For months, you’ve been planning on reorganising your feed room, getting your rugs cleaned and having a mass tack room clear-out — but there never seems to be enough hours in the day. Now that shorter daylight hours are upon us, it’s enough of a struggle keeping on top of the daily jobs you need to do to keep your horse ticking over. Well, here are our favourite time-saving horse care tips to make life at the yard run that little bit more smoothly…
16 time-saving horse care tips to try this winter
1. Sharing jobs
Sharing jobs with a friend will greatly reduce the time you need to spend at the yard. For example, you could do the morning feed and turn out both your horses, in return for her bringing in and doing the evening feed. You can even arrange things so you get to have the odd weekend lie-in…
2. Keep your horse out
It’s not for everyone or every horse, or an option at every livery yard, but grass-kept horses save bags of time in mucking out, bringing in and turning out.
3. Plait and bag tails
Dirty, stained tails are a nightmare in winter, especially if you’re planning to keep competing through the darker months. Don’t leave it to chance – wash your horse’s tail, plait it and stick it in a tail bag. They’re secure and are designed to withstand turnout. Or if a tail bag isn’t your bag, load it up with the best mane and tail detangler to help stop mud and dirt from sticking to it and to save time grooming.
4. Make up all haynets in advance
Do this at the weekend, perhaps, when you’re not quite so time-starved. It’s much quicker to blitz it than to try and do one at a time when you’re already in a rush. Make the job quicker and easier with a haynet filler like this one.
5. Do the same with feeds…
Make each one up in a closed plastic container, such as an old ice-cream or supplement tub, so it can quickly be tipped into a bucket and fed as required. This does however require a fair few tubs and some storage space, but even doing three days’ worth in one go will prove a time-saver. If you’re stuck for space, freezer bags are also an option. Just store them in a secure container so rodents can’t get to them.
6. … and with your feeds!
Search for recipes ideal for batch cooking – websites like BBC Good Food are a great place to start – and portion out meals to freeze for another day. It’ll be such a relief to have a defrosted meal waiting for you to nuke after you inevitably get in after 8pm. Plus, if you’re budget-conscious, you won’t be forced to pick up convenience food on your way home. Although it’s nice to have a treat!
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7. Get a long hose to fill water buckets
Don’t risk putting your back out lugging heavy water buckets across the yard – invest in a long hose with a gun that can be shut off so you can fill your water bucket in your stable instead. Safer and quicker.
8. Keep a change of clothes and boots in your car/at the yard…
If you need to rush straight from work to the yard, or vice versa, it’s worth keeping a spare set of clothes to change in to, so your work stuff doesn’t smell of horse. Always keep boots at the yard, too.
9. … and invest in some overclothes
Warm, waterproof layers that can fit over your work clothes or just your riding gear are a great shout. Overalls, ski trousers or long robe-like coats like these do the trick perfectly. They can be used time and time again – who cares if they get dirty – and it’ll help save you endless washing at home, too.
10. Get a sharer
If your horse could benefit from more exercise than you’re able to give him, or you’re just really time-short, a sharer could be the answer. They get to ride your horse in return for doing chores such as mucking out, turning out and poo-picking, and/or making a financial contribution. Everyone’s a winner. Find out how to make sharing your horse work.
11. Invest in decent grooming equipment
There’s loads of cheap ‘n’ cheerful grooming equipment available – the problem is that a lot of it isn’t very efficient at getting the job done, just as a cheap plastic comb isn’t as efficient at untangling human hair as a proper salon-style brush. Spend a bit more on decent brushes – your diary and horse will thank you.
While you’re at it, make sure you’re using the best horse shampoo and stain remover for you, too. There’s no point throwing good money after bad with an ineffective product.
Another time-saving horse-washing solution is investing in a hot horse shower – no more trudging back and forth to the house or yard kitchen for endless buckets of warm water. Some of your fellow liveries might be up for pitching in to help with the initial cost, too.
12. Get rubber matting for your stable
Most stables are matted nowadays, but if you don’t have rubber matting it has so many benefits. It requires some investment up front, as rubber mats are fairly expensive, but they mean you’ll need a smaller bed for your horse in the stable, saving time (and money) on mucking out.
13. Try a deep-litter bed
It’s not for everyone, but lots of owners find this to be one of the best time-saving horse care tips for busy weekdays. Deep littering works best with particular types of bedding (shavings, hemp, flax, shredded wood fibre or pellets) and entails laying a deeper bed than usual. During the week, you skip out all droppings and leave the wet to seep away to the bottom of the bed. Once a week or so, the wet is removed, and the bed topped up with fresh bedding.
14. Tack wipes
These are a cheat’s way of getting tack looking cleaner without spending ages polishing away. A quick once-over after a ride, job done. They’re no substitute for a proper deep tack clean, but mean you don’t need to do those so often.
15. Switch one ride per week for groundwork
Even 15 minutes of walking over raised poles will help maintain your horse’s fitness and muscle tone and it can be great for bonding. Unsure where to start? Here’s our how-to on groundwork for horses.
16. Ditch the stable rug
Again, not for everyone and it’s always good to practise good rug hygiene, which includes regular removal of rugs for checking the horse over and grooming. But, twice-daily rug changes are a chore and reducing that part of your daily routine will have you clawing back time. Plus, turnouts that are wet and muddy on the outside will be dry come morning!
Do you have any time-saving horse care tips you’d like to share with fellow H&H readers? Please email us at hhletters@futurenet.com, including your name, nearest town and county, for the chance for your tips to appear in a forthcoming issue of the magazine
A horse owner and rider with more than 20 years experience, Bethany has been writing for equestrian publications since 2017. Over the course of her career, she has reported from major British Riding Clubs and British Dressage championships, covered Badminton Horse Trials and interviewed equestrian sport’s best athletes. Her work can also be found in Country Life, The Field and Breathe magazine.
