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Wednesday, 4 May 2016

14 Stable hacks You Need to Know

Us long term equestrians use some weird hacks to make our time at the yard easier.  I have had horse's for 14 years now and I have learnt a heap of 

1. Stop Cribbing

Anti-Crib spray - not such a problem if you have metal framed stables but if not and your horse loves to crib then it can be up to £20 per bottle for a good anti - crib spray!  I found this recipe online and it worked great for the posts in my field.

All you need is

  • Water or oil
  • Hot Sauce 
  • Cayenne pepper
I put the ingredients into a spray bottle and began shaking it like crazy!  It would have probably worked better in an old, clean hoof oil tub and applied with a brush. 

2.  Avoid Water Freezing

This is a quick one!  In the winter, my horse's water freezing it so annoying but an easy fix!  You can put a ball in the water that should stop the water from freezing but I like to put an apple in the water instead.  It also acts as a boredom breaker and it is very much to watch your horse trying to fish it out! 

3. Make the Bit More Comfortable

In the winter months, it gets annoyingly cold (for equestrians).  Some horses love it and some hate it!  Zoe is definitely the latter!  She doesn't like her bridle being put on in the best of weather but trying to put a cold bit in her mouth just doesn't happen.  

So I take warm clothes up to the yard every day in the winter and wrap it around her bit while I groom her.  I just put a few face cloths in a bowl and pour hot water over them.  They come in handy for other things too! 

4.  Pull on Over-reach Boots

Another quick one, if your horse over-reaches or you are just taking precautions then pull on over-reach boots are a nightmare to put on! 

If you soak them in hot water it will make them more flexible and will be much easier to put on! 

5.  Items that you can use around the barn

Now for a few items that you can use for multiple things - 

  • Bungee ropes (put it across the stable door to stop your horse kicking it) 
  • Nappies (can be used for poultices)
  • Finished feed bags (storage, bandaging) 
  • Feed barrels ( apart from the obvious you can spread the opening of your haynet around the barrel and it will act as a haynet holder!) 
  •  Electric fencing posts (you can use these in your riding school to create a round pen for lunging or for free schooling over jumps!).  

6.  How to Wash a Horse's Rug

 Use a power washer to wash rugs! Simply hang your rug over a gate your fence and soak with the power washer.  Then use a horse shampoo so you don't irritate your horse's skin and rinse.  Then just leave your rug to dry either on a sunny day or inside somewhere warm!

7.  Keep Your Horse's Plaits in overnight

Most people plait the night before a show as waking up at 6am instead of 4am sounds a lot better.  However, doing this risks the plaits being rubbed out.  

  1. So to avoid this simply plait as usual then get a pair of tights and cut one leg off.  
  2. Lay the leg of the tights down the neck over each plait. 
  3.  Take a plaiting band and secure the tights over each plait with the band. 

8.  I.D For Your Horse!

Colour code your horse's items if you have more than one horse or you keep your horse at a livery yard.

9.  D.I.Y Boredom Breaker! 

If your horse is on box rest or gets bored in the stable very easily then this should definitely help!

  1.  Get yourself a few apples, carrots and a long piece of rope
  2. Cut the core out of the apples and make a hole in each carrot
  3.  thread the rope through each hole
  4. Tie the ends of the rope in a knot and tie it to your horses stable!! 

10.  How To Wash Stable Bandages

Put bandages, lead ropes, headcollars and anything else small enough in a sports bag or underwear bag to wash them.  Remember to tape up the metal parts of your head collar and lead rope!

11.  Carrying Water Long Distances

Every Equestrian knows how difficult it can be to carry water to your horse's field!

You can use a thick rubbish bag in a wheelbarrow to carry a large amount of water!  Just fill the bag up while it is in the wheelbarrow and tie it!  When you need to pour the water out into a bucket cut a small hole near the front so you can tip the wheelbarrow and the water will come out!  Or you can get this H2go Bag - the wheelbarrow water carrier! which is made to do the exact same thing!

    12.  Cleaning Metal Buckles On Your Bridle!

    Use an old toothbrush to clean the metal, hard to reach parts of your bridle!  Toothbrushes are pretty much used for everything, cleaning automatic water troughs, cleaning mud off of your horse's feet and a lot more!  So save and disinfect your old toothbrush and get cleaning! ;)

      13. Where To Put Your Hands While Jumping

      If you are never sure where to put your hands while you are going over the jump then this will really help you whether you accidentally put on your horse's mouth or give way to much reins. 

      1. Have a look at some pictures of other people show jumping and note how far their hands are up the horse's neck. 
      2. Next, find the right stop on your horse's neck and make one plait.  
      3. Every time you go over a jump you are going to place your hands at each side of the plait.  

        14.  Using Leather Head Collars

        There are two instances that using leather head collars are very useful!  The first is if your horse is hard to catch in the field.  When your horse is hard to catch it can be a lot better to leave a head collar on them but this can be dangerous for the horse because a normal head collar will rub the horse's hair and skin and will not snap if it gets caught on something.  A leather headcollar won't rub your horse and will snap if your horse gets in trouble.

        Then Second is similar, as it is to do with the leather headcollar snapping when needed.  When travelling your horse in a box or trailer you should really use a leather head collar for the horse's safety.  I have seen a lot of accidents with horse trailers that could have been different if the horse could escape!



        1. the apples in the water sounds like a fun idea even in the summer!

          1. Yeah it is so fun to watch them play with the apples! thanks you reading! :)

        2. This is so useful! Thanks for posting! Would you be interested in swapping links to each other's blogs and posting it on our respective sites?

          1. Thank you for reading! What is your blog? I will have a read! :)
