Household Items to Use at the Barn

We all know that as soon as something is marketed for equestrian use, the price tag always go up! Luckily there are a lot of common household items that can do double duty at the barn. The list below contains my own ideas and many that I picked up reading the Chronicle of the Horse Forum.

  • Ivory Soap: for cleaning white spots, bathing before clipping, sheath cleaning, and for treating fence boards that horses chew (truly a multipurpose product!)
  • Listerine: for cleaning water buckets and trough, treating itchy tails and as a liniment or inn a bath
  • Duct tape: for making hoof boots, temporarily serving as a zipper on a boot, fixing broken fence boards, temporarily fixing blanket tears.
  • Kitchen shelf liners: for non-slip saddle pads.
  • Microfiber cloths: for that “finishing touch”.
  • Car wash mits (sheepskin) for grooming ticklish horses.
  • Diapers: to make hoof boots (with duct tape) and as wound dressing.
  • Plastic gas cans for carrying water.
  • Saline solution (for contact lenses) for rinsing wounds.
  • Benadryl for allergies.
  • Infusium 23 to condition tails.
  • Panty liners: to cover wounds and to put in helmets to improve fit when you can’t find any of the regular shims.
  • Charcoal lighter fluid for cleaning clipper blades.
  • Baby oil for cleaning sheaths.
  • Baby wipes for cleaning faces, wiping tack, cleaning the baby oil of hands after cleaning sheaths.
  • WD 40 for getting burrs out of manes and tails (have never tried this!).
  • Corn starch for whitening socks.
  • KY jelly for sheath cleaning.
  • Baby powder on hooves to get hoof boots on.
  • Murphy’s oil soap as a leather cleaner.
  • Castile soap as a leather cleaner.
  • Thermacare pads over Epsom salt paste to draw out abscesses.
  • Silicone hair serum for detangling tails
  • Shop vac for vacuuming dirty horses.
  • Deep Woods Off for fly spray.
  • White vinegar for cleaning water buckets.
  • Rubbing alcohol for cooling out hot horses.
  • Nylon pot scrubbers for removing mud or rain rot.
  • Witch hazel for sweats, along with generic cling wrap.
  • Rubber Maid containers to store supplies and for grain.
  • Baking soda to clean water buckets.
  • Athlete’s foot treatment for scratches.
  • Car cleaning rags for just about everything.

One thought on “Household Items to Use at the Barn

  1. Wow, you beat me to a great post idea!
    I thought I was the only person ever to use Infusium on my horse’s tail. Now when the folks at my barn look askance at me, I can shout, “I am not alone!”
    the Thermacare pads and epsom salt idea is fantastic! I’ve got some more ideas, and will post them in my blog, as an addendum to your post. Thanks!

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