# The official how to save money around the barn thread!



## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

I suppose I'll go first..

The biggest thing I do is I always turn off the light, and radio before leaving the barn. I mean no horse really needs to listen to the radio all night. 

Another thing I'm really interested in doing is solar panels. They are so expensive. D;


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## Maverick101 (Nov 8, 2009)

Im like you Im huge into saving electricity...not only to save money but for environmental reasons as well.

I also like to reuse things, no old feed container, or bottle doesn't find another use in my barn. Whether it be a toy for the horses (I use old zev bottles, and electrolyte bottles in thier stalls for toys) or as a container for nails, or brushes or what have you.

I also purchase a lot of stuff at our dollar store for the barn. I got some awesome buckets to use to divy up their am feedings where as the small utility buckets at our feed store cost like 10 bucks! 

I also have started to go a more natural approach w some of my horses instead of spending huge amounts of $$$ on supplements. For example Baking soda is a great option as a probiotic, and all our horses get garlic as an immune booster, and helps w deterring mosquitoes in summer. This turns out to be much cheaper then paying for brand name supplements that do the samethings


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## My Beau (Jan 2, 2009)

We put a few flower pots outside of our big sliding doors in the summer. When I empty water buckets, instead of pouring it in the wash stall drain or on the ground, I water the flowers with it.

We save empty sawdust bags and use them as trash bags.

Reuse supplement containers. I like them for premeasuring grain for overnight shows, throw it in a couple supp buckets and go. Also for treat containers since mice can't chew through it.

I'll add more later... can't think of anything else right now.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

Wow, those are great tips! I never thought of some of them. I will be sure and try to use them. 

One thing I'm big in is not using alot of fly spray, during the summer we plant, plants that help naturally ward off flies. Their hasn't been any studies, that i know of, about the effects of fly spray. I just don't like to use all of the toxic chemicals on my horse.


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## Gidji (Dec 19, 2008)

Baby wipes. The best grooming tool ever invented. Cheap and effective.


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

Buy feed, shavings, and hay in BULK.
Label everything so that other people don't use your stuff thus buying less.
The finer the shavings the less you use and it takes less time to clean.
Depending on the area, you can substitute rice hulls or go half and half for bedding.
I use a fish net to sift dirty water buckets.. I won't dump water buckets or troughs unless they are low or really dirty. Saves time and money and less mud.
I try to buy most of my tack and riding clothes on ebay.
When you go to shows.. sign up with the feed dealers like purina. Fill out multiple cards (1 for you, 1 for your husband, sister or what have you.) They send out $10 feed coupons all the time and when they do I usually get like 4. $40 of feed every month or so is really nice!


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## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

White Foot said:


> One thing I'm big in is not using alot of fly spray, during the summer we plant, plants that help naturally ward off flies.


WF...what kinds of plants do you...errr...plant? I know marigolds are good for warding off bugs...do you have any other suggestions because I was thinking of doing that this year to help with the never ending flies! That, fly predators and possibly feed thru fly control (have to do more research on that last point).

Sorry for hijacking but I had to ask.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

Jake and Dai said:


> WF...what kinds of plants do you...errr...plant? I know marigolds are good for warding off bugs...do you have any other suggestions because I was thinking of doing that this year to help with the never ending flies! That, fly predators and possibly feed thru fly control (have to do more research on that last point).
> 
> Sorry for hijacking but I had to ask.


companion plants to ward off pests

It /really/ has helped us out around the barn. The only thing I have the worst time with are the gnats? I think they are called that, they're tiny black flies that bite and make you bleed.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

starlinestables said:


> Buy feed, shavings, and hay in BULK.
> Label everything so that other people don't use your stuff thus buying less.
> The finer the shavings the less you use and it takes less time to clean.
> Depending on the area, you can substitute rice hulls or go half and half for bedding.
> ...


I've heard this before, but I'm unaware of where I can buy bulk things.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

I'm really glad people are posting, I love saving money, haha.


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## Jake and Dai (Aug 15, 2008)

White Foot said:


> companion plants to ward off pests
> 
> It /really/ has helped us out around the barn. The only thing I have the worst time with are the gnats? I think they are called that, they're tiny black flies that bite and make you bleed.


