Lol, at the one barn I’ve been in that used a leaf blower, my horse used to stick his head out right in the air stream and demand fanning.
Whoops?
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Sounds you are a really thoughtful boarder. I wish more people were like that. I also do the minimum of “leave it like I found it” and I have bought muck buckets, manure forks and hooks to hang bridles on at the new barn where I board. The owner at the last place had no policy in place to protect the workers- he was an alcoholic and so working for him became too difficult and I left. I worked so hard there and it was just a very dysfunctional place. I think what is the problem sometimes is overbearing boarders- in general. I try to be an “easy keeper” at my new place. Good help is hard to find. We have had three people quit this summer who had been here a long time.
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Not to thread derail, but it’s helpful when barns make it easier for boarders to do that little extra bit. Have pitchforks that are reasonably workable and skip buckets so boarders can pick manure from the stall when possible before putting their horse back. Have decent brooms and picker-uppers within reach. Have enough hooks and places to put away blankets and coolers when riding. I guess some barns discourage picking stalls, though, because then they’re afraid the owner will remove too much bedding. And some people will never help out, no matter how easy it is to do that one little extra thing.
I remember being at one barn, when my horse pooped in the aisle, I immediately cleaned it up and asked (holding the shovel) where the skip bucket was, and they said they didn’t have any, just to put it back in the stall.
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That is why I bought 3 muck buckets and 3 shovels for the new place where I am boarding. $98 expenditure. Worth it!
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Yes. I don’t mind tidying up and going the extra mile but there need to be brooms/muck forks and buckets in readily accessible places. I’ve been at barns that hid that stuff away!
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So i had a chat and we’re trying the mare motel route.
Of course after I got that request okayed, I brought her in today and she was covered in hives and scraped her butt from fly torture/ running around in 102 heat to escape them. The barn worker said she was in bug bite hives yesterday too (they were gone by the time I got there at night). So now I want to ask to adjust her paddock location/ turn out time. I really do hate making all these requests but it’s harder not to when you have “that horse”. We have a show this weekend and her butt is covered in scrapes / hives seems like an objective concern. Anyway blower problem solved I hope!
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I just got chewed out in a group text because I swept up every bit of the hoof trimmings from the farrier but I didn’t know there was a blower and since the little white rasp shavings were left I didn’t clean up after myself…sigh. I agree a blower is easier but don’t love it for my personal allergies. This same barn owner wants everyone to spray and scrub the floor if your horse poops you can’t just shovel it up.
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I’m all for cleaning up after yourself but that’s ridiculous.
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It’s absurd her response this morning was the blower is in the tackroom it’s nice to have a clean barn for everyone. It was NOT dirty omg lol. It’s an open front barn the tiny shavings will blow away the next gust of wind. This barn would actually work great for my riding horse but I’ll never board him there because of this stuff. They pretty much only have retirement boarders who aren’t there often. I’ve been there for 2 years and always just swept everything up but I guess this time the wind didn’t blow through fast enough.
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@stargzng386, was the farrier only doing your horse or was the mess for horses other than yours?
I ask because if the cleaning was for horses in addition to your horses mess a response like “Oh sorry, if my cleaning is not up to par next time I can leave Dobbin and Star’s mess for their owner to clean up” would seem so wonderful. (Though likely not appropriate.)
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Okay, I agree the hoof dust is kind of overkill.
Unless:
What flooring is in the aisle?
If it’s pavers - brick or rubber - stuff gets stuck in the joints & is a beyotch to get out. Blowing may be the only way.
And, as a BO, with what you pay for those pavers you might want to keep them as clean as possible.
Same for manure, even on plain cement, it will stain.
My Plain Vanilla little barn is paved with compacted stonedust. I sweep to keep it halfway clean (Martha Stewart, I ain’t), keep down the dust & hay fines.
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Have you tried Zyrtec/Benadryl in her grain to lessen the hives/itchiness? My horses live on these in summer.
Good luck with the turnout request. I don’t know how to make it better in summer, but maybe there’s a solution that could work!
Just my horse…I just responded I’ll use the blower next time. I know it’s not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things and they do a lot of things right but I have a lot of animals in different locations and a lot of responsibilities and the barn was clean when I left. Not a warm and fuzzy feeling to get piled on via group text. A number of boarders made sure to respond wasn’t me I always use the blower etc.
The area is covered in interlocking stall mats the regular kind. It has some little divits from it being textured so they don’t slip so some shavings get caught there but ultimately any surface with a broom can’t get those little bits. There wasn’t even a line of them after using the shovel because I then tried to sweep it out on the gravel.
I’m sorry but for manure my responsibility should end at scooping it up and sweeping it out(or using the blower lol). They’re horses and they poop. If you provide a grooming spot the horse should be able to poop and have it reasonably cleaned out after. It’s not a wash stall where it would be easy to spray it down there’s a hose at either end of the barn that could be 20-40ft from where you’re grooming. You have to unwind the hose spray it, find the scrub brush in the stall with all of the cleaning supplies, scrub it by hand by bending over and then spray it after to rinse it. This barn gets power washed multiple times through the year. I know everyone has their quirks and it’s their barn their rules but it’s ridiculous. Thankfully my horse almost never poops when I bring him in to groom so that part is a non issue for me. None of this was discussed up front or in the contracted barn rules but instead via an angry/frustrated group text.
Not trying to derail this thread it just seemed fitting since it was a blower discussion. I also second the use of zyrtec to reduce hives. I had a horse who would get them badly every time he was bit by bugs and adding zyrtec daily in summer totally got rid of them. The flies can really be a nightmare in some locations.
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Probably a dumb question, but does she have a fly sheet? What are the worst insects in your area that bother her? (Itching in sympathy, as someone who has many skin allergies herself.) It does sound like some sort of antihistamine would help with many of her problems, if you can find one she can tolerate to take regularly.
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Sounds like a poor choice of flooring for the aisle if BO wants it spotless 
Group text is very GrammarSchoolish, but I guess since BO could not identify who left the {gasp} hoof raspings it was a way to communicate the Thought Shalt Not. 
If everything else is great, the occasional blowjob (smirk 
) or poop removal mandate has to be lived with.
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If you want your concrete aisles spotless, you arrange for regular pressure washing.
Wanting boarders to go full mommy dearest on it is nuts.
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I know a place that makes you scrub with bleach if your horse poops in the aisle. Maybe they want to board carousel horses and not real ones.
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I would laugh, and laugh, and laugh, as I hitched my trailer to get my horse out of there.
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I didn’t board there. I was there for a show. I was flabbergasted.
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I don’t like to use bleach in my OWN HOUSE!
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