Discouraged with time it takes to muck stalls for me..

[jcil444]

hi all,

i just started a job working at a local barn. So far, I’ve done shifts where I work with someone else and we bring in, feed, turn back out, muck stalls, and get everything ready for the afternoon shift. With two people, we got done around 12 after starting at 7:30ish.
I did a shift all by myself, started at 7:30, and didn’t finish until 2:30ish when the afternoon shift came in. I felt so slow, I could tell my boss was being understanding but I feel I made a bad impression. There’s about 25 stalls. Does anyone have any tips or advice on how to improve?

[HereComesZach]

sorry, wrong post!

[js]

Give it a little time and see if yo get into more of a routine cleaning, there aren’t many time savers, other than some bedding (to me) is easier to clean than others.

[Calvincrowe]

Do you have the right tool for the bedding? Are you an experienced stall cleaner or new to the job? There’s a rhythm to cleaning a stall and each horse has a different one depending on the horse’s stall habits. I have three in all night, and each is very, very different (one poops in one spot, pees in the center, number two pees/poops against the wall, while the third is a blender mess–all over the place), which means I do each stall differently.

What does the barn expect for cleaning? What bedding is in use? Is dumping manure cart a time suck? Can anyone “critique” your style and give you pointers?

[MissAriel]

It sounds like you did a great job. If it took you from 7:30-12 with two people - that is 4 1/2 hours each - a total of 9 hours. By yourself you did it in only 7 hours!

[clanter]

@MissAriel

It sounds like you did a great job. If it took you from 7:30-12 with two people - that is 4 1/2 hours each - a total of 9 hours. By yourself you did it in only 7 hours!

averaging 15 per stall plus “getting everything ready for the afternoon shift” is pretty good… that is about what I average for the easy keepers we have here at home

[jcil444]

@Calvincrowe

Do you have the right tool for the bedding? Are you an experienced stall cleaner or new to the job? There’s a rhythm to cleaning a stall and each horse has a different one depending on the horse’s stall habits. I have three in all night, and each is very, very different (one poops in one spot, pees in the center, number two pees/poops against the wall, while the third is a blender mess–all over the place), which means I do each stall differently.

What does the barn expect for cleaning? What bedding is in use? Is dumping manure cart a time suck? Can anyone “critique” your style and give you pointers?

i have some experience as I have helped muck stalls here and there for my aunt and uncle on thejr farm, however I’ve never done so many stalls at once. The horses pretty much only come in to eat, there are one or two of them that stay in at night and then during the day I’d say maybe four or five stay in. There are quite a few piggies in the bunch meaning basically gutting the stall. Then there are the easy keepers who pee and poop neatly. We shovel into buckets that then get dumped onto a utility vehicle and then when full the utility vehicle gets driven up to the manure pile and dumped. The barn uses sawdust or shavings as bedding. They aren’t over the top with what they expect but they do expect the stall to be evenly bedded and free of all manure and urine, as they should. As far as tools go we use brooms to sweep up the wet spots into one pile and then we use plastic pitchforks to sift through and scoop out

[jcil444]

@MissAriel

It sounds like you did a great job. If it took you from 7:30-12 with two people - that is 4 1/2 hours each - a total of 9 hours. By yourself you did it in only 7 hours!

thats true… I guess I just felt so bad mostly because I know the more experienced workers get the job done around 12 or 1 by themselves. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I can’t stand being bad at things! Lol

[clanter]

@jcil444

The horses pretty much only come in to eat, there are one or two of them that stay in at night and then during the day I’d say maybe four or five stay in. There are quite a few piggies in the bunch meaning basically gutting the stall.

if they are only in to eat then reduce the bedding to a minimal amount

Ours (seven head) are cycled in/out two times a day… they are up at night, out at 6 am back up around noon until 4 or 5 pm (staying under their fans) then back out until 7 or 8 pm … the overnight stay mucking/clean up takes about an hour for everything, afternoon is about 30 or 40 minutes, depends in the filly wants attention or not

[kashmere]

You will get speedier! I do chores on the weekends to offset my board/training cost. clean/rebed 10 stalls, feed lunch hay or grain, bring some horses in for lunch and turn them back out after, pick paddocks, clean and fill outside waters.

Used to take me FOREVER - 9-4 ish. Now I am done by 2:00 or 2:30 even if I’m a bit chatty and slow. Give yourself time