I have a very small boarding operation, with only about five other riders that share my farm. Currently we are doing an upgrade to the footing, and I want to keep it as clean as possible. Would you be offended if a barn rule, was to pick up manure and avoid riding through it. I have no issue with riding, dismounting, do a clean up and then getting back on to ride. I unfortunately seem to have a couple of riders that do not thoroughly pick out my ring, and I have to pick up after them, especially if they have ridden through it. Ideas on a friendly way to introduce this.
“I am so excited that we were able to invest in upgraded footing. This was a big investment but I know that it will benefit both our horses and riders. Our installers have advised that it is critical that we limit the amount of organic matter mixing into this footing as it will impact both the longevity and quality of footing. With this in mind, please remove all manure at the end of your ride and avoid riding through any manure deposited during your ride. I am placing a bucket and pick by the ring to minimize inconvenience. There is also a hoof pick by the arena entrance. On muddy days please pick your horses feet out before entering the arena and give them a quick pick when you exit so we keep footing in the ring. Thank you for your help keeping our fancy new footing clean!”
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This is perfect, thank you for giving me a great way to introduce it.
I haven’t been to any barns with good footing who allow manure to stay in the arena. Picking poop out of the footing is as common an expectation as cleaning up the barn aisle if you horse poops in the barn.
I expect my boarders to comply with cleaning up after their horse and not riding through the manure. They are all very good about it because they want nice footing too.
At the end of the day though, the arena is my investment so if someone forgets to scoop the poop, I head out and clean it up. I don’t make a big deal of it. It’s my barn, my footing, my responsibility.
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The best arena that i ride in has two rolling buckets and apple pickers in the corners (like between M & C and between A & K). Riders need only use either or both at the end of a ride and they get dumped in the spreader daily.
Make it easy, obvious, and expected.
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Good luck. I’ve not been in a barn yet where others were consistently willing to pick up the manure except my own here at home (and even here I have that darn coyote that leaves me a present every once in awhile…). Since you have a small barn, perhaps individual conversations will help, stressing how it keeps it nice for everyone and makes the investment last much longer. And with so few, it will be easy to figure out who the worst offenders are and perhaps remind them.
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I love @GraceLikeRain 's post. Great way to present it.
I have been at barns where picking the ring (and feet) was required. No one thought it was weird, just part of how it is done.
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One of the previous farms I was at was really strict about cleaning up the manure in the rings. The owner would absolutely remind those that didn’t do a good job or “forgot” to do it. We were not expected to pick it up during the ride but had to afterwards. She only had one muck bucket at one end of the ring but she also had a small “Home Depot” type bucket with a handle that we would carry to the pile and pick the manure into. We then would dump it into the muck bucket. The indoor was a bit of a walk from the barn so we would pick before going back up to the barn.
The farm I board at now just upgraded their indoor footing and is now asking everyone to pick up manure and pick hooves before leaving the arena. So far it looks like everyone is complying.
I would recommend either having the muck tub in one of the rolling carts or using the Home Depot bucket approach. Having a tub and fork at each end of the ring would be good too. If you make it easier people tend to do a better job. Personally I prefer the Home Depot bucket as I could see some horses not being happy with the muck tub being wheeled around next to them.
The current farm only has one muck tub at one end. This can be a bit inconvenient if your horse is a prolific pooper as you need to make multiple trips around the ring and back to the tub while dragging a horse behind you. The muck tub tends to be too full to carry around the ring.
I would also recommend that you dump the muck tub daily. That has been a drawback at most facilities I have been at is they allow the muck tub to get totally full of manure which attracts flies. If you do use the muck tub in the cart then dumping it daily makes it lighter to wheel the tub around.
I liked GraceLikeRain’s script.
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These little manure pick buckets really make it easy to get it all in one trip back to the bucket. I use that with a kid’s rake from Lowe’s and it’s easy peasy.
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There is NO WAY I would ride at a barn that forced me to get off my horse to scoop up manure in the middle of the ride. I scoop manure when I am done riding, every time. And I think that it’s nicer if you let your horse stop and poop in one spot than kicking him and leaving a trailer, but that’s me and some people view it as a disobedience that can affect showing.
I agree that the above script is good, and that it’s not reasonable to ask people to interrupt their ride to get off and immediately pick up the poop (multiple times?). Asking not to ride through it, and picking it up at the end of the ride is reasonable, and most people will go along with it. That’s the norm at several barns that I ride at/know of. I know of one outdoor ring that doesn’t care.
To make it less frustrating for everyone, PLEASE don’t think that your old pitchfork with the broken tine is a good choice to be your ring fork! The ring I use the most does that, and it’s super frustrating to try to get the whole pile on there while working around the missing tine.
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I highly recommend getting a Fine Tine fork withthe basket because it makes it infinitely easier to get every little bit of manure.
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