Whether you board your horse at a stable or keep him at home, a safe environment is crucial. Ensure that the stall’s walls are solid and free of gaps where a horse might get his head caught in them. Use a stud finder to locate the studs in your wall before installing these brackets. You can also install a wall anchor for extra stability.
Easy Access to Feed
A horse owner can spend time and money on the barn design, paddock fencing, watering systems, and other parts of the stable, but with proper stall accessories, horses will have access to food. A wall caddy can help cut down on time and effort during feeding, as well as provide easy storage for supplies. Proper hay feeder placement minimizes forage contact with stall bedding and other waste, reduces stomach acids, and improves digestion. Using a corner floor hay rack promotes slow eating and allows horses to eat in a natural position. A wall-mounted tack caddy can organize riding apparel, wraps, and blankets and store each horse’s saddle and bridle. A swivel-mounted blanket bar system can also be installed to hang each horse’s identification, with space for five bars for blankets of any size.
Easy Access to Water
To save time when changing horse jumps, invest in a mobile pole caddy to help you transport poles across arenas and around fence lines. This simple solution is a vast improvement over hauling them by hand, which can be exhausting after an event or workout. Hanging a bathroom organizer in your barn is an easy way to keep grooming supplies organized and accessible. Many are large enough to store shampoos, conditioners, detanglers, brushes, combs, and spray bottles. Some are even mouse-proof to protect your items from critters. A run-in shed minimizes stall cleanout and shoveling, plus it allows horses to eat, drink, and lie down in open space. It’s a great alternative to traditional stalls and protects your livestock in most weather conditions.
Easy Access to Stall Cleaning Tools
Stall cleaning can be messy work, so it is essential to have a convenient place for supplies. A wall caddy provides a spot to store rags, buckets, detanglers, and curry combs. It can also hang eye hooks for water and feed buckets and a salt block holder. If you have rubber horse stall mats, you must disinfect them regularly. Especially when a sick horse is in quarantine, or you move horses from a different barn where the horses may have been exposed to illness. When you’re ready to disinfect the mats, start at the top and work your way down. This helps prevent rinsing grimy water over areas you’ve scrubbed and rinsed. This will save you time and effort.
Easy Access to Stall Cleaning Supplies
For many horse owners, a caddy is the best way to keep cleaning supplies handy. You can find a variety of sizes that cater to the products you use daily. You can also hang a large whiteboard near your caddy for lesson scheduling, rider release forms, boarding agreements, and more. Whether you choose buckets or automatic drinkers, these tools must be cleaned of algae daily. Consider the strength and maintenance requirements of each, as well as the water refill mechanism – some horses can become scared of using a valve or being able to open it and flood the stall. Straw bedding absorbs urine and helps control ammonia levels, but it can be moldy and dusty. Some horse owners use alternative bedding materials that are easier to muck out and less expensive than straw, such as peat moss or wood shavings.