Your Holistic Guide to Barn Maintenance

Horses are among those pets that require a lot of care. From their diet to cleanliness, especially their barns, they need special care to ensure they live healthy lives in their new homes. However, with all these responsibilities, it is easy to get overwhelmed and confused about barn maintenance. There are many factors to consider, and identifying where to start might be challenging.

It is, however, well worth it because a neat barn and well-maintained backyard will surely enhance your house’s appeal. Here is a comprehensive guide to maintaining a well-groomed environment for your beloved horses.

Set Up a Cleaning Schedule

Cleanliness is one of the most critical factors during barn maintenance. It is best to design a daily and weekly cleaning schedule that sits well with the rest of your routines, and remember that this is a time-consuming task. Dedicate the daily schedule to manure cleaning, raking, and sweeping, while weekly, you can turn your attention to replacing the bedding and washing the floors and walls. If you’re confused about where to start, here’s an essential step-by-step guide to cleaning your horse stalls:

1. Start by sifting wet shavings and manure using a pitchfork and dumping them into a bucket to prevent them from contaminating the space again.
2. Then, use hay or pine shavings to absorb moisture from any remaining wet spots.
3. Use a broom to sweep sawdust away from the feeders and a rake to collect any escaped contaminants.

Ventilate The Space

Lack of adequate ventilation in barns can lead to problems such as ammonia buildup and excess humidity. This can cause respiratory issues amongst your horses and badly compromise their well-being. Therefore, ensuring that moist air from inside the stalls is correctly ventilated outwards is vital, giving your horses a fresh supply of dry, clean air. You should also conduct regular air quality checks to ensure humidity and ammonia levels stay in check.

You can invest in ceiling fans and exhaust systems specially designed for barn use. Each stall should have ample space above it to allow cross-ventilation of hot air and vents. Another good practice is leaving the doors open during the daytime, giving your horses much-needed fresh air even when they’re not outdoors.

Look Out for Pests

With all the hay, grain, and moisture inside them, barns are the ideal spaces for pests to infest. However, a pest infestation would not only put your horses in harm’s way due to the risk of disease but also the risk of structural damage to your property. When it comes to pests, prevention is better than cure. Deep cleaning of the stalls and ensuring horse feed is not gathered on the barn floor is the first step to avoid inviting rodents. Lay snap traps for rodents at various spots in the barn and install fly traps and screens. Invest in feed bins that can be tightly contained. Alternatively, you can start storing feed bins on shelves, i.e., off the ground, to mitigate attacks from rats and raccoons.

Seasonal Tasks

Both your horses and their living spaces require you to take specific steps depending on the weather outside. For example, in summer, you must take excellent care of ventilation and humidity levels inside the stalls. If the temperatures soar too much, you must invest in a good-quality barn fan to cool the space down. In winter, on the other hand, you may have to look into wall insulation options. Even though horses are good at dealing with low temperatures, adding extra bedding will help make them more comfortable during winter.

Invest In Cleaning Equipment

If you have a barn, you already have good old rakes, pitchforks, and brooms for all cleaning jobs. However, these may not be enough to clean horse stalls better, and you might need specialized equipment for deeper cleaning. One such piece of equipment is a pressure washer, which removes all grime and dirt from walls and flooring without cumbersome scrubbing, saving you time.

You will also need a good supply of disinfectants—but not why you think. Stables are a melting pot of all sorts of impurities and germs, and the cleaning equipment you use there might not remain so clean after the task, risking contamination when you next clean. Therefore, it is necessary to disinfect all your equipment before stashing it away after you’re done.

Conclusion

A backyard barn is a dream come true for horse lovers. However, effectively maintaining it might not be everyone’s cup of tea because of the responsibility that comes with it, making it look daunting. Regardless, with the proper guidance and game plan, there is no such thing as an impossible task. By having a good maintenance schedule, knowing how to look after your stables, and investing in the right cleaning equipment, you, too, can ensure your barn is a safe and healthy living space for your horses.