Winter Pigsty Stables - is it just me??

[fattylumpkin]

Is it only my mare who has decided winter is the season to be filthy? -.-

She's pristine, not a poo stain on her, but her bed is DISGUSTING and I'm going through shavings like no tomorrow as well as spending a huge amount of time trying to 'muck out' the mess that feels like it should've been made by a herd of cows not one medium sized horse. I think the worst thing is that she covers over the mound she likes to deposit at the back with a layer of shavings so I never really know how dirty it is until I break through the clean surface crust to the horror beneath...

Just a random moan really!

 

[Fiona]

Our two mares are being quite clean considering they have been in for a few days because of the weather... Even the dirty boxwalking one isn't as bad as she can be, probably because its constantly raining and she has plenty of hay inside...

However the pony (who does get out every day) has become very wet, and though his deep litter used to last a fortnight, now it needs dug out once a week

Fiona

 

[wills_91]

Could be my mare. It's soul destroying... and she's on strict box rest so I'm faced with the horror twice a day!

 

[splashgirl45]

luckily my mare is really clean in her stable, however she goes out in the field all day every day and is an absolute mud monkey. I groom her every day so I can check for injuries but the minute she gets in the field she is on the floor....it takes me longer to get her clean than it takes to muck out!!

 

[Catherine94]

Mine are also being disgusting at the moment. There's practically no point in attempting to muck out the mare - pretty much everything has to come out and she has to have an entire new bed for the next night, and the gelding has become a pro at burying his poos, so just when I think I've got them all I move a bit of straw and there's a load more! It's taking me so long to deal with them at the moment...

 

[JenJ]

Yep. I had switched one of mine onto a nice deep bed with banks for winter, but it seems all I've done over the holiday season is muck out! As of today he's back on a nice thin bed that I can completely clear out easily the next day.

The other one is new to me, and I keep getting caught out when he buries his poos. Not had one that does it before, and every morning without fail, I walk into the stable, and think 'oh good he's been clean, that'll be quick to do', then uncover a whole load of crap!

It also doesn't help that my stables leak a bit, not enough to notice when standing in them, but it does make the floor damper, plus both boys have recently decided against weeing in the filed, so the first thing they both do when I bring them in is do a long wee all over their nice clean beds!

 

[flirtygerty]

mine are in an open cattle barn, half of which is a deep litter bed and the gates covered with old rugs to stop the worst of the wind, so easy to do with three horses, solids tend to stay on top, but the feeding area is a mess, only solids, but get spread around and flattened with them walking around, but still easy enough to sweep up, a lot easier than three seperate stables

 

[Lintel]

No my boy is grotty this weather too!

 

[Gentle_Warrior]

You do realise that the damp in the air makes shavings go dark. Just because they are not pristine white anymore doesn't actually mean the horse has made them dirty.

X

 

[poiuytrewq]

We are on pellet beds which I've always loved. Old horse was so clean. Poo in one pile and the rest of his bed I disturbed.
New horse is a box walker. Not to the extent that there is nothing solid at all (these we have at work and I find quite easy, we remove a narrow full and top up with fresh) this there are tiny bits all over and I have to take ever bit of bedding. It takes ages uber depressing

 

[hobo]

My girls keep their stables very clean and quite tidy but this year them seem to love rolling in their poo and have dreadful stable stains. They are two 70% white coloureds so not a good look, I think it is because it has been so warm and they do not wear rugs at night.

 

[rachk89]

My horse is mucky in his stable all year round. But he is a grey gelding and that just seems to be a trait of them. At least every grey gelding on this yard is that way. I swear my horse manages to get another horse in there at night that mess cannot be just one horse.

 

[Daisy99]

We are on pellet beds which I've always loved. Old horse was so clean. Poo in one pile and the rest of his bed I disturbed.
New horse is a box walker. Not to the extent that there is nothing solid at all (these we have at work and I find quite easy, we remove a narrow full and top up with fresh) this there are tiny bits all over and I have to take ever bit of bedding. It takes ages uber depressing

Try using a plastic garden sieve, may seem a bit odd but gets the little bits out of pellet beds also good for getting bits of hay out.

 

[only_me]

If mine was in I suspect his stable would be filthy! I don't envy anyone who currently has theirs in all the time!

However, he is an unusual in that he himself is cleaner in a field than the stable. He lives out 24/7 - field is v muddy & saturated with water especially around the hay bale. He has white legs which are covered in mud. However, at least once a day, he takes himself into the river/water jump and plays, which cleans his legs. I see this when feeding him - lovely sparkling white legs. Yet a very muddy rug lol. Very weird!

 

[Iwantakitten]

No sorry! Now we've got the rat that was using his stable as a rat run (was coming up every morning to two or three rat tunnels through the banks and for him a really messy stable) he has gone back to being pretty clean. He does bury his poohs but is on a deep litter shavings bed and I just flick everything up the walls and they fall down to be scooped into barrow. Hardly takes me any time at all and I'm topping up with 1 bale a week. He's in at night and out during the day at the moment.

 

[HuntingfieldHoney]

My mare makes a terrible mess of her stable, I'm off to buy some wood pellets today as I have had enough of shavings!! I've recently bought a garden mulch fork which is pretty good for mucking out.

 

[Sugar_and_Spice]

You do realise that the damp in the air makes shavings go dark. Just because they are not pristine white anymore doesn't actually mean the horse has made them dirty.

X

PMSL. Since when? Rain or water spilled on shavings doesn't make them go dark, just a darker shade of cream. Darkness is when they've been wee'd on or pooed on. I'm not slating your mucking out, I see no need for a pristine white bed either, but really it's not the air moisture that causes it to go dark :biggrin3: .

 

[Rhandir]

Tell me about it .. stable looks like she's had a party, with some very unruly guests .. and she looks like a walking muck heap as she uses her poo for a pillow. Oh, and why do they wait for you to finish to march over and christen the bed

 

[PollyP99]

^^ sugar and spice^ sorry you are not correct, my shavings ARE way darker in winter, we have outside stables and of course mist and moisture enter the stable and DO cause the bed to be darker, in summer the bed stays whiter than white in winter it most definitely is darker and generally not so pristine looking regardless that my mare is always part stabled. Sadly she is on Box rest currently so no chance of pristine for long in any weather.

 

[muckypony]

Mine used to be filthy at my last yard during winter as they spent so much more time in. They are now pristine and I'm sure it's down to how long they're out for. They don't come in now til about 6.30 mon-fri, at the weekends if I bring in before 5 I can guarantee they will be messy the next day!

I also don't understand this 'moisture makes the shavings darker' thing... My shavings are as white as they day they go in and my stables are outside, very damp at the moment in this weather too? Perhaps the shavings are darker because the horses come in with wet muddy legs?

 

[crystalclear]

So glad others are in the same position! Have a pony on box rest and her bed is always pretty good! Her mates that alternate coming in have messy beds! I'm undecided whether to have thick beds for them or thin beds. Not sure which is best to be honest!