Question:

Preparing a barn for horses to use...

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I have a small barn that is in wonderful condition, and hasn't been used for at least three years for any animal....except the odd mouse...lol. Is there anything I need to do to make it hygienic prior to allowing horses in it? The floor is concrete.

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  1. If it doesn't have a drainage system, then in addition to cleaning and inspecting it thoroughly, I'd work on drainage.  Concrete is the worst flooring for stalls and no amount of rubber matting and bedding can make it best, but it can improve it.  If you have the ceiling height to do it, I'd build up over the concrete a layer of ag lime about 6 inches thick, put rubber mats over that, and bed with shavings which absorb better than straw.  The lime will help to absorb and neutralize ammonia from decomposing urine that leaks under the mats.  It can be replaced once a year or so when the stalls get a spring cleaning.  I would also bleach clean any stall areas since strangles and other pathogens may live indefinitely in barns.


  2. Brush accumalated dust and spiderwebs down with a broom.  Sweep dust and dirt from floors.  Get rubber mats and top them plenty of fresh wood shavings over the concrete in the stalls.  Clean any buckets, bowls or mangers with warm water and mild detergent.  Not much else needs to be done.

  3. u have to put either wood shavings or straw on the bottom like 10 cm thick.  or professional rubber matting but straw or shavings are the good old cheap ones and comfortable.

    i prefer straw less dusty

  4. If it was my barn, i would just powerwash everything, expecially the stall walls. You don't know what kind of bacteria could be in there. If you can't powerwash, just scrub teh walls with some bleach.  

  5. Yea I would use straw as bedding although my horses used to eat it!  I have also used wood shavings in the past but they can be dusty.  Those are the cheapest versions anyway.  

  6. My trainer uses the term "Idiot-Proofing". Thats when you check every inch of every thing and eliminate any possability of a horse getting hurt on it. Be sure to have an open mind though because horses are good at geting their faces rippied open.

    Be sure to check for nails in the walls and loose on the ground. Horses can rip their eyelids open easily, so check every thing.

    Good luck!!

  7. Unless the animals who used the barn before has any type of illness i would worry about anything just the bedding. But it might be a good idea to jet wash the concrete. Also make sure there are not any small hazards that have developed over the last three years.

    Good luck :) x

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