How do you do it

[Kira98]

Okay im just curious how the heck do those of you with a full time ( or more than full time) job

a house with lots of lawn to do and house work too and those basic house chores

and then the horse chores ( barn cleaning and feeding and then the putting in of hay gettin feed etc...)

run all your errands go to work do your chores and

STILL HAVE TIME TO WORK YOUR HORSES ?????

I tell ya I run around non stop and by time i get my chores done its time to go to work

or when i get home from work and have some time left before dark i get the chores done and

dinner done and its dark and I havent worked not one horse !

I drive a semi and latley have had lots of time at home ( work in the oilfield locally)

I have lots of grass to mow and weedeat (yuck) and the washin and dishes dinner the grocery yadda yadda

and I want to drive my boys but by the time Im done with the rest of the stuff Im outta time

gesh and its like i never sit still

Wait - im sitting still right now lol guess i should get off the computer and go work the horses ! lol

I do get time to go groom them for a bit etc... but I want to work the 3 mini I have and find a few min

to ride my paint horse on occassion but I just cant seem to find time to get it all in the day

How many of you wait til after dark to do your "House Chores " and put that of and work with the horses first ?

Just curious to see how others manage to get there horses worked and played with other than a pet her and pet there

 

[shadelady]

What are house chores ???

 

[txminipinto]

Income and horses come first. Everything else falls in line. So basically, the horses look great, the house looks like a bomb went off. It also helps to have a spouse to share the work load.

 

[Seashells]

Sometimes I don't know how I do it, and as I'm aging, it's getting harder. I'm noticing I ache more by the end of the day. My husband and son do their share, but with land and horses, it's non stop!

For me, I routinely have our home neat and organized. Clothes, dishes, always clean and in place, cooking is done in a timely manner. Stalls are cleaned daily, yard work is kepted up nice.... I'm always there for my family, keep finances and bills in order.

It's all an "labor of love." I guess it'll all fall apart when/if I stop caring.

 

[laughingllama75]

To me, the horses come first too. I don't have 2 legged kids, so this may be easier for me. As far as lawn and maint. stuff goes, I have it done. So I have more time for working my 3 horses and riding. House stuff.......Sunday morning, when I dont have a ride planned. Hubby has to take out garbage, but I do the rest of housework. I will NOT say my house is spic and span, and I do run a vacum around if I know people are coming over. But, I am happy and people know not to make any comments on hair, dirty floor or otherwise if they show up un unnounced, LOL.

 

[Reijel's Mom]

What happens around here is not much training gets done. All the needs come first and the rest comes last. Then I want someone to train my horses for me. Kind of stupid, I should just quit the part-time jobs I work on top of the full-time one so I have more time to do things with my own animals that are actually what I work the extra jobs for! BAD cycle!

P.S. anyone know a good person to work with minis in my area? Help them to be gentle broke trained to drive?

 

[Miniv]

The minute you walk into our home, you'll know what comes first........

The house is cluttered.......mostly by our daughter. Our days are focused on a combination of her and the animals. Larry and I manage on our own the 80 horses and other critters we have. Larry also works part time for a local observatory.

I fit in the laundry twice a week......and I am lucky enough to have a wonderful young woman come clean our house mess once a week, just to keep things half way decent. She's a long time friend of mine who cleans houses for a living, PLUS is a long time horse person.........

 

[minimomNC]

When I get the urge to do house or yard chores, I just lay down to rest so I have the energy to do the horse chores. The other hours of the day I am working.

 

[Jill]

My house could be A LOT neater than it currently is!!! Between my job (own my own business), studying for an additional professional designation, and tending to the horses -- my house gets the short end of the stick. However, I don't know how we'd get anything done here without my husband, Harvey. He does all the yard work, most of the house work and a ton of the horse care.

 

[REO]

You train the hubby to help out! Try to get him to mow, vacuume, do dishes, do a few loads of laundry.

You work way too hard!!!

And when you've taught him to clean house, come teach ME! LOL!!

I forgot how!

 

[barnbum]

People always ask me if I sleep.

I teach, so have more time off than some--summer vacation is coming!! But, the kids are at college, and hubby long ago gave up the idea there would be cooked meals. We go out once a week for dinner. We eat simple stuff... very simple stuff.

I do laundry on Fridays usually, so Sat are more free. Hubby vacuums and does all the lawn mowing and trimming. Horse chores are at 5:00 AM and when I come home from school at 4:30 to about 6:00, then I come in to answer emails and veg for a bit, then go back out till about 8:00 to work horses and fill water buckets for the next day. If I'm beat--or have too much school work, the horses don't get worked. If it's raining, I quilt. If the garden needs tending, that comes before working horses because it's temporary.

