposite, everything has to be immaculate. I think because -
-ive worked on some top yards where everything has to be just so and caught the bug
-the horses and the yard are an advert for me and what i produce so everything needs to be smart imo.
-the horses and the results they produce are really important so its only fair i take the time to look after them well
-having the place clean inspires me to do more work! Dirt and mess make me lazy!
But my house is still a mess!!!
 
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