Thanks WF. And this sort of ties in to the plant thing...I use Smart Paks so plan to use the leftover plastic bases to start both my plants for warding off insects as well as the plants for my vegetable garden. They are the perfect size to start seeds.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

I was thinking about starting a garden this year, I just don't know if I'll have time. I take a conservation science class in college and it opened my eyes to what we were eating and how bad it is for us. ;x


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## Sghorselover (Oct 19, 2009)

some things my barn does:

Take a thin older saddle pad fold it in half and place a regular saddle pad on top and now you dont have to wash the thick heavy ones as often.

Buy every thing on sale.

Ebay Dover and other online places where you can get tack.

Turn off the light in the barn when not needed

Fly spray only when needed

show sheen only like when the need it

buy kids leave in conditioners for mane and tale de-tanglers

Cut up carrots, so you have more for each horse

Bathe when only nessicary

Buy in bulk!

thats all i have for now!


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## wild_spot (Jan 30, 2008)

Simple - Don't have a barn :]

My horses are paddocked 24/7 - Don't get fed in summer except a mineral lick. Pretty cheap :]


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## Pidge (Sep 5, 2009)

instead of buying fly spray in the summer (which can add up) use diluted ACV....and in winter use it on thrush instead of buying expensive chemicals.

ACV can also be used as a join an coat suppliment so you can save alot by just buying a big jug of the stuff lol ACV stands for apple cider vinigar for those who dont know. lol

Also just reuse anything you can! be it buckets or old blankets an such lol


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

Feed you can buy by the ton (a pallet) for usually a .50 to $1 discount per bag.. 40 bags make a ton so I save $40 every month on feed.

If you go on polocenter.com and there are a few other websites you can go to for a list of hay and shavings suppliers and just call around and ask for prices and bulk prices.

If you don't have alot of horses try to find another barn or group of horse owners and see if yall can buy in bulk together for the discount.. You can find dealers in other states that deliver with better prices if you can buy alot at once.

If you are a boarder you can also co-op with other boarders to buy items like halters, mineral blocks and what not. Horse.com, statelinetack.com and tackwholesale.com are really good buy in bulk sites especially tackwholesale.com. For instances tackwholesale has really cute fleece lined halters that you can buy 5 at a time and they end up being $9 a halter. 

All you have to do is ask.. When you go anywhere ask if they have bulk discounts or what they may have coupons for.


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## AppyLover615 (Sep 16, 2009)

I love threads like this  I don't own a farm, and probably won't for a long time, but I am already planning things in my dream farm for effeciency and cost saving for example: Lots and lots of natural light and windows in the barn to save on using electricity during the day. 

I love the idea of the plants to ward off bug pests! I would have never thought of that. 

I also like the idea of the fish net to sift through dirty water. 

~AL615


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

Yay  I love saving !


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## stepup73 (Mar 11, 2010)

We put Sky lights all the way through our barn by putting the Clear plastic pieces that will replace a piece of tin over every stall. In the summer or when the suns shining you don't need lights.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

Great! I just got a new book called "The Green Guide to horse owners and riders" i'll post some tips it give later.


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

Buy stall bedding in bulk (saves money and trash money too as there are not heaps of bags to dispose of).
Use almost no fly spray - I use Fly Predators. They work great and keep the barn fly population way down.
Goldfish in the water trough keep the mosquito larvae population down so that is another place that makes my use of fly/bug spray less.
Re-use empty feed bags for just about anything. Trash bags, a temporary cover for something, etc.
Bale my own hay. That is a huge money saver.


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## kmacdougall (Feb 12, 2010)

The idea of buying shavings for like $7 a bale makes me sick.. What we do is save old feed bags, and sometimes we don't have enough so we go to the feed store and you can buy 50 for like $5.. Then we go to a sawmill and we pay $5 to take as much sawdust as we want. My dad bought this little contraption, it looks like a big rod, and we buy wire. We fill the huge feed bags tight as we can with sawdust, then twist the top, wrap a wire around, and the rod thing twists it nice and tight. We take two truck loads and it's enough for our two horses, usually from October - May. 
It breaks down to this: 
Gas: (it's 45 minutes away) $20
Sawdust: $5 (a lot of the time we don't get charged, and the $5 is like .. "take some today.. tomorrow.. next week.. until you have enough") 
Bags: usually free, sometimes $5 
1/2 pound wire clips - $4 
Saving $7 a bale: priceless.
Total: $34 for 8 months worth of sawdust. 

