jumper asked:
I live in a country where most people (including me) keep our horses on grass all year round so I have never had to care for a horse that has lived in a stable. I was just wondering is there a process or a certain way of mucking out a stall, and what other things do you need to know when keeping a horse in a stable?
thanks for your help!
1) Bring a wheelbarrow to the edge of the stall.
2) Use a muck fork to pick out all of the **** and put it in wheelbarrow.
3) Use a shovel to pick out all the dirty bedding and hay (peed on or other stuff)
4) Sweep clean bedding evenly, adding more if needed.
5) Put hay in corner near feed buckets
I use pine shavings as bedding. First I pick through the bedding and remove all manure. Then I carefully move dry bedding away from the wet bedding and then carefully scoop out the wet bedding. I then replace with dry bedding. I do this daily. At least once or twice a month I remove all bedding, apply lime and replace with fresh bedding.
My horses are only kept in their stalls overnight but I make sure their stalls are cleaned every morning. Should I ever have to keep a horse stalled all day his stall gets cleaned three times a day.
s080026-
why would you pretend that you wrote all that?
your a liar!
all you did was type “how to muck out a stall” into google, then clicked the first website and copied all the information.
if you are going to use info from somewhere else, thats fine but give them credit! dont pretend like it was you.
its called citation. learn something about it
this is where he/she copied the info
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V
Well to muck out a stall you will need a wheel-barrow, a **** rake, and a place to dump it. You scoop up all the **** and wet shavings from the *** (not including the dry shavings) into the wheel–barrow, then haul it off and dump it. You will need to completely clean out the stall shavings and all and replace the shavings once it starts getting nasty. One thing you do need to know is when they are cooped up in a stall all day, they don’t get the exercise they normally would, so you have to ride them much more often or have a pasture to turn them out in every once in a while. If you don’t give them the exercise they need, their legs will stock up(or get swollen). This is very fixable but a consequence. Also they will not have a water trough they can freely walk up to and drink from, so make sure they always have plenty of water. Another thing, give them hay frequently because they need something to do all day. If they don’t have anything to do it may lead to problems like cribbing or kicking the walls. Make sure your stall stays clean and follow those tips and you’ll be fine.
There are probably loads of other people who will answer better than me, but i will try to help anyway.
From what i know stalls mainly have either straw or shavings, shavings are the easiest to clean up in (although some horses are allergic to the dust) anyways, first you use a shavings fork (if you use shavings) to remove the manure and put it in a bucket/basket/wheelbarrow. If you have straw it is a little more difficult, what i usually do is put my gloves on and pick it out myself (because believe me it is seriously hard). Then you can gather all the wet straw/shavings in one pile (using a shovel (for shavings) or whatever you find easiest and for straw sometimes you need a stick thing to seperate it) and the dry in the other, you then remove the wet straw/shavings into a big bucket/basket/wheelbarrow (whatever you have) You leave the wet areas on the floor to dry for a while and once it is dry you then level out the remaining straw/shavings and add more if it is necessary (which it usually is). While you are mucking out the stable it is also usually a good time to clean out the water bowl, removing any hay/straw/shavings that are in the water and cleaning the bucket with a sponge and removing all the slime (gross), then it’s best just to refill the water bucket, or let it refill itself if it is the automatic ones.
Hope that helps, sorry i don’t own a horse and i learnt that from pony camp so it might not be the best answer, but i still hope it helps.
Hey, Well I thought there was only one way to much out a stable lol.
But I understand what you mean. I use to live in the middle of no where and then we moved an I had to get use to mucking stables too lol. I start with removing my horses out of there stables. Then pick up all droppings and wet patches. Add new straw with old straw so the horses don’t try and eat it. Then yeah I do a few other things but that’s the basic things. But here is a link I muck out my stables step by step the same as this video. This video explains how to and this is how I do muck out my stables.
Anyway heres some links
Anyway goodluck
see ya and happy riding
as for mucking a stall….best time to do it is when your horse is out to pasture, remove all things from their stall (feed buckets and such) You can use a pitchfork to remove manure and wet/soiled shavings if any. Sometimes its easier to pick up wet bedding with a shovel. All this will go in a wheelbarrow you have close by. once you’ve removed all the manure and wet bedding, distribute clean bedding over the stall evenly. If the floor of the stall has thick rubber matting, the bedding can be thinner. On concrete (especially during cold weather) add more bedding to provide padding and urine absorption. Sand floors are easier on the horse’s legs, but may get saturated with urine quickly if not enough bedding is put down. and just do weekly maintenance on the stalls
If your horse lives in a stall for any part of his day, you’ll have to keep it clean. Unclean stalls attract insects and could encourage hoof problems like thrush. Breathing ammonia from urine saturated bedding can be harmful to your horse’s or pony’s sensitive lungs. It’s unpleasent to work in and smelly for you too. Stall cleaning should be a daily task.
