Living in sunny Southern California we are lucky to not have to deal with a lot of rain! Our horses are spoiled with dry stalls most of the year. But, when it does rain some are not as prepared to keep their stalls in good condition!
Indoor Barn Maintenance:
My horses and I are extremely lucky. They have a four stall indoor barn with turnouts on each side that they get to call home. They get the chance to fully get out of any kind of weather. (Not saying that they actually use it when it is raining. They would much rather stand out in the rain.) Having an indoor barn makes it a lot easier to maintain your stalls and prep them for any rain.
What kind of daily maintenance do you do to maintain your stalls? Unfortunately I work a lot of hours so I am not able to be at the barn everyday. When I am at the barn I focus on checking to make sure all the drains are still clear no matter what weather is in the forecast. I also try to always rake up the spots where they like to urinate in the stalls and turnouts so it can stay as dry as possible.
How do you prep your stalls for rain? Before the rain I always check the drains and will even run a hose into them to make sure they are not clogged. I drag the turnouts with our Rhino to even everything out and get rid of any wet spots. If I know it is going to be a bad rainstorm I will put down Golden Fire Wood Pellets in the sections of the stalls where I know that puddles try to form. The stalls will all be thoroughly cleaned.
What kind of bedding do you use? I have sand turnouts at my barn and I do not put any shavings inside my indoor stalls. They have spots in each of their adjoining outdoor stalls where each horse likes to urinate or defecate. I keep those sections with the Golden Fire Wood Pellets that I linked above! I personally do not like to put any shavings inside the indoor box stalls because I do not want them to urinate or defecate in them.
How do you do deep clean your stalls? For deep cleaning my indoor stalls I use a flat shovel to remove all of the dirt that the horses track in on a daily basis. I then hose down the inner stalls because they have drains. For the outer stalls and the turnouts I will either tractor them or drag them with the rhino.
Boarding Maintenance:
Not everyone has the opportunity to keep their horses at their house. Even though your horse is boarded it is still your responsibility to give them the most comfortable life possible. Someone who always goes above and beyond with her horses is 21 year old Kathryn Mitchell. Follow her on Instagram @thepowerponies ! She takes amazing care of her two horses, Pay The Bet aka Miss Piggy and Bet Hesa Star aka Wilbur. She boards her horses at a ranch in California and is always sharing about her daily barn life! I asked her a couple questions about how she maintains her stalls while having her horses boarded.
What kind of daily maintenance do you do to maintain your stalls? Everyday the stalls are cleared of manure by the workers, and then I come after and then I come after to rake evenly and maintain the grade while keeping it fluffy.
How do you prep your stalls for rain? Before the rain I will lift each mat and clean out from underneath it to ensure it is level with the others, I then sweep off the mats of all dirt and move old shavings into the back. I will work that into the back to dry up any moisture, and add new bedding to the front.
What kind of bedding do you use? Fine Pine shavings. I also cut up sand bags in the aisle in front and behind to ensure the base doesn’t get swept away.
How do you do deep clean your stalls? After the rain or to deep clean you strip the tip layer of wet or nasty shavings. Move the dry to the back of the stalls and add new shavings to the front again.
