Think of this as the How To Page:
It takes a team of Volunteers to help ensure we can maintain the best environment for our Riders & Four Legged Friends.
We will be trying to ramp up our volunteer team by categorizing chores in groups to help you decide what is right for you.
Below is a list of common tasks organized in groups, the youtube gallery is a quick and easy reference demonstrating how each chore is done. If chores are not done in a specific way for our barn, it tends to make more work in the end. Just an example, you come to the barn and clean a few stalls, you leave the manure in the wagon… overnight that manure freezes and it takes me 1/2 hour to chip away at it to get it free from the wagon. Simple things that don’t cross your mind cause more trouble than it’s worth. Simply following the way we like it done makes life much easier for the next person and will end up in a much more organized & clean barn full of happy horses!
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/embed?listType=playlist&list=PLaKSpiirs_qWT6wHlyquVVFcpZHmCWEEu&layout=gallery[/embedyt]No Experience Needed:
Stalls
- Stalls are one of the heaviest of jobs when it is tackled by one person, when you are at the barn if you spend the time to make sure just a few stalls are done to perfection you help maintain the barn as a whole and alleviate the work load on one person
- All manure can be wheeled to the back of the barn in the appropriate pile, do not dump manure in roadways or the ditch areas
- Be sure to sift through the shavings to ensure you are eliminating all manure while leaving behind valuable shavings
- You may leave 1 flake of hay in the appropriate corner of the stall and ensure a full bucket of water is left on the appropriate hook in a clean bucket
- Rake around the door and feed area of the stall to ensure a clean entrance to stall
Feed & Water Buckets
- Another great chore made easier by helpers is to keep our feed and buckets looking sparkling clean by taking them outside and take the scrub brush & hose to them
- Feed buckets need to be placed back on their appropriate holders on each stall door, water buckets can be left empty stacked neatly in the feed room area (if they are not re-filled and left in each stall)
General Barn & Lounge Tidy
- Leaving the barn aisles & grooming stalls raked is essential in giving the barn that finished look we all deserve to walk into
- Everyone should be taking away the manure left behind during their lease rides, and group lessons. The occasional mess will be left behind from a beginner or someone who ended up side tracked, whatever the reason may be all manure needs to be picked up
- Halters and leads all have their appropriate hooks
- No brushes, or other items should be left on the floor
- All garbage should be in the garbage bin
Tack Room
- Saddles and Bridles all have their appropriate hooks and should be away accordingly
- Clean Figure 8 bridles will help keep our tack room looking organized
Water Troughs
- If you notice a trough is low enough it can be emptied this is a great time to flip it over and take the hose and scrub brush to it and re-fill it so it’s sparkling clean
- If the trough appears clean but is less than 1/2 full it can certainly be filled up
Horse Related:
- Bringing in and turning out horses
- Grooming
- Tacking up for exercise or lessons
- Assisting with lessons
Specific Tasks for certain days
- While all of the above are general everyday chores at the barn we may have specific needs on a given day that would be noted on the volunteer section of the whiteboard
Before you leave the barn…
- You must ensure you have turned off any water taps you turned on
- You must turn off all lights
- You must plug in any electric fences you may have turned off
You must agree to fill out the tracker every visit as this is the only way for us to keep full control of what is going on, who is at the barn at all times, and what chores have been done.