Stable & Yard Equipment: Things You'll Need

Horse owners know that you never just buy the horse, you also have to buy everything that comes with the responsibility of a horse. And we aren’t just talking about saddles, bridles and rugs – there are all kinds of equipment you’ll need for the yard and stable. If you’re about to bring home your first horse or want a list of things you’ll need to keep on your stable yard, here are the basics.

Stable Equipment

Mucking out and cleaning your horse’s stable is one of the biggest responsibilities for horse owners. To make sure your horse’s stable is always properly kitted out, you’ll need the following things:

• Water buckets for your horse to drink from. Two is better than one!
• Feed buckets
• Hay nets
• Rubber mats for your stable floor (which are optional, but save time and mean you use less shavings or straw)
• Manure fork for mucking and skipping out
• Wheelbarrow for dirty shavings and manure. Using a wheelbarrow makes it far easier to move dirty bedding over to the manure pile 
• A rake can be useful for making sure you haven’t missed any droppings in shavings, as well as for making the bedding flat and even. 

Yard Equipment

It isn’t always only your stable that needs cleaning, but the yard in general. Here are some extra pieces of equipment you’ll need to ensure that the aisleways, paddocks, crossties and other areas are always looking good:

• Broom for sweeping floors
• Scooper or spade for poo picking
• Vacuum (again, this is optional but is quicker than sweeping and means dust gets swallowed up rather than moved along!)
• Hosepipe to wash down dirty or muddy areas
• Scissors for yard jobs
• Big storage box for keeping your tack, hat, boots etc safe and in one place

Feed Room Equipment

Unfortunately, stable yards don’t just contain horses and dogs most of the time. Rats and mice are a less welcome type of visitor on the yard, and the feed room is one of the most common places to find them. Keep your feed room organised and clean to help keep things hygienic and to reduce the chances of unwanted visitors:

• Feed bins. Keep your various feed items in a closed bin, if possible
• Feed scoops are great for ensuring you always dish your horse up an even amount of food
• Scales for measuring supplements, feed and anything else

Grooming & Care Equipment

Of course, you’re doing all of this cleaning and storing to make sure your horse looks and feels their best! So we couldn’t forget to make sure you have everything you need for the horse itself. While you obviously need tack as well, here are basic horse care items you can’t be without:

• Shampoo
• Grooming brushes (curry comb, body brush, soft brush etc)
• Hoofpick
• Sponges 
• First aid kit including bandages, vet-wrap, wound creams or sprays, thermometer, scissors, cotton wool, a syringe etc.)