When you own a barn with multiple horses, there’s a good chance you spend most of your time cleaning stalls. Stall cleaning is a necessary chore, but did you know that you can design your barn to make stall cleaning easier? Here are some tips that you’ll want to consider when planning or building your dream barn!

Include Generously Sized Stalls

One of the biggest mistakes that new barn owners make is designing horse stalls that are actually too small for their horses. While a 12’ by 12’ stall is generally accepted as an appropriate size for most horses, if your horses are rather large, a 12’ by 12’ stall can sometimes be a tight fit.When your horse doesn’t have adequate space to move around during the night, he will be forced to turn in circles. This circular motion can churn his stall into a mess. By morning, you may be faced with a stall that needs to be stripped. Opting for stalls which are generously sized for your horses will help with the overall upkeep of the stall.

Include Stall Mats to Protect the Stall’s Base

Rubber stall mats are a necessity when you’re trying to make stall cleaning easier. Installing rubber mats can help prevent your horse from mixing the stall’s base into his bedding, while also creating a smooth surface making stall cleaning much easier.

Reduce Your Bedding with a Stable Comfort System

The StableComfort System is a stall mattress system which provides excellent cushion to your horse’s stall. A rubber crumb-filled mattress is covered by a thick rubber cover, creating a supportive and soft basis for the stall. The StableComfort System reduces the amount of bedding that you have to use for cushion, keeping your stall cleaning chores fast and easy.  

Choose your Bedding

Speaking of bedding, make sure you find the one that works best for you. While shavings are traditional, you may find pelleted bedding is easier to clean. Or follow the race horse method of using straw bedding.

Include Adequate Lighting in Each Stall

There’s nothing worse than trying to clean a stall in dim light. When you build your barn, be sure to include adequate lighting. Any lights that you install should be properly surrounded by a protective cage. Opt for strong barn lighting so that you can always see when you’re doing chores not only at nighttime but also during the wintertime, when the sun is out much less.

Install Barn Fans to Keep You Cool

Stall cleaning during the summer can be an unpleasantly hot chore. Opt to install barn fans for a healthy air circulation. Turning these fans on at the beginning of your stall cleaning chores can help to keep you cool, making the process much more tolerable. Fans will also help keep your horses cool during those hot summer days.

Stall cleaning is a necessary chore in any horse barn. But it doesn’t have to be the hardest. Take a look at our products that can help with your stall cleaning process, saving you time and money so you can spend less time working and more time riding!