I’m already a failure! Mine save it for the ring.
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I have boarded in barns both rustic and super fancy, and I have never been required to pick up after my horse in the ring. Wash rack and cross ties, yes. While hand walking, I do always pick up after him.
The whole idea of picking up after your horse in the ring makes me chuckle, though. If you knew some of the privileged children who ride at my barn, children who have never had to tack up their own horses or care for them, you’d laugh too. Management could require it, but it ain’t gonna happen.
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Maybe explaining the reasons WHY the poo should be removed will create a culture of removal. If riders realize that it can affect the soundness of their horses in the long run (if they never work outside of the ring), they may take a more active involvement.
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I have only been to one barn (as a boarder or visitor) that did not require poop pick up. My current barn has signs posted in the wash stall and the arena as reminders. We have a rolling muck bucket and several forks in the arena for ease of use. The one barn I boarded at that did not require pick up was a very pricey place, and rolled regular arena-picking rotations into their barn staff duties.
It’s really a culture thing. The BOs are very kind, accommodating people but they also don’t hesitate to manage people who do not follow the rules. Usually, a friendly conversation or two is all that’s needed - whether it’s about poop pick up or some other expected behaviour. I have found that if that type of kind-reminder management does not work, often that boarder ends up not being a good fit in other ways, as well.
I would much rather be at a barn that has an expectation of things like poop pickup, aisle sweeping, doing one’s best to attire one’s horse appropriately for the next day’s weather (if at all possible) to save on staff doing blanket changes etc etc. because it means the barn does not have to staff for those things - which means I either save $$ or my $$ goes to other amenities that are more important to me (property upgrades, top quality hay etc.)
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Guess it’s diapers for you (or, rather, your horses) then! lol
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At most barns I’ve ridden at, it’s pick up the poop after you’re done, unless you’re in a lesson (when the instructor usually will do it, mostly for something to do while the rider or riders are on a walk break).
At one barn, after new footing was laid, the rule was picking up poop IMMEDIATELY after your horse pooped in the indoor, so the poop didn’t get mixed in with the footing. If riding alone, this wasn’t an issue (and sometimes if riding my lease horse at my previous barn, since he only usually did it once, I’d pick it up just to get it over with, even if it wasn’t the rule).
Unfortunately at the “pick up the poop immediately” barn, I was riding a very nervous pony who’d often go to the bathroom twice in a half hour, sometimes three times. The arena was small and if it was crowded, this would be hell, because walking around with a clanking bucket and a horse can be awkward in a full space of other working horses. Additionally, you were supposed to pick up just the poop, none of the footing. Obviously, I didn’t do so intentionally, but I once got reported for accidentally picking up too much footing that had gotten stuck to poop when I was in a hurry to get out of a rider’s way. I also got reported to the barn owner for not picking up one of the pony’s many leavings when I thought he was merely farting, not pooping. The other rider, rather than telling me to pick up said poop, felt more comfortable making a formal report to the barn manager than saying, “Hey, your horse just pooped.”
It was such a relief to ride outdoors at that barn, not because the arena was larger, but because it was just an ordinary sand arena, the rule on immediate poop removal was not applicable.
We did all joke about making our horses wear diapers in the indoor.
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Just a shout out for the awesomeness of today’s new word: poopertrator.
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OH MY to all go see the LUBERAL word developed in the “my lil pony palace prison” thread in horse care…combine that with POOPERTRATOR…coth awesomeness!!! way to use our SOBER TOOLS (another one from that thread)!!
The barn where I board does not have an official policy on picking up manure. This is the first time I’ve ever boarded at a place without one – or at least without a solid understanding of everyone that you pick up after your horse when it poops – same for when it makes a mess while grooming or in a wash stall.
As a result, our grooming stalls are almost always filled with hoof pickings and hair (some from clip jobs!). Usually people make some attempt to pick up manure in a grooming stall, but inevitably it is a poor effort and dregs are left behind. Our riding rings very often have manure piles left in them, despite the placement of muck buckets and pitchforks in them.
I find it very demoralizing. Not without shame, I admit that one time even I left poop in a ring because I was so annoyed that no one picks up after themselves. It was a low moment.
BO has sent an email about cleaning up grooming stalls but it appears to have had no effect.
I try to remind myself that we really like this barn because it has some of the best turnout in the area and a liberal hay policy and that I can put up with a lot of s*** to get those things. Never thought that would be literal though.
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We must remove from the inside and the outside ring. Luckily I generally ride while the groom is lunging so she picks my horses “apples” up while I finish riding. I’m nice and will return the favor if the tables are turned.
