Now Spring is fully underway, the days are drawing out, the weather is getting warmer and our horses are spending more time out in the field. This is a great time to freshen up your stable to help protect your horse’s sensitive respiratory health. Let’s not forget it can benefit you as well! With your health and the satisfaction of a lovely clean fresh stable.
What you might need:
- Wheelbarrow
- Shavings folk
- Shovel
- Pressure washer/ hose
- Broom
- Some clothes you don’t mind getting wet and dirty along with a good pair of wellies and a mask
- Disinfectant
- Some fresh Bed-Down bedding!
Step 1 – Ensure you allow enough time before starting, especially if you have to bring your horse back in later that evening. It can take a bit of time for everything to dry.
Step 2 – Now time to clear the stable, we know its not always practical and cost-effective to remove and throw out all bedding, but old bedding can harbour dust brought in by the horse, hay dust or the natural break down of the bedding. If you can, try to prepare in advance and run down your bed to save on wastage. If this is not possible, then ensure you remove any damp, dusty bedding the best you can.
Step 3 – Once your stable is all clear and everything is removed, you can now go to work removing all the dust from around your stable. (best time to wear a mask) Grab your broom and start by dusting the roof, walls and windows. If you work from the top down, it will ensure nothing is missed and you’re not covering places you have already cleaned with dust and cobwebs. If you have a high roof ensure someone is there to help you. Then sweep up and dispose of any dirt, dust and debris.
Step 4 – Now the fun part, grab your pressure washer or hosepipe and start washing all your walls and floor. If you have rubber matting that can be removed, then pull this out and ensure both sides of the rubber matting is washed. Again, some matting can be heavy to ensure they stay in place under the horse’s weight, you may need a hand in removing them.
Step 5 – This is a great time to check the stable for any repairs needed.
Step 6 – Once everything has been washed out and any debris and dirt removed grab your disinfectant. Ensure you use an animal-friendly one as some disinfectants can be harmful to animals. Use your broom to scrub and work your disinfectant around the stable on the walls, floor and rubber mats. This is a great time to wash and disinfect hay bars and buckets too.
Step 7 – Now time to rinse the stable out one more time to remove any disinfectant. Then sweep out any remaining water to ensure a quicker drying time.
Step 8 – Once everything has dried, you can now get to work on re-painting your stable. Maybe look at animal-friendly paints with quick drying times or ensure the horse is kept away until the paint is set.
Step 9 – When your sure everything is clean, no ammonia can be smelt and the stable is dry you can now get to work in putting everything back.
Step 10 – Lay your fresh Bed-Down bed! and step back to appreciate your hard work and a lovely fresh clean stable.
We hope you all find this useful and we would love to see your lovely fresh cleaned stables. Tag us in your story’s and use #freshenedupmystable
#freshenupyourstablewithus #beddingtips #toptips #beddownbedding #cleanandfresh #springclean #horsehealth #thebestbedding #heretohelp #yardvisits
