Horse person’s car: how to deal with it

Messy horse person car graphic — A classic example of a “horse person’s car”

(Image credit: credit unknown)

If you’ve got a horse, especially if it’s on DIY livery, the chances are you’ve got a “horse person’s car”. It could be defined as “quite possibly the dirtiest car you’ve ever sat in” or “a hazard to anyone with hay fever, allergies to pets, dust or – actually – most things”. A fellow horse person probably wouldn’t be quite so harsh, but if they say it’s bad then you know it’s bad. If you’re the owner of one of these cars, you’re in good company – read on and I can offer some help.

I was the not-so-proud owner of one of those cars until I purchased a handheld Shark vacuum (this one is currently on sale at £49.99). When I bought my Golf – after my Fiesta finally gave up on me after many tough years of to-ing and fro-ing to the yard – I had all good intentions of keeping this one clean and suitable for passengers. I even had high hopes of transporting people of the non-horsey variety, such as my mum, who would usually wince if I was the last option of a lift.

Sadly, it wasn’t to be. I did make a slight improvement – I no longer transported small bales of unwrapped hay in the boot, and I didn’t squeeze a wheelbarrow onto the backseat this time. But I get it; if you’re transporting horse feed, rugs for washing, muddy wellies, wet riding coats, multiple changes of clothes, it’s a challenge. And then if you have a dog on top, well you’re screwed. When you arrive at your local car wash and the price for a small car is £20, you can be sure that for you it will be a “special price of £45 for this big job”.

However, I’ve learnt that if I can do the occasional mass empty onto the driveway, vacuum out all the dirt, sand and pet hair, then it makes an enormous difference. This might seem obvious, but when you’re faced with a big task it can be hard to 1) know where to start and 2) believe you’ll make it to the end. And trust me, you can get to the stage of offering a non-bio-harzardous lift – imagine that!

Run time is important if you opt for cordless because you don’t want to have to abandon the job before you’re finished, but you won’t need nearly as much run time as you would for a household vacuum – unless you’re looking to double up here. You can either buy a cheaper model, such as the Shark Handheld Pet (currently £49.99 with 38% off) that has a 10-minute run time, and use it just for the car, or you could go for an upright household that you can use for both – the Shark Stratos Pet Pro (currently £329 with 34% off), which will give you 120 mins of power.

Wait until it’s sunny and dry – these jobs are not fun in the rain.
Take everything out. Yes, everything, including the seat/door pockets.
Bin any rubbish and make piles for rehome and return to the car.
If your ‘return to car’ pile is larger, you must re-sort.
Use a dustpan and brush to take out any big chunks of dirt you don’t want up your new vacuum.
Vacuum your car to within an inch of its life using your new vacuum.
Wipe down the dashboard – it’ll be dusty and hairy.
Utilise seat covers.
Put your (very small) ‘return to car’ items back in the car – ideally stored in a boot organiser.

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Georgia is Horse & Hound’s deputy website editor and equestrian products expert. She curates content across the website with a particular focus on upcoming equestrian events horse care and buying advice. She also manages all the ecommerce opportunities that allow us to give you easy access to the best products at the lowest prices via our buying guides. Georgia has first-hand knowledge of all the equestrian brands and their ever-evolving product lines, having been working with them closely since she started in equestrian media in 2015.

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