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Deep Cleaning Your Barn

5/19/2020

Due to the current state of things, you may or may or may not have been able to get a start on your barn's spring cleaning. Since the Lowcountry is starting to open up again, it is the perfect time to get started!

Hello Lowcountry friends and fellow horse lovers! We are so excited because it looks like we will see you back in our barns and back on our trials sooner than many of us thought possible. With that becoming a reality more and more every day, we have started on our barns and stables deep cleaning and have continued to follow safety guidelines to keep our employees safe. We also want to make sure that when you come and visit us again, you'll stay healthy and safe too! Since we are digging into the deep cleaning of our barns and stables and are continuing to sanitize everything, we wanted to share some tips and suggestions on how to give your barn the best deep clean possible!

If you are are a farmer or a horse owner, deep cleaning and disinfecting has always been apart of your cleaning schedule. Horses are so susceptible to bacteria and germs that are found on all surfaces in a barn and anything they can come in contact with, that it is always important to keep up with a consistent cleaning schedule. When this pandemic set in, the need to clean and sanitize was nothing new to us! Regularly disinfecting your barns and stables have always been important to help with the care and health of your horses. It has always helped with keeping your horses and employees healthy. But, with the world in the state that it is, it's more important than ever. As many of you know, this is hard work. It takes time, and a lot of extra elbow grease to do it well. But it is always worth it.

When you get started, it's important to move your horses away from the area that you will be cleaning, and relocate them until you're finished. Also, it is important to remove their bedding from their stalls to maximize the deep clean. When cleaning with soap, detergent, and disinfectants of any kind, make sure that you choose based on how it could affect your farm, your animals, and yourself. Always wear the proper clothing and safety gear to keep yourself safe when using chemicals of any kind.

As you're getting started, it's important to remember that you are cleaning more than just your barn and stables. You need to make sure to clean the barn walls, doors, paddocks, fences, and gates. You need to make sure to clean and pay attention to any tools, equipment, farm equipment, vehicles, trailers, down to the very last horse toy. Make sure to go through this process consistently to help avoid the spread of any sickness in your horses, to keep your employees safe, and to help keep the current pandemic away from your farm.
Move any equipment out of the barn and stables that could potentially block the surface space of the barn itself from getting a full deep clean. Move these items outside and to another location where they can be cleaned and disinfected at a different time.
Muck out all of the stables as you normally would, paying extra attention to get everything out. This can be a good time to get rid of all the bedding in your horse's stall.
Now it's time to get out your power washer! Start in the back of your barn and work your way forwards. Start at the top of the walls/ceilings and work your way down to the floor. Push the dirty water towards the drains in your barn.
If your barn has dirt flooring, along with moving or getting rid of your horse's bedding, remove the top layer of dirt as best you can. Go down a few inches if possible.
Once this process has been finished, to help with bacteria coming back due to the use of hard or well water, or possibly using too high of pressure with your power wash, it's time to scrub your stables down. This might seem tedious, but it is very important.
Scrub all of the stables surfaces with water and detergent, and spend the time to rinse everything thoroughly.
Allow the stables to completely dry out. Opening the barn doors and windows will help with this, along with the use of fans. It is very important to let everything dry. This can be the longest part of the process.
Once this has been completed, create a solution of 10% bleach and 90% water and spray each stall with it. Once that has been done, clean each stall and the rest of the barn with the proper disinfectants of your choice. This process allows more bacteria to be cleaned away before the disinfectant is applied. The disinfectant will then be able to kill even more germs.
Make sure you are disinfecting everything from their toys to their feed buckets! While the barn is drying or has been disinfected and is drying, it is the perfect time to work on the barn's accessories and these other objects that need a deep clean just like the barn. Make sure they are cleaned and disinfected before you put them back into the clean barn.
A second round of disinfectant spray doesn't hurt!

Like we mentioned above, keeping a barn and its horse stalls clean and disinfected takes time and serious work. But, the horse's health and the health of your employees is worth that time. Also know that when you are getting ready to head back out on our trails and to visit our horses again, a deep clean like this has always been normal for us. It is nothing new. It is something that we take very seriously. We have been and will continue to apply these ideas to helmets, saddles, and any other riding gear that is used by our guests and visitors. Remember, once we do get back to normal we offer the best horseback riding in Charleston, the best horse trail riding in Charleston, and more. During this break, take the time to visit all of the pages of our website, and enjoy learning more about Middleton trail rides! We will see you soon!

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Three Famous Mythical Horses

5/1/2020

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We had so much fun diving into the world of the horses we've loved in the pages of our favorite children's books, we wanted to dive in a little deeper! We are going from the pages of our favorite books to the legends of our favorite mythical horses that have been around for centuries!