It all fits in, somehow. I just rarely stop moving.

 

[Frankie]

This may be a mistake as I am about to think about it, and I don't, I just do it.

I am single, manage a large feed store, put in 60 hour weeks. I have a 16 year old who doesn't drive yet, but drivers ed starts Monday and I so hope that helps.

I get up at 4:30, even on my days off, that helps. I get dogs taken care of, feed horses, and get ready for work. Go to work 11-12 hours, home at 6, work with horses, feed them, then do barn chores. Supper at 8, load of laundry, sweep, dishes, pay bills while clothes are going. Communicate with my kid no matter what. Sometimes running him where ever in the middle of that. Bed at 10.

If I keep the same routine on my day off, the extra like mowing and other gets done during what is work time on other days.

I tend to go that way anyway, so comes a little easier for me,,but have my tired days.

Times there, just gotta keep moving. Good luck

 

[Leeana]

I work midnights at a nursing home / assisted living facility that is hardly even 5 minutes from the house. I work 11:30pm-8am ..i took the position on nights as that leaves my day open to feed and work the horses on my rutine and allow me to get more done although i must admit i am exhausted all the time...even after i get home in the morning and sleep 8 or so hours i still feel very tired.

But my rutine is go to work 11:30pm-8am. I get home around 8:15am check email ext and then go feed the horses and clean the stalls ext, i get back in the house around 9:30 and sleep from 9:30-noon. At noon i wake up and go put some of the horses out and water the horses clean buckets ext. Go back to sleep, sleep until 2pm...get up bring horses in put horses out. Go back to sleep, wake up at 5:30 and go feed horses / work horses and pick through stalls agian. Normally get back in the house around 7:30'ish and then i have until 10:30 to shower, play on the computer, run back down at 9pm to check horses and do whatever i need to do. I save feed store, shopping ext things for my days off but if i need to do something of that sort i go right away after i get home from work and AM feeding the horses.

I miss being able to sleep a whole 8 hours, now i just sleep a few hours wake up and do horses..sleep a few more hours..up agian.

Two positives from working midnights - I spend less money as i go less places as i sleep all day and i have actually lost a lot of weight since starting midnights as you tend to forget to eat....like i get home in the AM and skip breakfast as i sleep...then when i get up at 5:30 i am busy most until i go into work at 11:30 (i leave around 11:20 ish). I just may grab a little snack before going into work as i normally just eat at work as i have a lot of down time to do NOTHING from about 12midnight - 5am but watch tv....

I also do paperwork & billing for my brothers trucking company weekly, it use to take me several hours to do at my brothers office but i have now just installed quickbooks pro on my computer and do the paperwork here, print it out and drop it off at fed ex on my day off. It just takes a few hours to do if all the drivers slack and just drop it off on Friday...but normally they are pretty good about dropped off the paperwork every other day or so that way i just do them over the course of the week instead of all on friday.

 

[rockin r]

I will be the first to say that I am OCD when it comes to my barns, house and horses... Everything MUST be right, in its place, no so so here. I am very grateful Art puts up with me! He loves the horses as much as I do. He does most of the feedings and cleaning for now. When I am strong enough again, we will split the outside chores, he will do the stud barn and I will do the mare barn. We share the yard work. I ride the lawn tractor and he weed eats. Although he does mow the pastures, too much bouncing for me. It takes 18 hours to mow the pastures.. I do work 36 hrs a week, soon hope to be back to 40. The house work "I" take care of. IF anyone else does it, I will just go behind them and do it again. So whats the point? By the time we go to bed, all is done. We are exhausted but we have conquered our chores! Also we have no 2 legged children. So that makes it easier. I would not know how to act with nothing to do! Those of you who have kids, and do all the chores..God Bless Ya!

 

[Marty]

Lily Munster of the House of Horrors checking in.

First, I have no help cleaning house or with any barn chores nor do I want it. I figure the Hus is the major bread earner who works a whole lot more hours than me and when he gets home he is so sore and so tired he can't hardly move. He deserves to live in a home that is not a filthy mess so I do try my best to keep things tidy. If something doesn't get done I'm not about to fret over it like I used to. I'll do it when I can. The world is not going to explode because I failed to do a load of laundry or sweep the floor on the designated days but I do give it my best shot to stick to the schedule.

