I can’t believe I’ve never thought of this. BRILLIANT!
EZ Wash Wand is similar to the bathing blade, but slightly cheaper, I think. It doesn’t have the cool curve, but it has a longer wand so you are further from the spray and you don’t have to bend or reach.
I think I’ve posted it in a couple of these threads before, maybe this should be a sticky topic since it seems like we have one every few months.
Putting the trough under shelter. Having it in shade instead of direct sun cut down on algae so much.
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Unless your horse has the type of manure that breaks apart easily. Then you end up with more little bits everywhere and are trying to fork up loose manure bits.
I find it is easiest to pick up piles as complete (one big scoop) as possible.
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Oh, the mare I have in mind already does that for me… 
- horses that poop in one spot and don’t walk it all over are worth their dang weight in gold!
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@randomequine When they’re all in piles I’ll just use the fork but when it’s trampled all over and it’s just turds everywhere I always use the rake first. That’s what I was taught to do growing up and I thought everyone did it that way but I was shocked to learn a black leaf rake is not a staple at every barn. I refuse to pick up poo without one when it’s a mess. It would take way too long with just a fork and even when you flip the fork over and use it as a rake it doesn’t rake nicely over uneven ground.
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I guess I just learned that I should be thankful that most of the manure I clean in the paddocks and dry lot is still in piles. Who knew my piggy (in their stalls) mares would be neater than most outside. Thank you mares! I appreciate it.
A few of my favorite things:
Battery powered backpack leaf blower:
This fabulous battery powered drum fan. I use it in the horse area of my horse trailer where it’s WAY more effective than the tiny installed fans, and you can easily grab it to blow on you when you are seated watching a clinic, or have a dog with you on a hot day, etc. Thank you @DMK for telling me about them:
18-Volt ONE+ Hybrid 18 in. Air Cannon Drum Fan
https://www.homedepot.com/p/307730215
These inexpensive mesh tarps that @FairWeather told me about that I hang at the end of the barn aisle as a sun screen:
And this innocuous little grooming tool that everyone who tries loves and gets their own:
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Also, I’ve been using Hay Baskets with a homemade slow feed net system for years. But someone came up with a better net system than I had, and I love it. Lightweight and easy to use and functions very well. I’m glad I upgraded:
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@lorilu I have two 6ah batteries that I swap out. I think they run about 2-1/2 hours on high and maybe six on low? I just swap batteries when I clean out the trailer after each use and recharge the used one. So I don’t know for sure how long they last as they rarely run out all the way. When I road trip I can swap out when filling up if it’s a longish haul. It can also plug into an outlet.
Edited with actual battery size.
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Having the heavy-use area of the paddock (horse has 24/7 with stall door open) graded and the mud replaced with stone dust. Now, no mud, no potholes, takes seconds to pick up poop and old hay, and the fella’s feet are often perfectly clean. Life altering, especially when you’re there in the dark.
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Good old fashioned wheelbarrow, rake and muck fork is all I need to get my animals living areas cleaned and them fed.
Wheelbarrows are a fine tool for that task and many others.
Now, when it comes to ergonomic, there are better, like manure tub carts that only take one arm to pull weight along and dump easily in to same piles as wheelbarrows dump.
Horses also are less apt to help you and occasionally dump a manure cart than a wheelbarrow. 
I don’t remember how many years ago we quit using wheelbarrows for most any other we could do with less effort that those require, for us.
Others may have different ergonomic requirements.
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Add me to the crowd that totally hates using a muck bucket and a tub cart.
I MUCH prefer a wheel barrow.
Every time I have to use a muck bucket I am annoyed by it. There are no positives to it, to me.
So… like has been said so many times, a person has to pick what they like and use that. Look at the ideas presented and figure out what works for them.
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I have a two-wheeled, 10 cu ft bright orange wheelbarrow that I have used for at least twenty years now. It’s damn heavy when it’s full, but you can’t beat it for durability and usefulness. The wooden handles, the tires, and the axle have all been replaced (tires are now solid after years of airing them up), but the tub itself lives on! And I use it daily, often many times per day. I consider moving it around when it’s full just one more form of redneck aerobics.
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The main reason I quit using a wheelbarrow is that I had a dislocated elbow and was one armed for a while, so wheelbarrows were out of the picture.
Manure bucket carts, with manure buckets, feed buckets and any other to carry stuff around were a better mousetrap with one functional arm only.
I’m with you here. If it’s not a lot, then I can deal with the muck buckets but when you’re making 3 or 4 trips to muck out a single paddock with one muck bucket when you could do it in 1 wheelbarrow trip, it’s completely inefficient. The buckets are great for cleaning an arena, or tie rail area, or to bring if you trailer out for a ride, or anywhere where you’re not filling the the thing all the way up.
Anything inefficient drives me nuts. I do self care and I work full time so I do not have enough daylight to be spending 25 minutes on a chore when it could take me 10 if I’m efficient.
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I had Hoof Grid in my runs in my last barn. When I moved in September the first thing I did was have it installed in the runs in my new barn. No mud. It’s expensive but worth every penny.
Ok, but what is it?? Googling “stable cleaner” doesn’t bring anything obvious up.
Post 25 has a link and a description. (I think it is 25, it is around 25.)
Edit to add - ok, posting a link to a post using the URL at the top is not working.
(it is taking me to the wrong post) And the scroll bar number thing must not have been keeping track either.
Edit to add 3 - here is a quote of the post so you do not have to go look for it.
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