Hello, Lowcountry! We hope you've been enjoying this beautiful weather as much as we have! Before you know it, you'll be able to enjoy the best horseback riding trails in Charleston with us! We have been getting ready for you, and our horses can't wait to see you again. Until then, we hope you and your family continue to stay healthy and safe. Did you enjoy our last blog revisiting some of your favorite fictional horses you grew up with? We loved researching and revisiting those stories and took so much comfort from them. We loved it so much that we thought we would take this blog one step further and visit some of the most famous and mythical horses of all time. When we dove into this magical world, it proved to be very surprising. It might just put your knowledge to the test. We are excited to see how much you know and remember about these fascinating creatures.

PEGASUS
We couldn't begin or write a blog about mythical horses without starting or including Pegasus! This beautiful winged creature was born from the pages of Greek Mythology and was the child of Medusa and Poseidon. Pegasus has been seen in literature, art, and currency since as early as the 7th Century BCE in Corinthian culture. As the Greek myth goes, Poseidon fathered Pegasus with Medusa, and Pegasus was born when the hero Perseus slew Medusa by cutting off her head. The blood from her neck fell into the ocean, and out of the white ocean foam came Pegasus. The immortal horse received its signature bright white color from being born of the beautiful white sea foam. Poseidon gifted the horse to his son Bellerophon. Together the pair fought and won many famous mythical battles including Bellerophon's fight against the Chimaera. The two were quite a pair until similarly to Icarus, Bellerophon flew too close to the Mountain of the Gods. Pegasus threw him off his back and down to Earth. Grecian legend goes on to say that Pegasus was then gifted to Eos, and helped him pull Dawn across the sky. Others believe this is when Pegasus officially became a constellation and the servant of Zeus. He provided Zeus with all the thunder and lighting he needed. Thanks to Roman art, the history of Pegasus was immortalized which eventually lead to him becoming a symbol of immortality. To this day Pegasus appears in art, literature, cartoons, famous children's books, and movies. What has been your favorite version of Pegasus?

HIPPOGRIFF
This incredible mythical creature has a very interesting beginning. With the body and hindquarters of a horse and the front half of a griffin, the Hippogriff was created. Many credit this creation to Ancient Greek lore, some to Virgil, and others to the 16th-century poet Ludovico Ariosto. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, this creature was created and written about by Ariosto, while the other's just mentioned his possibility. The Hippogriff appeared in Ariosto's poem entitled "Orlando Furioso" which was indeed credited and based on Virgil's Eclogue, according to Marianne Shapiro's "The Poetics of Ariosto". The famous poem made its the first appearance in 1516 and had multiple revisions between that date and 1532, very close to Ariosto's death. The creature is supposed to signify something impossible because it was known throughout lore that griffins and horses were mortal enemies. The Hippogriff was and still is a legendary creature that lives within Greek Folklore, and continued to grow in fame thanks to Ariosto. The creature is said to be able to fly around the world and even to the moon. It has also been very frequently depicted on the coat of arms after it's appearance in the 16th-century poem. He is also said to be a symbol of the Greek god Apollo. Today, the Hippogriff has made a very popular comeback thank's to writer J.K Rowling and her Harry Potter book series. Rowling created and introduced the character of Buckbeak the Hippogriff to the Harry Potter world and its fans. He continues to be one of the most popular characters in all of the seven books.

UNICORNS
Before we closed out this blog we had to touch on one of the most famous mythical horses of all time, the unicorn. This creature is depicted as a beautiful horse with a single horn coming out of its forehead. This legendary creature has been depicted in modern cartoons, books, and movies for a very long time. But, its mythical legend and how long it has been included in art, literature, and storytelling dates back thousands of years. It has been mentioned across multiple races and religions, appearing in Ancient Greek mythology, The Bible, European Folklore, Chinese mythology, and it's timeline spans from antiquity and beyond. Through each of these tellings, the Unicorn is depicted in multiple, albeit very similar, forms of appearance with multiple different and very interesting and sometimes disturbing stories of parentage. Although considered a relic of mythology, the creature was very real for many cultures and civilizations for many years. The horn, drinking from the horn, or drinking its blood has been cited to save the drinker from poison, sickness, and even death. To this day, thanks to cartoons, books, and the popularity of mythical lore, the unicorn still holds a very popular place. To many, it stands for something rare and represents fantasy.

How did these facts test your knowledge of ancient lore and Greek mythology? Did we stump you or did you already know these facts and details? There were a few things we learned ourselves, and we now have a huge urge to go back and visit some of our favorite Harry Potter books and favorite childhood cartoons where these beautiful creatures live. Please continue to stay safe everyone. The longer you stay safe, the sooner we can get back to the trails! Remember, once we do get back to normal we offer the best horseback riding in Charleston, the best horse trail riding in Charleston, and more. During this break, take the time to visit all of the pages of our website, and enjoy learning more about Middleton trail rides! We will see you soon!

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Middleton Place Equestrian Center Blog

Deep Cleaning Your Barn

Three Famous Mythical Horses

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