Summer is easier than winter for barn and in the home. Less clothing and clutter to deal with inside.

I multi task everything. While the horses are eating breakfast I am in there with them cleaning their stalls. After that I do fly spray and I turn them out and do their stall waters and dip up feed for night. When they come in for dinner I brush them down and do feet. I divide the feet in half because my back cannot handle doing them all in one day anymore so they all get their feet picked every other day. Then I do the outside waters in the fields at night so I don't have to worry about that in the am.

With this house being so small and old and decrepit when a few things are out of place it makes the whole house look like a real mess so I keep things picked up. I don't do cooties so the kitchen counters and dishes and bathroom cleaning are a must do every day that's a given. Getting rid of the carpets and going to hardwood and leather furniture to wipe down make the living room cleaning a breeze. I sweep floors and dust every other day. Only takes minutes.

I don't have a lot of "dust catchers" displayed during summer so that makes dusting go really fast. On the end tables right now there is only a lamp and on the piano just one picture of Michael and a lamp. On the credenza there are candles, pictures of the boys and a silk arrangement. I do Michael's angel collection on the shelves on the weekends. That takes a bit of care and time.

I cook outside on the grill often and use the crock pot as much as possible and paper plates when I can get away with it which avoids a lot of pots and pans and dirty dishes. I can prepare more than one meal at a time and freeze the extras; such as today when I made a meatloaf for dinner, I made two more that I froze. I do the same with other dishes such as spaghetti sauce. I always make enough for an army so that's just force of habit. I don't waste food. If there are plenty of leftovers, we eat them the next night and I don't have to cook again.

I leave the bigger cleaning for the weekend. Things like windows and vacuming the bedrooms and the high dusting and straighting out closets as needed and cleaning up the mud room get done on Saturdays. I can get it all done in the morning hours if I don't mess around with Sci-fi and goof off. I do laundry at night 5 times a week, no weekends and I do it at night after dinner. Then I fold the clothes while watching tv with the Hus. I'm a nite owl, don't sleep well so its no problem for me to be folding clothes at 2:00 AM sometimes.

I have only one day a week that I use to run errands. I go to the feed store, food shopping, post office, dr. appointments, whatever on that one day. Saves gas and my brain from becoming fried so I don't have to waste my time and run back and forth. I never leave home without a list or I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached.

I do major clipping, complete fussy grooming, bathing, barn dusting and stall stripping on Saturdays and Sundays. I take my time and enjoy it.

Now I think I've got fleas in here. Last week it was ticks. Why am I not surprised? Oh for joy.......another chore to tackle.

 

[Miniv]

Oh! Someone added YARD WORK to the mix? Yep......Both Larry and I do that too. And this year we have added a vegetable garden.....

Have to admit I would love not having the 80 critters......My dream is to have 20 or even less. I remember having those numbers and being able to give every single individual some one on one attention EVERY SINGLE DAY. That was before I was a parent, but I know it is doable!

 

[lilstars]

wow!! people around me always say i don't know how you do it. i would be dead by now where do you get the energy! but i have to say MARTY you bury me, on the busy list....

i get up at 5am and enjoy a half hour of peace and quiet with coffee, check email, and lil beginings, at 5:30 i get my daughter up for school, and putter around the house, start laundry load dishwasher etc, get kid off to school take the dogs out and grain the horses, while they are eating i feed the dogs, shower and again continueing to putter around picking up the house, (what amazes me is the mess everyday) then i go out and turn horses out scrub water tubs, water buckets clean stalls, put hay and water in make up pm feed and clean the dry paddocks.

so now off to work i go i manage a miniature horse farm with over 60 horses and have 1 guy for barn help (he feeds am) i get my show horses and any sale horses worked and groomed- this takes about 5 hrs- then i do odds and ends cleaning up the mares fly spray work some babies ie halter breakin learning to set up usually about 2 hrs or so

now home for lunch about 3 finish up laundry (neverending job in my house) check email, work on paperwork and sales stuff give horses hay check waters take the dogs out

off to work again for a 3 hr feed at the farm (OY!) THANK GOD FOALING IS OVER FOR US!!

home again work horses, hubby put an outside light off the back of barn where the roundpen is so i can work horses after dark it will also lite up the ring when that gets done so i can bring my drivin horse home. once my horses are done groomed and fed i am back up the house, hubby does the cookin so there is something i don't do go over homework with the kid and i heat up my dinner sit in my puff chair and don't move til bed, usually after 11pm or so

mondays are my day off so all the vaccuming and dusting windows dog baths, errands get done then

i am tired but not, more sore and stiff as i have rhumatoid arthritis but i think the work is what keeps me from being to stiff

i love the horses dogs kid and hubby so i don't bat an eye at any of it!! oh and yard work, horses have yard time at lunch!

