What little things make your life easier....

Having a livery yard owner who does more than her pay check is worth! Total godsend that woman. Shes very good company for hacks too as i generally be there at the same time as her cause i dont do 9-5. Not really what your post is about though haha

I do have a nifty little homemade haynet rack at my home yard so i can get 5 filled in about 2 mins in the AM when im running late for work. Also my retractable hose in the stables is amazeballs. Dad got me it for Christmas about two years ago (wrapped it up and everything..in bin bags) best gift ever hahah
 
I worked out a routine a while back that means I am as efficient as possible with my evening routine (if I'm not riding). It's particularly good if I'm in a hurry as I know it's the quickest way and I don't run around like a headless chicken as I'm used to doing it that way. 7 minutes is my record (he's exceptionally easy to muck out as doesn't poo in his bed and has a distinct wet patch that picks up easily)

1. Arrive and go straight to feed room - do feed.
2. Place feed outside stable, empty water buckets, put them to fill. Hang one off tap at the right angle so it will fill the one below when it overflows.
3. Go to shed, collect barrow and tools.
4. Leave tools at shed door, take barrow to get hay. Collect tools on way back past, go to stable.
5. Hay in hay bar, muck out. Take empty feed skip out put on top of wheel barrow, put new one in.
6. Collect full water buckets place in stable, grab headcollars (both in one stable)
7. Take tools back to shed on way to get horses.
8. Horses in - quick check of each
9. Empty wheelbarrow, stopping at feed room on the way to drop feed skip off, give barrow a quick rinse (ready for hay the next day) put it away.
10. Say goodnight to the Horses.

Obviously yours won't work in quite the same way but I found stopping and thinking what I needed to do and working out the most efficient way to do it was a huge help.
 
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Find a nice and reliable groom who doesn't mind ad hoc work and can check the neds if we can't get there for any reason :)

Haynets filled up on the weekend / other day off.

Haynets - put different paracord through. Makes them easier to identitfy and easier to tie / undo knots.

Rubber mats - enough bed down for the horse to be comfy, but not so much in there that I had to spend hours mucking out.

Big snow shovel - brilliant for picking up all the sweepings.

A length of hose that is long enough to go from tap to buckets. It then gets rolled up and put back in the car, so no freezing or going walkabout.

Big wheelbarrow.

Plaiting tails to reduce the quantity of mud that was attached at the end of the day!
 
My husband bought hooks like what you wrap the loose end of a blind on and hung them under my haynet tie rings - now I can just hook my nets on to save me tying and fiddling to untie too. Got to help the nets last longer as well as being quicker. I also have a hook outside the stable especially for a hoof pick.
 
make everything as weather proof as possible!

all my pipes are lagged with the thickest insulation and its cable tied on so i dont have to re-do it year after year.

i buy salt and grit in bulk so i can keep all areas of the concrete slip free.

clean the gutters once a month

ive just ordered 15 ton of limestone to weatherproof the last remaining track and gateway-less mud=less leg washing

i have battery's,duct tape and scissors in every drawer in every corner of the yard

heat lamps in the wash box make every sort of grooming/clipping/trimming more bearable
 
speedskip, I use them for mucking out (pellets), poo picking, skipping out the lorry etc. much quicker than other tools IMO. I can get several droppings in at once so you aren't back and forth to the wheelbarrow which makes skipping out super fast.

Supergroomer grooming pad for flicking mud off really quickly before riding

decent lighting, headtorch if nothing better, and plenty of hardstanding (current yard partly chosen because of this.. no mud!)

comfortable boots :)
 
I have the most amazing house sitter, she is great with the horses and all my other critters. The dogs love her too. Only problem she is always in demand due to the fantastic job she does, so have to book her ages in advance. Means I can go away for a few days and not worry.

I have a hat with two built in lights that work off a battery, absolutely fantastic for dark mornings and evenings and even walking home from the pub on a winters night!
 
I saved those tubs from those big £5 tubs of treats you can buy and over time now have enough to make over a weeks worth of feeds so one day a week I'll make up a bulk load of feeds then all that needs to be done "on the day" is add his apples and carrots, prascend and cool stance and any liquid supplements

I have enough haynets to make a weeks load of haynets

YO likes the yard swept so I keep his brushes and a hoof pick in the stable so I can pick his feet out before taking him out, causing less sweeping
 
a straw pellet bed, huge water bucket and a builders sack haybar!

I also have a superfast routine and everything close by.

Arrive and muck out, put empty bucket and hay sack on top of wheelbarrow.
Push round to muckheap and tip wheelbarrow
Fill hay sack for hay supply near muckheap
Do feed in feed room, also near muckheap
Load wheelbarrow with hay and feed and return to stable
Clip in hay sack and put feed down
Take a short cut to the field, collect pony and deposit in stable having checked legs, temperature and general demeanor on the way in so if needs be I can then go. Generally I unrug, brush, exercise and do things with her, but theres a couple of nights a week she doesnt work and I do the bare minimum.

Takes me 15mins all in and 5 mins of that is trekking to the field and back.
 
