Horse people - stable cleaning

[New2Horses]

Hello,

I used to work with animals and part of my job was cleaning out stables but it would be one or two stables for small ponies. I’ve recently taken on a job at a stables and I’m so slow! Yesterday it took me 3 hours to clean 6 stables (one is a double size) and an outdoor excessive yard. Today it took me two to do five stables and the yard but there was very little in the yard today.

I’m very slow. The owner has been very kind but I’m worried that either they will let me go or I will be working loads of free over time. I don’t dither or mess around. How can I get faster? The other person who works there is getting things done in about 1-1.5 hours!

Sorry, I’ve posted this in the cat forum! I’ve requested it be moved!

I think move this to the horsey section? This one is about cats.

Yes as I said above I’ve popped it in the wrong place and reported it!

Sorry I posted before I saw that! I like horses but they don't like me, haha x

I‘m not sure they like me much right now either!

You will get quicker with practice, and as you get to know the different horses.
Some I have worked with in the past have been really scruffy, poo & pee anywhere, chuck hay and feed buckets around .
Others are much tidier and so much h easier to muck out.
Have the wheelbarrow inside the stable rather than at the door , it saves walking and cleaning up outside.
Perfect your muck flinging so you can get it in the barrow from a distance

Are they on deep litter ?

Industry standard used to be half an hour per horse including mucking out, feed, hay, water and rug change

No, mats and straw.

You'll get better with practise :)

Some horses are filthy, and manage to mix poo and pee into everything, so it does take a lot longer to sort out the clean bedding. Also depends if you are sweeping up the whole stable every day, as that takes more time (though I prefer to do this as it properly gets rid of the filth).

I spend an hour in the mornings and this includes:
Turning out three horses
Mucking out (including full sweep) of two very messy straw beds
Filling water
Filling haynets
Sweep yard
Poo pick field (one barrow full)

Yes sweeping the whole stable. Some of the horses are okay and I got their stables done in 15 minutes this morning, but the others were a tip and typically the furthest from the muck heap. I imagine as I learn all the shortcuts and such I will get faster, just keen to get things right for the owner as I actually love the work.

You'll also learn that some people are lazy and not very thorough!

I think I am the very opposite, I am bee keen to make sure there is not a single piece of wet straw left! But I am aware that this may been seen as wasteful, both in time and amenities. Hopefully I will speed up with time!

Only take out the poo & really wet straw. Put any little bits of leftover hay/dusty stuff/damp but not filthy straw as a layer underneath then it soaks up better. Then dry layer on top. Use a straw fork for tidy poo sitting on top of dry straw & shavings fork to scoop up the manky/messy stuff.
Mine takes about 10mins max 😊

Also if they have banks I'd only clear under the banks occasionally but that kind of depends on how owner wants it done

.

The owner likes us to pile everything up and air the floors before it is all relaid, so the floors need to be clear except for the piled up good stuff, if that makes sense. So no damp gets left. I just find some of the horses are so messy that if you just clear the muck and wet stuff you can spend ages sorting through it all! But maybe it is just that I’m slow and over worrying. Hopefully I will get faster.

I would say as an owner who due to ongoing illness has had to buy in help recently, that if you are doing a thorough job (and it sounds as if you are) of taking out the wet and the poo then your new employer will be happy. I have been shocked by the standards of mucking out my ponies have had the misfortune to experience recently, it's not exactly rocket science! I really shouldn't be able to go in there after they've been "mucked out" and get another barrows worth of poo and wet bedding out. Oh and I'm not OCD either. Straw always takes longer in my opinion, you will speed up in time.

It sounds like you are doing a great job , if I was the owner I'd much prefer you to talk a little longer and do a proper job than rush and leave the stables mucky .
As pp have said with time you will get quicker.

you sound great!! Id suggest talking to the owner in a week or two, once you're feeling more confident and sussed about it all - and share what you've said... that you're keen to do a really good job and do they have any tips for doing it a bit faster? Or even watch/ask the other person? Definitely don't suffer in silence....

Straw is a pain to muck out. I think nearly every other type of bedding is easier and quicker to do than straw, to be fair. You sound like the sort of person I would want doing my stable in my absence. At least you can be proud that you do a decent job.

Good lord, that hasnt been the case for a long long time. It's now 15 minutes per stable for muck out, hay and water and has been for about 15 years!

To be fair I'm a freelance groom, so a professional and extremely efficient. One of my clients is a yard of 4, I can turn them all out, muck out (3 out of 4 are disgusting) put in fresh bedding and do waters in an hour.

It really is just practise, I'm 37 and been doing this for close on 25 years (which makes me seriously question my sanity now I've seen it written down) 🤦‍♀️🤣