Barn Books

I used to work and board my horse at a barn where the barn owner was the only one who knew what to feed the horses. There were 19 horses and she would just go in the feed room and make up everyone’s feed from the top of her head. There was no chalk board or notes or anything with feed instructions, and it used to drive me crazy! I would routinely ask her who would know what to feed the many horses in case she fell and had amnesia or worse, if she died? She would laugh and promise to write it down, but she never did! I did make a point of at least knowing what MY horse ate!

How emergency ready is your barn? If something happened to you tomorrow, would someone be able to walk in and know exactly what to feed, when to feed and what supplements to give? Would they know what pastures to turn out in and who goes with who in turn out and who to keep separate? If it's winter, will they know what blankets to use? Would they know where your first aid is and who gets what medicine? Would they know how to contact your vet or farrier? Do you even have an emergency contact person in case you are incapacitated?

All barns should at the minimum, have a BARN BOOK. This is filled with detailed instructions and should be in easy sight when you walk into your feed or tack room. It should contain, at the very least:

• Emergency contact info: Vet, farrier, trainers, neighbors, family

• Feed instructions

• Turn-out instructions (large farms should have a diagram of turnout)

• Feed instructions for all other animals

• Barn schedule and chores

• Medication instructions

I have two different schedules, one for hot weather and one for cold weather. Your barn may have more than just 2 schedules. You can manage this whatever way works best for you. I prefer to write out all new instructions each season, as things may have changed, whether it be feed, supplements or turnout times. By re-writing my instructions, it allows me to see where I can make adjustments in my barn chores, to hopefully make my life, as well as anyone farm sitting, that much easier.

Sticky notes are also a great way to make changes and my book usually contains a few!

In addition, I have a dry erase board adjacent to my feed. This way, anyone taking over doesn't have far to go to find out what is being fed.

Labels!!!! I can't say enough about labeling everything! All of my feed cans are labeled, with the name of the feed, who gets it and the amount. This works great in a small barn setting like mine. In a larger setting, you may just want to at least label each feed bin with the name of the feed. You'd be surprised at how many barns I have been to who have multiple feed bins that are not labeled!! Talk about a guessing game of which feed goes where and which horse gets what!

I also have a dry erase board with my emergency contact info, so if my husband needs to reach someone, he doesn't have to look far to find the numbers. (In addition, I have 2 friends who are designated as emergency contacts in my cell phone. These names have a big red asterick next to their name and in the notes section, it says that they are to be contacted to help with the animals.)

Supplements! We all have them! If you are a smaller barn like mine, you probably keep your supplements in their containers, rather than using a SmartPak system or something similar. All of my supplements are labeled with the name and dosing.

How about your first aid kit or medicine cabinet? When we bought our farm, since we downsized on our house square footage, there were several antique pieces of furniture that ended up in my tack and feed room, including a lovely cabinet that makes for a perfect medicine chest. When you open the door, it is organized and labeled, so there is no lost time searching for Banamine, the thermometer, bandages or Betadine!

I also label my hay stall and have a laminated sheet with feeding instructions on the door. Above the hay I have noted the type of hay and who gets it. This was done more for my husband, who has no clue as to the difference between O & A and straight orchard or timothy.

Since I have a chicken coop as well as a duck house, I laminated their instructions for my farm sitter and tacked them to the doors of each coop. This makes life easy and I know that I don't need to write up any additional instructions when I am away.

I hope this post motivates you to develop a BARN BOOK plan! It can be as simple or elaborate as you want! Just make it very detailed! The point is that anyone should be able to walk into your barn and be able to carry on as if you were still there!

GABRIEL’S FAVORITE THINGS:

A typical Thoroughbred, Gabe is not very fond of grooming. Therefore, everything in his grooming box is an Epona product, which are innovative grooming products that take into account the comfort of the horse. By far, Gabe’s favorite Epona product is the Tiger Tongue! The Tiger Tongue is soft to the coat, yet is able to wipe away the most stubborn mud, stains and dirt. The sponge contours to your horses body and can be used wet or dry. On days that Gabe doesn't care to be curried, the Tiger Tongue will remove the dirt and leave his coat shiny! Home (eponaproducts.com)

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