In both stables, I leave a couple of spare grooming brushes. Ideal for giving them a quick flick over after they’ve worked or if they are having a day off and I can’t be bothered grabbing their proper grooming boxes. Honestly, makes life so much easier. I can leave Polly’s on the back wall, but I have to put Millie’s in a bendy bucket and hang them up, or she hides them in her bed.

I have wheelie buckets from the garden centre for waters, and I just put a trug tub in each. Saves my back from the lifting as I can just wheel them.
I also have a wheelie bucket for transporting my feed buckets as I use rubber buckets and 4 are a bit tricky to carry at once.

I fill the next days nets while the girls eat their feeds. I like to remove the buckets so I always wait for them to finish before I go, and it would be wasted time so I make use of it. Means I can just grab nets in the morning.

Both girls have a skip bucket and rubber glove in their stable, hanging up. I use those tub trug Cesto baskets. Handy for skipping out during the evening and then I just empty them when I muck out the next morning.
 
- My hoof pick is tied to a black skip bucket with baler twine so it's easy to find when I need it
- I make feeds up the night before
- I try to leave in turnout rugs overnight if possible to save time in the morning
- Hosepipe that reaches the buckets in the stables
- Filling haynets the night before
 
I have a nice hook to use to fill my haynet and a grooming bag, instead of a box that is so much easier and not as difficult to carry about.
Also, not a time saving tip, but a useful thing I learnt from an old client- when a rug is due to be chucked, remove all of the leg straps, belly straps and buckles and keep them, then when something breaks on your good rugs you always have spares to be able to replace them.
 
Hoof picks tied to buckets outside each stable, mine are in two different blocks by choice.

Feeds made up on a Sunday for the week, I have six feed buckets each and they get stacked by the feed bins.

Two nets stuffed for their breakfast hay, means I can just take a handful or two out and put in buckets the night before.

Nets made up for the week.

They stay in their outdoor rugs, just make sure they come off to check no rubs etc

In the morning I can get two out, mucked out hayed and watered in 35/40 minutes, that is mainly just skipping out the straw beds a sthey have dried wood pellets under to soak up the wee. Two bags go in on a Sunday and then the wet gets taken out on the Friday/Saturday.

Also over trousers left on my wellies. I go to the yard in my work clothes but yard fleece, work jumper is in a bag.

Put wellies on and pull over trousers up. Do jobs, take wellies and over trousers off and into work shoes.
Once in car yard fleece off and work jumper on and I'm ready

Coffee in a thermal flask to drink.
 
Hat with a built-in light, and the light is USB rechargeable. I left it at my mum's yesterday, and trying to do my jobs at the yard tonight was a nightmare. Turns out, I have no idea where the lightswitch is in the hay barn, because I've never needed it!

Magic brush. My horse is a total hippo and comes in covered head-to-toe in mud. I use a rubber curry comb to break up the chunks, and a magic brush to brush them out, along with the finer bits.
 
Horse and pony live out so a bit different:
- shelter with round bale in and bars across to allow ad lib hay for big horse
- hoof pick tied by gate
- make up feeds in batches and leave buckets stacked in bin, just add fast fibre to serve
- shelter with rubber mats and deep litter shavings
- oil drum feeder to be able to feed horse, so pony can’t reach
- hardstanding along a track, by hay and by shelters

Will be keeping an eye out for other tips :).
 
Pippity said:
Hat with a built-in light, and the light is USB rechargeable. I left it at my mum's yesterday, and trying to do my jobs at the yard tonight was a nightmare. Turns out, I have no idea where the lightswitch is in the hay barn, because I've never needed it!

Magic brush. My horse is a total hippo and comes in covered head-to-toe in mud. I use a rubber curry comb to break up the chunks, and a magic brush to brush them out, along with the finer bits.
Click to expand...

Hat with built in light sounds a fab idea. Would you recommend any particular brand?
 
Scissors, hoof picks and magic brushes in each stable.

String loops on gates so if you need it shut but want it open again very soon you don't have to be pulling at the spring handle all the time or when your arms are full of saddles or rugs.

Wheelbarrow wheels all replaced with solid tyres, easier to push, never go flat.

Second hat, gaiters and gloves in van so I can never forget them.

Travel lead rope knotted to a quick release clip so no tying up, just a quick clip on.

.
 
A extra wheelbarrow kept clean for taking hay to field and moving rugs around.

Coloured cable ties attached to hoof picks, brooms, feed buckets so you can keep track of your stuff.

Wearing mucking out gloves to pick out feet so you don’t get covered in mud (a tip I read on the forum and one I wondered why I’d never done before!)
 
- Feeds made in batches on days I need to be quick with the shower cap type covers on.
- Home made corner hay feeders for the field shelter made from planks of wood.
- Head torch for dark nights trundling through the field.
- Scaffold pipes to hang wet rugs.
- Hose pipe that reaches the stable with one of the auto recoil mechanisms so it saves winding the excess pipe back up every time
- Magic brushes I love as they get rid of any dried mud & soft enough to scrub too.
- Anti mould leather cleaner & conditioner saves everything getting mouldy every 2 mins over winter.
- Stirrup covers to keep my saddle clean.
- Use a spare rug rail outside my stable to keep brushing boots on & also they dry off well there.
- Spare coat & emergency jods left in my car at all times for those days where it all goes wrong & you get covered in everything ;)
 
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