Time Required: 20 minutes
Here’s How:
1.Dress for the Job
Dress in appropriate clothing. Gloves can prevent blisters. Urine can erode the stitching on the soles of leather riding boots. Save yourself boot cleaning time by changing into work or rubber boots.
2.Clear the Work Area
Take your horse out of the stall. A good time to muck out is when your horse is in his pasture. If you can’t put him out, put him in an empty stall. Remove all the feed tubs, water buckets and stall toys.
3.Assemble Your Tools
Get your cleaning tools and park your wheelbarrow or cart close to the stall door facing in the direction you’ll want to go when the barrow is full. It’s easier to maneuver an empty wheelbarrow than a full one.
4.Dig In
If the stall is bedded with straw use a pitchfork to remove manure and wet or soiled bedding. If shavings or sawdust have been used, use the shavings fork to remove manure and wet bedding. Fork the manure into the wheelbarrow or cart. Sometimes it’s easier to pick up wet bedding with a shovel.
5.Head for the Manure Pile
Wheel the filled barrow and dump out the contents in the assigned area (the manure pile). It’s tempting to fill the wheelbarrow really high, but this can make it hard to push and easy to tip. It’s frustrating having to clean up manure a second time because you’ve tipped over the wheelbarrow!
6.Do a Thorough Job
Continue cleaning out the dirty bedding. Scrape the unsoiled bedding to one side, and check that there is not wet or manure soiled bedding hiding underneath.
7.Even The Surface
Once you’ve removed all the manure and wet bedding, spread the cleaner bedding back over the whole stall area. Check around the edges of the stall as clean bedding sometimes gets tossed against the walls as the horse moves around. This leaves a thinner area in the middle or where the horse usually stands. Distribute the bedding evenly.
8.Add Clean Bedding
Add new bedding to replace any that has been removed. You’ll either add a whole bale of straw, or portions of one. Fluff it with a pitchfork. Some stables have truckloads of loose shavings piled, or some buy bags of compacted shavings. Use your wheelbarrow to transport fresh shavings to the stall, or open a bag and fluff the compacted shavings with the shavings fork.
9.How Thick To Bed
Gauge how thick to bed by what type of floor is under the bedding and what season it is. If there is thick rubber matting on the stall floors, bedding can be thinner. On concrete, especially during cold weather, add more bedding to provide padding and urine absorption. Sand floors are easier on the horses’s legs, but may get saturated with urine quickly if not enough bedding is put down.
10.Weekly Maintenance
You may want to completely strip a stall occasionally. In this case, keep filling your wheelbarrow until the stall floor is bare. Use the shovel to scrape up remnants of bedding and the broom to sweep it clean. You may want to put down odor control solution or stable disinfectant. Let the floor dry before re-bedding.
11.Keep Alleys and Doors Clear
After you’ve finished cleaning and bedding the stall, use the broom to sweep up spilled manure, straw or shavings in alleys and doorways. Scoop up the sweepings into the shovel and toss them into the manure pile. Manure, chaff and bedding pushed out a doorway will turn into a muddy mess in wet weather.
12.Prepare Tools for Next Use
Put all the tools away where they won’t cause a tripping hazard.
13.Ready for Your Horse
Replace feed tubs, buckets and toys so the stall will be ready for your horse when he comes in.
Tips:
1.Always turn the wheelbarrow pointing in the direction you want to go out in.
2.Inexpensive hangers keep cleaning tools safely out of the way.
3.Some people leave a thick padding of bedding for warmth and only clean the top surface during winter months.
4.Use the broom to knock down spider webs every so often.
5.Inexpensive riding gloves with the sticky rubber dots are handy for handling tools and shavings bags without slipping.
What You Need:
•A wheelbarrow or cart
•Pitch fork (Five pronged is best.)
•A shavings fork for moving shavings or sawdust
•A broad shovel
•A stable broom
•Gloves (optional)
•Rubber boots (optional)