That's probably my biggest money saving tip. Also we keep round bales instead of square, we have tombstone feeders but don't use them. We use a tractor to lift our bales into our loft, then we "unroll" them like cinnamon rolls. My horses get the same amount as they would be getting out of a square bale. 
Automatic waterer (outside) - my horses dump buckets, wasting water.
Making your own show clothes - my mom's best friend custom makes my english show shirts. Plus side is I got a HOT magenta show shirt (I'm a jumper haha), custom tailored to fit me, and monogrammed.
Keeping horses inside all day - my barn is well ventilated but unappealing for flies. I keep my horses inside all day with the lights off, and it's nice and cool. I don't have to fly spray them or anything, and they stay out all night. I ride early in the morning (around 7am) so I don't fly spray then either. 
Deworming - I live in Canada where dewormer is around $28 a tube (and we use one per horse). My uncle regularly travels to the US, where he picks up various dewormers for me at around $17-18 a tube. Our dollar is almost par, so it's a huge savings.
Vaccinations - I had my vet do one vaccination, and he taught me how to do a second. I haven't had a vet vaccinate since.
Doing things ourselves - we do all our own fencing, since we bought an auger cheap at an auction. My dad put some time into it, fenced our back pasture, and then sold it, which paid for some (if not most of) the fencing materials. Also, he's a great diesel mechanic and crane operator, and works a lot on "favors". He's able to call on these favors to use excavators to clear land. 

I guess those are my best tips, sorry they're so long!! I'll post more if I think of them!


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## kmacdougall (Feb 12, 2010)

Oh also huge money saver for the horse industry or not, we all have diesel trucks (my mom, my dad, and even me, and let me tell you, I look some cute at 5'2" coming barreling down the highway in a massive duramax diesel) and we keep diesel tanks on our property. I *believe* we have two in my dad's garage, we use them for fuelling our trucks, tractors, lawn mower, and probably other things I'm unaware of. Every two weeks or so a truck comes around (the truck that goes to area truck shops to fuel their business tanks) and fills our tank. If I'm correct I believe at times we get up to $0.12 off per liter (not sure what it would be off a gallon). When you're filling huge diesel tanks thats a LOT of savings. And I haul my horse 45 minutes away + 45 minutes back every week for lessons so saving cash on gas is a great thing!


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## RedTree (Jan 20, 2010)

I thought I should revive this post 

Sunflower seeds coat supplement, helps put on weight as well.
I use old feed bags as a hay net thing for show  haha it may be dorky but we have so many feed bags left around and it takes so much more then a hay net.

Also i think you can over here sell the feed bags back to the feed stores, we havn't done it yet but have been planning to for ages


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## Maverick101 (Nov 8, 2009)

kmacdougall said:


> Deworming - I live in Canada where dewormer is around $28 a tube (and we use one per horse). My uncle regularly travels to the US, where he picks up various dewormers for me at around $17-18 a tube. Our dollar is almost par, so it's a huge savings.


17-18 dollars is still a lot for dewormer. I have bought dewormer here for that price.

(I live in Canada as well,) and whenever we are down in the states we load up on dewormer too, but have never spent 17 bucks!?!? I was recently in Fargo ND and picked up both ivermectin and pyrantal dewormers for 4/tube. The most I have ever paid in the states is 7/tube....just saying


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## trailqueen (Sep 14, 2010)

There used to be an old farmer in our area that would cut sagebrush fields for people. But he didn't bushhog it, he cut it like hay then baled it and sold it for bedding. dollar a bale and good as straw. Sadly he's gone. Now I go to a local sawmill where I get sawdust for free. I mix it with a few chips to keep it from packing down. Big savings!


