Yard Cleaning Kit

Yard Cleaning Kit and The Basics for Keeping Your Horse Yard Clean

Contents

Cleaning Tools!

If you have all the items outlined below to hand, this will make keeping your yard clean and in order a piece of cake….

Opposite is a very simple picture but even this will have taken time to set up and organize. Once done however, it lasts for years.

By creating a place and by this I mean, an exact place for everything, in the long run this will save you valuable time and money.

Notice the detail in the picture opposite – hose reel, hose end, broom, shaving forks, wheelbarrows and in the distance shovels. All straighforward yard cleaning stuff, but it is neat and well put together.

Essential Cleaning Kit

The following items are ideal to have hanging up and available in your yard all year round.

Cold Water Hose -If you are bringing your horses in from the field, have a good cold water hose preferably wall mounted, so you can hose down their hooves if muddy before picking out.

Hozelock Spray Gun - This is the best hose end that I have found for cleaning hooves and yard cleaning. It is easy to hold and you can adjust the spray strenght to whatever you require.

It is ideal for washing the legs and hooves before trimming and at the same time has enough power if you turn it on and use the jet spray for washing buckets and any muddy or stained areas in your yard.

If you fit it tightly it does not leak and lasts for years, I would not have any other end on my hose.

(In the winter it is a good idea to have a tap cover over the tap and pipe to prevent any damage from freezing and possible burst water pipes.)

Yard Broom(s) – Have decent brooms. Invariably you will need more than one. If they are easily to hand you will use them, if not you won’t!

Have several positioned apart from each other. Get a broom with a wide enough head and suitable bristles to sweep your yard area.

Invest in a good broom hook. Your brooms will last much longer if they are hanging up and not left standing on their bristles.

Alongside your brooms you will need a:-

• good sized Wheelbarrow(s)
• shovel(s) and or a pooh scooper
• shaving fork(s)

Bucket Brush – Have a good bucket brush by your water tap and hose for washing out any mucky feed buckets. A simple cleaning tool but just makes daily cleaning much easier.

Hoof Pick(s) and a Skip Bucket(s) – Keep a skip bucket with your hoof pick for any muck from picking out. This really helps towards keeping yards clean.

Grip Waterproof Gloves. – If the feet are very muddy, have a pair of these to hand, before picking out their feet.

They are as “cheap as chips!” and worth every penny.

I keep several pairs all in different places. ie. by the field, in the yard, in my hoof trimming basket etc!

You will feel the benefit of looking after your hands instantaneously – if it is important to you (it is for me) that your hands remain soft and well looked after.

Sponges

Sweat Scraper and Sponge(s) – Keep these by the water hose for use in the summer months if they need washing down after exercise.

Just great for a quick clean wipe over.

NB Some people think with natural horsemanship horse grooming and washing down horses after exercise if they are sweaty is not necessary. Others, still find that rubbed and sore areas can occur from left over sweaty girth lines, if they are not cleaned off properly after exercising. So it is up to your personal preference.

(Personally I prefer to wash them down and clean them off in the summer. In the winter if they have got very sweaty you can brush off any dried sweaty areas.)

For additional advice and tips on how to wash horses go to Washing Horses.

Backpack Leaf Blowers for your Yard

These are quite superb and I would go as far as to say an absolutely essential for keeping a yard. For more information go to Back Pack Leaf Blowers.