I think she means the two-legged, hired kind.
3 Likes
I can’t imagine not having our Portagrazers, hands down one of the best things the farm has ever invested in. We also love our feed cart which we fill will cheap Tupperware designed for cereal. Each container is labeled with each each horse’s name and then filled with their grain, supplements and/or medications. Makes feeding a breeze!
2 Likes
Ooooh! That makes lots of sense.
I was hoping there was some cool gadget I needed to have.
3 Likes
Exactly what I was going to post! I get them from Jeffers https://www.jefferspet.com/products/gate-latch-12-chain-length
My second favorite is this small cart from Gorilla Carts. It has a flat bottom so I can use it at shows to carry water buckets from hose to stall. It holds just enough manure to clean a stall then dump (I use it at shows, not at home for this). At home I use it to tote feed buckets to the paddocks (my guys live out 24/7.)
https://gorillacarts.com/product/gcr-4/
2 Likes
or a cheap fish tank net $1.49.
A round up gate latch https://www.pbsanimalhealth.com/products/rowndup-gate-latches
Actually can’t live without our old hay elevator! Or a round bale spike… we buy both kinds of hay (travel/lay-up and everyday)
2 Likes
https://patzcorp.com/products/agriculture-products/gutter-cleaner/
Same as in an old style dairy barn. There is a gutter that runs a loop through the barn so you can muck directly into the gutter, then push a button and your whole barn load is transported to wagon, pit, or pile. In horse barns, the gutter is covered with wooden boards for safety and there is a trap door in front of each stall door. Either tie or remove horse from stall, lift trap door and fling all waste into the gutter. No more wheelbarrows 
I’ve also seen versions that are just the end part, so you use a wheelbarrow at each stall and then dump into an opening in the floor where the cleaner does a small semi-circular loop instead of running up and down the entire aisleway. Nice for inclement weather but I prefer the whole barn cleaner personally.
6 Likes
Oh, hell, no. I mean the mechanical kind. Best invention ever.
2 Likes
Battery portable tools, drill and grinder, drills, sockets for screws and bolts and cutting wheels.
Chargers and keep them charged.
3 Likes
It’s a very cool gadget that everyone should have! Sadly $$$ prevents most from having them. I’m always a bit WTF when I go into a fancy new barn and there isn’t one. Once you’ve had the pleasure, it’s impossible to understand why someone putting megabucks into a barn wouldn’t include something so fabulous and practical in the budget.
1 Like
The hose attachment thingy is an easy fix and should cost about $20. Go to your local farm supply store and pick up a large ball valve and fittings that will allow you to attach it to the hose. There are 2 places you can attach it - either the very end of the hose or a couple feet back. I like a couple feet back if you’re watering through the bars of stalls. That way you stick the end of the hose through the bars and down into the bucket and the valve remains outside of the stall where you can operate it most easily.
Also, don’t beat yourself up about losing parts. Once a ball valve breaks it’s done. The only things you could maybe save are the super cheap ring clamps used to attach it to the hose.
2 Likes
A large standing dust pan – the kind with a long handle.
I prefer one wide enough that I can use a large outdoor broom to fill it. So much easier than sweeping into a standard one that I’ll have to bend over to pick up, and holds much more than a standard pan.
4 Likes
Yes, that ^
I have several in the house/porches and barns, they are so much better for smaller sweepings.
Mine have their own brooms that snap on the standing handles.
I love my gate that cannot be left open. When a power pole came down on my non-climb fence during Irma, I repaired the section by setting two additional posts and a gate that swings between them. There is a V-shape and the gate hits the two points at the ‘top’ of the V. A human can slip through while the gate is in the middle of its swing, but there is no way a horse can get through it. Normally it is chained to the ‘inner’ post.
This means my anxiety-prone self does NOT have to constantly re-check the gate. Even if I leave it unchained, the horse is not getting loose.