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My rule has always been pick up poop any time it occurs outside of the stall, pasture, or trail.
I once drove a pitchfork and bucket a half mile down the road because my mare insisted on pooping in the middle of a road crossing and as the only barn in the area it seemed like it would reflect poorly on the barn to non-horsey people.
If I’m watching on the ground and know the horse/rider I’ll hop in the ring to grab a pile so the rider doesn’t have to avoid it the rest of the ride.
Picking up poop behind my horse is so second nature that I feel uncomfortable in the rare instances where I am a barn that doesn’t care and doesn’t make a fork and bucket available.
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I guess it works differently when you are at a small private farm (barn is not near indoor). All done safely, as reins are tied up and never done with the door open. I would never do it with others in the indoor. Honestly probably should have just left my mouth shut but I assumed people would assume safety taken. I taught this specific mare to stand away from me for various reasons, but no need for me to justify. Just posting a little humor but I guess it didn’t come across that way. Clean up poop, end of story, in safe ways!
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We are…
NOT ALLOWED TO PICK UP OUR POOP.
BO says he paid $$$$$$ to put rubber footing in the indoor, and he does not want it scooped out and thrown in the compost pile! Needless to say, it doesn’t take long for our footing to pack…
my 6 year old lets me grab the fork from the side, walk to the spot, and rest it on him while I dismount to pick it up. Sadly at 16.3, I haven’t figured out exactly how I can scoop while mounted!
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I have a hard enough time getting his cooler on and off at the rail. This would be near impossible!
Make every attempt to figure out who is failing to pick up their poop for the first month or two. Speak to them and emphasize the need to care for the new footing and that picking poop is not optional. Set the standard and police it heavily at first and the culture will adjust. Set the standard and ignore it for a while and it will be very difficult to correct.
I thought it was a bit mad to pick poop when I first encountered the rule, but it is so much more pleasant to ride in footing instead of poop that I don’t even think about it. Horses are trained to follow and wait politely without pulling on the reins while I wield the fork and walk back to the bucket.
I will confess to getting ticked off when I have to go round and pick other’s “forgotten” poops before I ride.
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I know no other way than cleaning up after myself. I cannot recall the American barn I was at years ago, but here it has been the norm. You leave it the way you found it, which is clean. We all sweep up our hoof pickings, hair, dirt, etc. There is a wheelbarrow/bin/bucket placed in the arena or just outside of the gate.
I will clean up my horses poop with him in tow if there is only 1-2 other people in the arena. The arena is huge and it is easy to avoid one person cleaning up poop for a minute or two. We will also clean up another’s poop if we already have the equipment in hand. If the arena is more crowded, then I’ll come back for it sans horse.
I’m a boarder at a small barn currently that has a stricter poop-picking policy than I have ever experienced–in addition to everyone being responsible for picking up after their horses (which I find standard like most others here), if others are riding in the arena at the same time, you’re expected to get off your horse and pick the poo pretty much immediately. You’re also expected to pick the broken flaky bits up by hand–this is actually something I learned a roundabout way because it was not spelled out anywhere and it never occurred to me that this was something one was expected to do, there were just some group texts sent out to all boarders not long after I and a few others moved in about the level of poo picking having gone down, eventually I figured it out like oh, apparently whatever you can get into a fork is not enough. Anyways so I would recommend being clear about your expectations!
One thing that helps a LOT is we have these flexible green tote baskets (which I can only seem to find on Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Garden-Flexible-Colour-Storage-Container/dp/6040427426) that are a lot easier to carry around the arena than a big muck tub, and you avoid walking up and down the arena with poo pieces falling out of your fork. We also have rubber gloves by the arena door. Some people also use shop towels for the flaky bits (we all have shop towels on hand in case of the extremely unfortunate event of our horse peeing in the arena, which has wax-based footing, so you have to sop everything up with most of a roll of shop towels.)
From my experience, boarders are on board with cleanliness and its benefits–even those of us with horses who seem to have very lubricated bowels!
Where I am ( which is a lot of self care people who clean up horse poop already for their horse) people are expected to clean up if their horse poops in the arena. Few do. I have a horse that will not poop or pee under saddle, so I never have to worry about this. From time to time I do clean up what is there, feeling virtuous, as it is not mine.
I have a pony who was a western halter horse before I got him. He was trained never to poop in the ring or under saddle. He also, as a general matter, would not poop once he got to a show. I imagine they beat this into him, he has scars from some of their other “training methods.”
Anyway, not pooping in the ring sounds great but imagine yourself at a show with a horse that won’t poop, even if you’re there all day. Unless he was in a stall or on the trailer he would hold it ALL DAY. It was a giant pain in the butt.
