25/02/2026
Discussion… mucking out! How do we all do ours? Of course when mucking out for someone else, I always ask how they like their beds done and it amazes me me how variable people are in terms of what stays in, what goes out etc etc!
My own horses however, I’ve always kept with a deep litter base as IMO it makes mucking out a million times easier! I don’t mean just chucking straw on top every day, I mean properly making a small base layer and then putting a small bit of clean on top daily.
These pictures are a perfect example. Said horse is one I’ve been doing most days for a few weeks now, he’s on box rest and I put the bank of clean straw along the back Monday morning… 1 single flap of big bale. Every morning I whip off the poos and take a bit of wee out, level it out sweep it back etc but tonight going in to do a late skip out I thought I’d take pics.
First pic is this evening before I went in, 2nd pic was 4 mins later! As there’s a secure base, I don’t need to put heaps of straw on top so the poos don’t get mashed in! The bed isn’t huge, there’s little wastage and the time is minimal. But, it’s perfectly apt for a horse to lie down and he isn’t led on a wet bed!
I’m intrigued to know other people’s thoughts on this… I have been sacked from yards before because mucking out wasn’t to their standards! But what are other people’s ideas of standards? Does it vary between pleasure owner and a business owner? Given the cost of straw right now and also knowing time is any professional in the industries nemesis… I’m just interested to know what other people do!
Let me know 😬☺️
P.s this is supposed to be a fun post, absolutely not aimed at anyone personally!! It’s just a question I’ve always wondered ☺️☺️