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## Shalani (Jul 16, 2009)

Pidge said:


> instead of buying fly spray in the summer (which can add up) use diluted ACV....and in winter use it on thrush instead of buying expensive chemicals.
> 
> ACV can also be used as a join an coat suppliment so you can save alot by just buying a big jug of the stuff lol ACV stands for apple cider vinigar for those who dont know. lol
> 
> Also just reuse anything you can! be it buckets or old blankets an such lol


Gotta love the ACV !! That and tea tree oil have saved me so much money!!! 
I use diluted tea tree oil in warm water instead of shampoo, amazing results

I have my horses bare foot 
And recently taken a no rug policy as well 
So I save on shoes and rug repair 

I spell my paddocks min 3 months ( 3 paddocks)


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## RedTree (Jan 20, 2010)

wow tea tree oil thats what I shall use next 
Do you just put a little bit in a tub of warm water


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## Alwaysbehind (Jul 10, 2009)

RedTree said:


> I use old feed bags as a hay net thing for show  haha it may be dorky but we have so many feed bags left around and it takes so much more then a hay net.


Very interested to hear how one uses a feed back as a hay net. Do you have photos?


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## RedTree (Jan 20, 2010)

haha no but I will get some


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## Shalani (Jul 16, 2009)

RedTree said:


> wow tea tree oil thats what I shall use next
> Do you just put a little bit in a tub of warm water


Yup , 2 cap full - 2 litres water . 
and use like a shampoo ( scrub on and rinse) or treatment and leave on (like I do) My horses are not rugged so this cleans them leaving their natural oils intact and protects them from insects & skin infections like rain scold. Great foot scrub to protect/treat - greasy heel and seedy toe.


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## LuvsArabella (Aug 23, 2010)

I use apple cider vinegar with tea tree oil or fly spray, way cheaper and more effective.


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## GuitarChump (Sep 8, 2010)

These are good. I don't have a barn but I like the planting flowers to get rid of bugs. I think I heard that planting eggplant (one or two) gets rid of a lot of bugs.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## AmberPick (Jul 13, 2010)

starlinestables said:


> I try to buy most of my tack and riding clothes on ebay.


How do you go about buying on Ebay? Like do you buy saddles and bridles or just like saddle pads, etc.? I saw some really good prices and read reviews (on a different site) about the products.. Do you have any sellers you use a lot?!


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## starlinestables (Nov 24, 2008)

For saddles.. If i see a saddle in store or where ever that I like... I look it up on ebay and buy it. You can find bulk saddle pads and other things as well.. but the major savings is on saddles.


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## A knack for horses (Jun 17, 2010)

One of the biggest money savers.....Bailing twine!!!

Use it to tie things together.
Make bows for your horses braids.
Got a broom that keeps falling apart...fix it with bailing twine.
Need some new jewelry....you guessed it, Bailing twine.
Don't have a saddle bag for your water bottle?....Just tie a piece of twine around the top of the bottle and then tie it to the horn...ta-da! instant canteen!

The infinite uses for that annoying orange string that just piles up around the barn.


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## leonalee (Jul 1, 2010)

I know not everyone can do this (especially if you work or have strong obligations outside of your farm), but I think everyone is grossly aware of how much it costs to operate water-tank heaters in the winter months. Well, at least if you live in a climate where there are freezing air temperatures 4-6 months out of the year...

Anyhow: after incurring a few nearly $1000 electricity bills during the winter when running tank heaters, we decided _enough is enough! _We went out and bought smaller water tanks for all of our pastures and paddocks (small enough that it is easy to flip, but large enough that they hold more than enough water for the horses for the day). We check them every couple of hours during the day and dump/refill if they are slushy/frozen.


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## leonalee (Jul 1, 2010)

Oooo - we also use feed bags for garbage bags, so no money spent there, either. Buy our bedding in bulk when we can (a whole truckload for less than 20 bucks, lasts over a week), versus spending over $100 to bed the barn a week with baled shavings.


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## trailqueen (Sep 14, 2010)

Glad to see I'm not the only one to use baling twine to tie on a water botttle. I use baling twine for all sorts of things. I carry several pieces behind the seat of my truck and in the trunk of my car. Never know when you'll need to tie someone I mean something up.


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