Mucking Out Your Horse's Stables
Mucking out their horses is possibly one of the least favourite things our horse insurance customers like to do. However, if a stable is not mucked out well every day it can pose a serious health risk to your horse. If you try to establish a routine then you will get this often unsavoury task done more quickly.
You need a few essential tools to make the process a lot easier to do. The most important is a wheelbarrow. A wheelbarrow is used to move both dirty and clean bedding in and out of the stable. Without using a wheelbarrow mucking out would take a very long time. A pitchfork is also an important time saving tool. It allows you to move clean bedding and it allows you to aerate the straw or shavings when they are in the stable. Other tools that are needed are brooms and shovels for sweeping up the bedding and moving manure into the wheelbarrow. It is also wise to have on gloves and boots to help you stay clean during the process.
You can t muck out the stable with the horse in it; so first you need to lead them out and put them in another stall or out in the pasture. Then you need to empty the stable of all items such as toys and food buckets.
You first shovel out all of the wet and soiled bedding and manure into a wheelbarrow. You then take and empty the wheelbarrow in the designated place. You can scrape the old bedding to one side if it is not wet or soiled but make sure there is not any dirty bedding underneath. Then you can add some new bedding to make up for what was taken away. To aerate it use your pitchfork to fluff up the bedding.
You should muck out your horse's stable daily. Take out all bedding and put down disinfectant once a week. Allow the stable to dry and then put down fresh bedding. Mucking out is very important because a horse can become ill very easily in a dirty stall.
As the UK's fastest growing independant ethical insurance company, AFI have been dedicating all net profits to the welfare of animals around the world for many years now. We are proud to have added horse insurance to our product list. For an insurance quote on your horse, pony or donkey call our dedicated horse insurance team on 0844 57 32 100.
Do you have a children or family friends who help out at the stables? Do you own stables and have advice for youngsters who want to get more involved with horses? Please comment here and share your experiences with other members of AFI's Horse Community.
