Do you ever wonder how your barn routine compares to others? What barn chores are non-negotiable each day, and what things can wait until the weekend?
Barn chores are something that we all have to do – regardless of our horse’s living situation. The actual chores you have to do every day will vary based on whether your horse lives at home, or is boarded. Boarding is less work, but you also don’t get the benefit of looking out your windows at your horses or being able to closely monitor their health.
Most barn chores are fun because we get to spend more time with our horses. I always enjoy the extra time spent in the barn or with my horses. Some of these tasks are less glamorous than others like dumping poop and scrubbing out algae filled water troughs.
so What are the most common barn chores?
- Clean Stalls
- Add new bedding (shavings, pellets, etc)
- Check that your horse has fresh, clean water available at all times
- Feed horses hay
- Feed horses grain and supplements
- Set out feed for the next meal
- Check horses for injuries, illness or wounds
- Pick horse’s feet
- Groom your horse
- Turnout horses
- Dump muck bucket/Spread manure
- Put on fly sheets/fly masks or turnout blankets (weather dependent)
- Check fencing/stalls for damage or potential hazards
- Sweep the aisle of the barn
- Clean tack or bit
- Hose or bathe your horse
- Check (and order if necessary) any supplements or medications that your horse requires
- Clean Tack
- Put everything back where you found it, check that stalls and gates are latched
What do each of these barn chores entail:
Clean Stalls
Keeping your horse’s stall/paddock/shed/pasture clean and free of manure is extremely important. If your horse lives in dirty conditions, they can suffer from respiratory problems, thrush or wounds that never heal (among other things).
Always provide a clean, soft and comfortable place for your horse to lay down if they would like to.
This goes hand in hand with providing new bedding when necessary. I have found a cheaper and easier bedding combination that works really well for my horses. I use wood pellets (like these) at the bottom of my horse’s beds, and then a bag of shavings over the top. I put extra shavings along the edge of their beds and pull down clean shavings if the pile gets dirty. Using this bedding combination – I only need to change bedding every two weeks. Whereas when I used to use only shavings, I needed a new bag about every 4 days!
Provide clean water at all times
The two most vital things to a horse’s life are food and water. Horses drink about 5-10 gallons of water a day. Water is also extremely important for gut health and keeping the horses system moving.
Therefore you must always provide your horse with adequate water that is clean and fresh. In the winter, make sure their water is not frozen and in the summer, make sure their water does not get over-run with algae.
Feed Horses
As stated before, food and water are the top two most important things for a horse to live. Therefore, feeding your horses is a barn chore that needs to be done every day (many times – multiple times a day). Horses need adequate pasture or hay at all times. Many people or boarding facilities only feed horses twice a day, however, it has been shown to be healthier for horses to be fed more often or even free-fed.
Many horses do not require grain, but some horses do need grain to sustain their weight or health. If you horse needs grain, make sure to prepare it ahead of time or soak it (beet pulp also requires soaking). If your horse is boarded, you may need to provide pre-prepped meals for your horse so the barn can feed them.
Also make sure to order supplements as needed – Smartpaks are easy and can be delivered right to your barn.
To save yourself time at the next feeding, you can prepare your horse’s next meal(s). I do this every day – I feed my horses a meal and then set out their next two meals so it is easier to feed. No extra walking back and forth and wondering how much to feed – my husband can easily throw the pile for them without wondering if he is getting the right amount.
Check horses for injuries, wounds or illness
Horses can be accident prone (some more than others – sorry if that’s your horse!) If they can injure themselves, they will. Horses can get wounds or injuries from playing with other horses, running into fences, rubbing on things in their paddock, etc.
Depending on the severity of injuries or wounds, you can apply your favorite wound cream and turn your horse back out. If it is more serious, be sure to consult your veterinarian.
Pick Hooves/Groom your horse
If you can pick out your horse’s hooves every day it will be very helpful for their hoof health! You can find problems more quickly than if you neglect their hooves.
Maybe your horse needs to see the farrier sooner, or they have a rock or nail wedged in their hoof. Doing a daily picking of your horse’s feet will find problems quickly and you can determine if you need to treat their hooves for thrush.
Related Post: 10 Ways to Treat Thrush in Horse’s Hooves
Grooming your horse on a regular schedule can also be beneficial for their health. You can find wounds or injuries more easily and detect any skin problems. Keeping dirt off your horse will also reduce the amount of horse laundry you have to do!
Related Post: How to Wash your Saddle Pads
Turnout Horses
Horses need daily movement and room to roam. If they can be on pasture all the time, that is great, but if not – letting your horse out each day is very important.
Horses were made to move so putting them in stalls all the time is not great for them. Find some way to give your horse turnout. Maybe the boarding facility does turnout, or you can let them run around in the arena when you get to the barn.
Put on appropriate horse clothes
Depending on your weather and season, you may need to put on your horse’s clothes. In the warmer months this means fly sheet, fly boots and fly mask. In the winter, your horse might need a rain sheet, turnout sheet or other blankets.
Related Post: Ways to Control Flies for your Horse’s Comfort
Check your horse’s environment for damage or potential risks
As you probably already know, horses can get hurt on anything and everything. An important part of caring for horses is checking their environment for potential hazards and fixing anything that is broken.
Look for broken fencing or walls and fix anything that needs to be repaired. Smooth broken or rough areas of fencing so they don’t cut your horse.
A little maintenance on a regular basis goes a long way.
Dump or Spread Manure
Keeping manure cleaned up and under control is very important for controlling flies and also maintaining a clean environment for your horse. Depending on your horse’s living situation, you may have to keep manure in a trash dumpster, or dump on the manure pile, or spread manure on pastures as it is composted.
Leave the barn the way you found it (or better)
Make sure to close everything you opened, lock gates, and put everything away. A good rule of thumb to follow at the barn is to close any gate or stall you open so you don’t accidentally let a horse out. If you took anything out to clean or ride, be sure to put it back where you found it! This keeps the barn clean and makes it easier for you to find things the next time you need them.
We all can agree that our horses are a lot of work, but they are worth it! Most barn chores revolve around keeping the barn (and our horses) clean and fed. Did you know that horses eat about 15-20 lbs of hay a day (if they are 1,000 lbs)? They also produce about 50 lbs of manure a day as well. They’ll need even more hay if they weigh more, and they’ll generate even more poop than the average horse.
What does your typical day at the barn look like? Here are the barn chores I do every day (Keep in mind that I keep my horses at home so this is a full day of care for me):
1. Wake up, head outside to the barn to clean stalls and feed the horses breakfast.
2. If it’s summer time, I also put on their fly masks, fly boots and apply fly spray.
3. In the winter, I check that their water isn’t frozen. If it is summer, I make sure their water is full and clean (yup, they have been guilty of pooping in the water trough). I tend to keep the water more full in the winter and only turn on the heaters for a few hours if needed.
4. Go to work for the day
5. Get home and feed them their 2nd meal of the day (usually smaller than the other two). If I was running late in the morning and didn’t clean stalls, then I do it now.
6. I also prepare their next two meals at this time (late night dinner and breakfast for the horses). We simply use a large plastic tote (like this one) and put breakfast into the tote, and dinner is on top, turned the opposite direction. Then we don’t have to carry hay back and forth and second guess the amount they’re getting.
8. At 9 or 10 pm, I feed the horses a late night dinner. They also get their grain at this time and I check the water again.
7. Eat dinner myself, perhaps get a workout in, or just relax. If the weather is cooperating, I also might take a short ride.
What does a day of barn chores look like? Well it depends on whether you board or take care of your own horses at home. Your routine could include some or all of these things.
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