Time saving...

[lauren123]

It seems like it's another time management thread. Or should I say time saving thread!

Apparently my horse takes up more time then what a child would do. And that he does take up a lot of my time( cheers mum!)

So I am after some time saving tips really. I will often spend a good hour and a half if not 2 hours up at the yard twice a day when I am not at work

Though I would like for things to not take me quite so long really. I have thought of a few...

• Make up feeds in advance ( I do this when I am at work anyway and it helps then)
• Do a few days worth of nets. ( I do have enough for about 6 days worth anyway)
• He generally stays in his turn out rugs which is handy.
• He can be quite messy anyway in his stable... unless it is kept pretty deep.

The other thing I am finding is life is pretty stressful at the moment and just being with him helps
the other thing is he is on soaked hay and the bath is on the other yard and the hose leaks so I have to stand around for a good 10-15 min with a bucket!! And the field is a short walk away too. The actual driving time is 15mins to the yard min from home.
Any other ideas?

 

[Trewsers]

Driving time isn't too bad. Hmm. Soaking hay is a big pain!!! Not sure what you can do really. I bought a cheap plasterer's bath from Homebase and used that when I soaked hay.. Maybe you could invest in your own? You can fit more in that way ? Not sure how big your nets are??
Anyway, if life is pretty stressful, then horse time is not something to cut down onyou need him and he needs youif it wasn't for my two I'd have long ago lost the plot
I find our byre stays cleaner with a deeper bed, I am lucky and managed to buy lots of good quality straw. Shavings are sooooo expensive!!! Sounds like you are already doing most of the things I would like making nets up etc.

 

[lauren123]

I am thinking of buying a small hose pipe ( never thought I would have to) then I can leave it running while I do other stuff and just remember to pop back and turn the tap off lol
There is no drain on our side of the yard which is annoying!! I think I will carry out with doing feeds/nets on my days off and see if it helps.

 

[MrC]

I spend 30mins doing Kia on my working days.

I deep litter so i poo pick 6days then lift and let the wet air on one of my days off. Then I pull the top back down and add half a bale if needs be.

I have a haybar so just a case of putting hay in a bag and putting it in.

I soak about 5days of beet and grassnuts mix in a bucket and I leave his cup of soaked feed soaking in the feed buckets whilst I do the bed then it's a case of adding his supps and chaff and leaving dinner in the stable and his breakfast outside.

I'm honestly done and away in 30mins or less. On my days off I will spend a good few hours at the yard as I need to do a good muck out and I ride. I do ride on my work days but it's in the dark so I prefer to just go up and do that so I want the chores done asap

 

[Flipo's Mum]

I've been inducted to the stabling thing this winter because of flipos injury, so at first I was taking AGES. About four hours a day, and was totally knackered, but now I have it down to a fine art, I could do both ends in about 30mins each max, 20 minimum, but I never do because I now get to take my time and potter to enjoy the time.
Morning, I chuck hay in his haybox, pick out the worst shavings and poo and scrape back the rest to leave just his mats and a metre wide channel down one side of the stable where he poos and pees. I don't have a wheelbarrow along at the yard so borrow another livery's, but in the morning I don't use it, I just fill a big tub trug and if I have time I take it to the muck heap, if I don't, I do it at night.
Food in, all his snacks (treat ball, carrot football, grass block) and water. All done while flipo is out grazing.
Back in, feet picked out and go.
At night it's much the same but I clean out his hoof and leave him out to graze for about an hour or more and just faff about chatting to other liveries.
I would say that having my boy on shavings makes things very easy compared to other liveries who use the yard provided straw. It costs more yes (I wasn't allowed to have him on a straw bed) but I find it so much quicker - I watch other liveries take double the time I take and mine is in all day and night!!

It sounds like soaking hay is your biggest time consumer. What about something moveable that you could soak the hay in. Might be a struggle but could you steam it to cut down the time? I'm thinking something along the lines of a wheelie bin? Is your yard walking distance to the other one?

 

[Jessey]

If you do him while no one else is there does it still take 2 hours? Or is some of that time talking time?

I don't really see the problem with it taking 2 hours on your days off, the point of having a horse is to spend time with it and enjoy it. I can do mine in 10mins morning and 30mins evening but I don't when I'm not at work because I enjoy pottering about doing chores and generally being around the horses, its not uncommon for me to go to the yard at 8am and not get home until 4pm on days off

 

[lauren123]

If you do him while no one else is there does it still take 2 hours? Or is some of that time talking time?

I don't really see the problem with it taking 2 hours on your days off, the point of having a horse is to spend time with it and enjoy it. I can do mine in 10mins morning and 30mins evening but I don't when I'm not at work because I enjoy pottering about doing chores and generally being around the horses, its not uncommon for me to go to the yard at 8am and not get home until 4pm on days off

Erm.. some talking mainly it takes hours to walk anywere. The field is one direction which is 10 mins. the other yard is the other direction, a few mintues walking there... So. To answer your question. yes.