 

[cretahillsgal]

Hey Erica! Try adding 2 kiddos under the age of 5 in the mix!!! LOL!

Honesty my house right now is AWFUL!!! I used to be soooooo stressed if the house was not perfect. But you reach a point where the only thing that matters is if you have clean clothes and a dish to eat off of. Don't get me wrong I vaccum once a week and try to do one load of laundry a day. But right now I am working 7-10, 7 days a week and it is just not gonna get done till wheat harvest is over!

 

[Kira98]

Okay im glad im not the only one that runs around like a chicken with my head cut off and never sits down !

But some how my critters dont get worked - Ive got to figure out something and see if i can get that done

Marty - I am a mutli tasker too ! I put a load of wash in - i do that 2x week (there is just two of us) and do the dishes and sweep the floor and lots of other stuff - maybe i need to take on what you do by goin to town 1x a week for whatever - we just live 4miles out LOL so i have gotten to were i just go when i need to - dont get me wrong we live in the country in a small town but we live not farm from people lol

Julie ( and the others with kiddos ) Yall rule ! I have no 2legged kids yet ( unless you want to count DH as a over grown kid

) but getting their needs met and the rest of the stuff done to thats just awesome

Okay I did forget to mention that - when i was sitting down typing this original post i was not just eatting my lunch - i was inhaling it cause i had to run off to work and as you can tell from my now post I JUST GOT HOME well today at about 3pm and i ran a few errands in town for some upcoming plans this weekend

REO I can show you the how to clean when i teach my DH how to help ! LOL

Thats the thing with my schedule I am usually gone for a few days but lately I have only been workin Sun 10am-6pm / Mon 3pm - 12am and the same times most of the time on Wed/Thurs but this week and when im really runnin hard and work isnt slow - I never know when I get a day off and my sleep schedule is NOT a schedule its catch it when i can and most the time i run so hard at work that when i get home i sleep and that doesnt help !

Im not saying that my house is spotless - I mean there are 4 dogs that are inside/outside dogs that trapes thru here all the time !

I try to do the wash 2x a week and I do other stuff while im doing that - I think what i might do is just leave the house work for Sunday am before work after I feed and then when i get home on sun pm i can work the horses etc. and do the mowing ( my DH does the most of that I just have to weedeat the pasture fence to keep the hotwire workin and I push mow the back and front yard around the house while he mows the rest with the rider - I will mow the pastures one or 2x a summer - i Like to mow for some weird reason !

I used to work my horses alot before I started driving truck and for over the past 3yrs now i just havent managed to get the sleep and the rest of the stuff done.

I do try to vaccum 1x a week and stuff like that I like to have a picked up house but its not a museum

Im goin to try a schedule and see if that helps me not feel like my poor babies are not gettin attention - i love on them all the time - i just want to be able to groom and drive my geldings and stuff and enjoy it

I dont have a barn with stalls to clean YET but I will and boy thats going to be fun - I love to clean stalls to am i weird or am i weird its almost theraputic to a point .

Well If I figure it out and get them and myself on a workable systematic schedule I will post

But most of all i just want to say thanks for all your post Im glad im not alone ! its 11pm time for a shower and to bed I put in a long past 48hrs at work and got about 4hrs sleep.

 

[minih]

Ok, I had to come on and comment on this thread since I was just thinking yesterday how I am not getting some things done.

There are three of us, myself, my husband and my daughter and we still do not get it all done. My husband and I own a jewelry store which he is at 6 days a week, I am a full time bookkeeper for the local school district (very high stress job, deadlines everywhere I turn), my daughter just finished college and is working for a vet in the afternoons and is taking an extra college course in the mornings to help her hopefully to get accepted into vet school next year, Biochemistry. Number one rule is "Animals come first!" My husband is a gem that he gets up in the mornnings and feeds and waters the horses, I run out to check neck sweats and Chasta leaves early for her class in another town. Evenings we work the horses, feed, groom do whatever needs doing outside first then we come in and fix supper, do laundry and whatever else I have time for. Like this morning, sometimes you just have to stop and sit before getting busy. The house needs sweeping but I need this more. Company knows when they come to visit during show season my house is not in the greatest shape, clean basically but cluttered and lived in. If you want to see my house instead of me, come in November thru February.