Time and money saving in the winter - everyone post their ideas!

bitsnpieces

Active Member
Aug 22, 2007
6,617
10
38
What tricks does everyone have up their sleeve to save time and money during the winter and to reduce general maintenance?

My girls are pretty economical to keep so it's more saving time than money. I make all my hay and nets for the week on a Sunday, saves me ages! I also add in my new bedding on a Sunday and make big banks then I can pull down what I need rather than having to constantly add fresh during the week. Am lucky as the girls tend to leave their banks up!

Am also about to put Puz's tail bag on for the winter to stop it getting muddy and horrid, bought pig oil and sulphur for her legs to stop the mud sticking so badly.
 
I put hay on the floor to save netting it all up!

I do put some in nets though so she has something to play with & keep her occupied when the hay on the floor is gone.

At our old yard to used to get everything I needed for the morning ready the night before and keep it in the back of the car so it could all literally be chucked in the field & was near on ready to go first thing.
 
Because I have to get up at silly o'clock and tis still pitch dark - I get dressed into my horse clothes in the dark (can't stand too much light too soon lol) and I just keep my sleeping vest on with a fleece over the top........hehehe, bit of a lazy tip but there you go. And, then when I get warm I have layers to take off.

I don't know of many things that would save time that I don't already do - I seem to be still at the stables until 8.30 at night whatever.......
 
Do as much as possible the night before. Hay nets, feeds, skip out as late as possible, to leave muck out easier in morning.

If possible, leave the same rugs on during the day and night, I use a fleece at night and then add the lightweight turnout for day whilst milder, then medium weight day and night in and out...taken off every evening to check for bumps etc.
 
I'm the opposite to Maggiemoo - I do everything I can in the morning. I leave her in the yard having her feed while I tidy up the stable, fill nets, buckets etc, then I change her rug, sling her out and go to work. Except for the week before Christmas I generally find I have enough light to do most of my jobs.

Then all there is to do is catch and change rugs, then home to my warm home and plate of stew.

I try to leave things so if anything happened and I couldn't get after work all anyone would have to do is put the bed down, bring her in and take the lid off her night feed - I wouldn't even ask anyone to change her rug just for one night.
 
During the week (like Trewsers) everything has to be done in the pitch black so I just chuck my stable clothes on over my pj's, add an extra fleece, warm coat and unfortunately now the warm hats have come out of the cupboard for the winter.

All haynets are made up on Sunday as are my feeds which are nicely stacked up in my feed locker (an old feezer in my tack room). That means I just have to grab a net and grab a bucket and put those in the stable at night. Mol's on Nedz Bedz (best for her COPD) so I skip out during in the morning during the week and then on the weekend do a full muck out and take out all the wet on a weekend, which saves mountains of time. I get her water collected and dragged down from the house to her stable the night before (in water carriers so it's not sitting in the stable all day).

The routine when I get home from work (my OH laughs about this one) is that Mol is brought in, fed and bedded down first. Then walk the dogs and then they are fed, and finally I get to sit down for my evening meal. He thinks its all wrong and I should be sorted first but my argument is that I'd rather come in from the cold and then not have to worry about having to back out there.

I just wish I could be as organised in my house as I am on my yard to be honest then it wouldn't take me an entire day to do all the housework. :banghead:
 
For me... normally i like to muck out about 7ish as it saves me so much time and she is no were near as mucky :)
I also fill up her nets on a sunday so all i have to do is hang them I make her speedi beet and the rest of her tea first thing so again all i have to do is give it to her :)
 
None of mine have hard feed so that saves a bit of time. Fat pony and cob and very excitable Trakehner so is a no no.

I have haybars in stables so no need to fill hay nets.

I get up at 6am, muck out and turnout. I leave them in their turnout rugs. Don't believe in stable rugs waste of money in my opinion and if you have a filthy horse like me, he needs his turnout in the stable LOL.

They have rubber floor so I only have to sprinkle a small bed for them to wee on and then sweep out in the morning. Only takes me 15 minutes to muck out my three.

I have just bought a H2GO Barrow Bag in the hope that it will make my life easier getting water from the house to the yard when the pipes at the yard are frozen.
 
Having had 40 horses in a couple of winters ago with 2 of us to do them we are timesaver stars!!

Keep horse in breathable turnouts at all times. These can be layered with cheap duvets for added warm but not changing rugs saves a lot of time.

Arrange fields so horses can either be led out/in in large groups or run as a herd to and from fields/yard

Run semi deep litter system taking out some beds every day or if at work at weekend

Hay or haylage on floor straight from wheelbarrow, learn to gauge size of pile instead of needing to weight, net etc.

Make up all feeds at most once a day, buying lots of feed bowls will mean you can organise washing, filling etc to suit your routine. Have a storage system to keep them away from rodents. We found very cheap metal bins on Ebay!!

Buy hoods (snuggy turnouts) they are expensive but mean you can ride without scraping mud off.

Do not be ashamed to ride a horse with a dirty neck , legs.. but be fanatical about under tack areas.

Rubber mats and experiment with bedding. We have ours on paper which is free from local businesses but harder to manage than shavings. We can still do 10 stables each totally in 1 hour!

Invest in a hose to reach each into stable and keep it indoors at night. Even if you have auto waterers there are times you need to water by hand and buckets are soul destroying.

Buy waterproof outerwear, good boots and waterproof gloves. Cold and wet doe not equal fast work.
 
Yes. Why god did I not think of that?


My ultimate time saver (but not money saver) - get a really painful hip so you can't care for the ponies at home! Frayne has gone off to a yard on training livery, and Robbie is at another yard as a temporary loan (but will pay any extra costs that the wonderfully kind YO gets, ie any balancer/foot trimming/vets/dentist etc).

I now have time to get back into crafting, paint my nails, watch tv - AND I have even more time as I can't walk the dogs/do much housework/drive anywhere.

However, wouldn't recommend it as I miss the ponies all the time, get jealous when I see neighbours going off on a hack and have a strange urge to muck out/fill haynets!!

Ali xx
 
Well mine stay out 24/7.

I make a point of renting more than than most people would and so I have a lot of grass for winter. This means I only have to feed hay if the grass is covered by snow and that save a lot of time and worry. It also means I have less mud than most people in my area.

I also save rainy days for poo picking and dry days for riding etc. I use a twin wheeled barrow for poo picking as this is better balanced and less likely to fall over or sink into mud.

I'd also wholeheartedly agre with eml and only am fastidious about tack areas being clean but don't worry so much about the rest.
 
My tricks i would say are my hubby and son :bounce:

not as much my daughter as it seems to take twice as long.

on a serious note though.. the same as everyone else, just plan ahead and prioritise wht really needs doing and wht you can get away with until you have more time.
 
newrider.com