ETA: Here is the inspiration photo, though mine is done with a regular metal gate and horse fence, and doesn’t have as much room in the V. (I was working with a normal 8’ section of fence, so the 6’ gate swinging through leaves just enough room to slip through with a bucket. If I’m carrying a hay bag I have to squash it to get it through.
From https://www.externalworksindex.co.uk/entry/123455/Jacksons-Fencing/Timber-kissing-gate/
4 Likes
One of those cheap leaf rakes at Walmart makes mucking out paddocks so much faster. Especially in the summer when there are turns everywhere, if you’re just using a regular fork it takes forever to pick up all the little turds and you still don’t get them all. I’ll rake up all the poo first which takes 2 or 3 minutes, then I’ll pick up the piles with the fork right after. It takes half the time when I do it this time and looks so much prettier!
3 Likes
Electric club car carryall with power dump bed. We have a Gator too but I like the quiet of the Carryall.
Equi-Tee manure forks.
Fish bait well net for cleaning trash out of water troughs.
Battery powered blower for cleaning barn aisle.
Hay Chix whole bale nets for putting hay out in pastures in the winter.
Porta Grazers for putting hay out in the dry lot.
I also love the pump sprayers, especially with 15 horses to do each summer morning. I’d be lost without the carryall on the back of my tractor. This is a large box with on side missing which mounts on the lift arms of the back of the tractor. I also love the GatorLock quick connectors for attaching hoses to the frost hydrant. For years I depended on a 5’ plastic snow toboggan to move loads around the farm in the winter. Finally, a very cheap item which has proved great to have, the big plastic leaf bags. Ours has moved bedding to a stall from the sawdust pile, moved loose hay to a stalled horse, kept grain coming out of the gravity box from bouncing everywhere instead of into the bin. At $1 per bag I don’t mind that they are not terribly durable.
The biggest labor saving strategy is the entire farm layout-
- I have 8 separate pastures that I can rotate simply by opening and closing gates - no need to lead them in and out
- My center aisle barn has a wide overhang, and the stalls have doors into the aisle and into the surrounding paddock- as long as I have compatible group I leave the outside stall doors open. They come and go as they please (for shelter and/or fans) but need MUCH less mucking.
- The barn feedroom leads directly into the garage, which is connected to the house. Much easier to get to and from the barn in bad (hot, cold, rain, snow) weather, or to do a quick midnight check.
- LOTS of lights in the barn
Also hot and cold running water in the barn (feed room and washstall), heated buckets, trough heater, garden cart, wheeled muck bucket holder, good pitchfork.
5 Likes
My gorilla cart. I can pull anything around with it, and without a tractor I really appreciate it.
Also my set up - I have 2 horses and a mini at home, and my property is set up with the barn attached to a 1/4 acre dry lot that then attaches to the pastures. I can bring the horses in or turn them out without haltering them. It makes it very easy for a non-horse person to take care of them too.
Ditto 3 workhorses already mentioned: a Gator (mine is a 4x4 JD with dump bed, gas powered, bought moderately used 10 years ago and still going strong), Portagrazer feeders and a battery-operated blower.
One handy gadget acquired in last few years are a bath grooming blade (https://equinemanagement.wordpress.com/tag/grooming-bathing-blade/) - couldn’t locate this in any online stores right now, got it at a horse show. It covers a lot of area on the horse quickly, has adjustable pressure, and comfortably squeegees all the dirt and sweat out of the coat. Use it on the dogs too.
The other tool I can’t live without in stall mucking season is a mini manure fork (https://www.bigdweb.com/product/code/1157FT.do?gclid=CjwKCAiAqJn9BRB0EiwAJ1SztRVUTfvpwTrHKRm-v_bUZ2zsWFbHYB-_jd9BJw2RNi9Stu5P9ESH-RoCasIQAvD_BwE). I use mini pine shavings and this fork allows me to get all the broken up pieces of manure while leaving dry shavings behind.
1 Like
My apologies, I have never heard of an actual stable cleaner! What a great idea though! I have an engineer-minded husband who could probably build something like that quite easily.
