What instructions for a farmsitter?

[AnnaCrew]

We must to go to UK for about 10 days (husband's father poorly in hospital there) and will have a farmsitter to take care about our horses. My mum will stay in as well so she will do the house jobs and take care about farmsitter.

So farmsitter 's job will be only horses - feeding, mocking, training. If you had a farmsitter in, what instructions had you left for the person?

I'm making a book now. Emergency number of the vet is on the cover in big letters. Vet is already warned, farrier just had been here.

Each horse will have it's own section (behavior, groundwork problems, rideability, herd behavior, which tack to whom, then feeding program for every horse, training program minimum/maximum).

Then general habits of the heard, routine of the jobs. What else must be on the list???

Please, any suggestions will help, I need to leave my heard for the first time and I'm a bit worried. Farmsitter is quite experienced horseperson, I'm not worried about his qualifications or reliability. I'm worried just in case I will forget to put down something important on the list.

[dressagejudy]

One thing I saw that was missing, do you have a back up person that can help this person out in an emergency. I've had to leave for several extended times, and I always gave the name of several other horsepeople I know that could help in a pinch. If you have your own truck and trailer and this person isn't experienced in hauling, you need to leave a name for them to call in case there is an emergency and your horse has to be hauled to the vet. Sounds like your person might be fine, since you said he was an experienced horseperson. Also, do you have extra fencing in case something happens to the fence? Ok, might be extreme, but while we were gone we had an atypical wind storm that blew a tree over the fence. We had a neighbor that knew how to use a chain saw and he cut the tree off the fence and there were extra fence "parts" so they could easily fix it.
Judy

[M. O'Connor]

Include a layout diagram/map of your farm, floorplan of the barn.

Indicate water spigots, light switches.

Number the stalls and paddocks on the map, and on the doors/gates.

Obviously, indicate which horses go where.

Show clearly where the manure gets dumped.

Show where the garbage bins are.

Indicate where 1st aid and medical kit is located. Tape the vet's number on the med kit as well as by the phone.

[avezan]

Sounds silly, but make sure they have the address of the farm. In case they need to call for emergency services they can give the address to the dispatcher.

[SCF01]

One thing I do when I go away is to leave a truck & trailer hooked up and ready to roll. You just never know when a colic or other injury might require a ride to the nearest vet school.

[Boomer]

I like to leave an Emergency Form - tells the farmsitter/ vet exactly what to do (and how much $$ you would spend) to save the horse's life in nessecary.

For example: Horse A colics (or has other life threatening problem) I want horse A shipped to the clinic if the horse can't be treated on the farm. I am willing to spend up to $$$ to save horse's life. If that amount won't save horse A, I authorize the vet to euthanize.

I've got a form I fill out and give a copy to vet's office and to farm sitter. I hate filling it out, but that way everyone knows what I want done and can act quickly.

[Rebmik]

CLARIFY EVERYTHING you want done and EVERYTHING you will not tolerate!!!!
Learned this from experience...several times;)
Like common sense things to me...no smoking (100 yo barn...duh), she didn't smoke, but boyfriend did...also I didn't specify 1st time no one else is permit on farm unless I meet them 1st!

[AnnaCrew]

Thank you! It put some things on my list to do as well... Great thank you! My head is spinning at present, MIL is probably spending his last hours, doctors did not promised him tomorrow, so booking flights, arranging everything here... a bit too much on my plate at present.
And latest horse joined our herd just a week ago - he is settled in quite nicely but I would feel better if he would have a month at least to settle in.
Thank you again for all suggestions!

[MunchkinsMom]

Don't forget to point out where the fire extinguisher is also.

I usually give my sitter a schedule for feeding, turnout and bedtime, and the order of turnout is important also, so you don't have horses freaking out in the barn because they were supposed to go out first. Same for the return trip to the barn at the end of the day.

[skip_rainy_shi]

what i have found helpful is everyone has their own color. one horse green, another red, and the last black. i have feed instructions printed out in the grain room. in each of the horses colors, they also have grain buckets in their color, their stall signs are in their color, and they all wear collars 24/7 in their color. since i have 2 black horses that look pretty similar if you didn't know them it has helped people out if i cant make it home to feed or something happens. its easy to figure out who is who and what they get.

[mvp]

I'd just add to Boomer's post:

In addition to telling your vet about the farm sitter (and your contact info while away) and your treatment wishes for each animal. I think you need two more things.

First, leave a letter of authorization with your vet. That should outline what you want, but also name someone who you will allow to make decisions in case you cannot be reached. I name at least two people and even grant them authority to make a euthanasia decision. The letter also states that I remain solely responsible for the cost of all treatment.

If you do have a horse you might send to colic surgery or think there is some possibility that you might have to use a vet with whom you don't already have an account, you might need to leave a credit card number. As I understand it, the university hospital near me will not treat an animal without it.

It seems hard to write these letters the first time, but it feels good afterwards. You can do what you need to, knowing that your animals will be cared for as you wish in any situation. One crisis at a time, right?

Best wishes for your father-in-law.

[Pocket Pony]

I've left huge, 10-page long notes for my sitter! Since she's been with us for a few years now, the notes are only two pages - one for the house animals and one for the barn animals.

First, I try to set up everything for her ahead of time. Horses supplements are all bagged up, feed is pre-measured out, water troughs are full, hay barn is full, truck/trailer are hooked up, first aid kit and fire extinguisher are easy to access, etc.

I leave a list of emergency numbers: vet, farrier, helpful neighbors, my cell, hubby's cell, number where we can be reached. I instruct her on the specific routines - horse "A" has to go out first, don't let horses "B" and "C" out together, or whatever. I also try to make it as easy for her as possible to not have to move horses around, especially Miles as he's rude. Pretty much everyone is in their stall/paddock/pasture or wherever they are going to be for the duration. I try to make it easy for her to clean stalls (throw hay outside, clean while horses are eating so they won't bother you), dump the manure (in a certain area then I'll move it when I get home), feed (all foods/buckets/hays are labeled), etc.

The truck and trailer are always hooked up in case she needs to haul anyone out for an emergency.

I hate leaving the farm, especially in the wintertime. When the weather is good, it is easy because everyone is out. When it rains, that's a whole 'nother story!!! :eek:

I'm sorry to hear of your situation.

[fivehorses]

Take a photo of each horse, and post with their name on the photo on their stall for identification.

[rtrules]

I realize that the OP is probably at her destination by now so, this is just a little addition for the rest of us. One important thing that I didn't see listed, or maybe it was and I missed it, was to have Mum check on the sitter while he was on the property. OP said that he would be working the horses. If these are horses that he is not that familiar with and that are not that familiar with him, things can happen. If he were to get hurt, who would find him and, when. That said, be sure that your barnsitters tell people where they are going and when they will be back so if they do have a problem they will be found. Remember, your horses may not be used to being handled by other people. If they are going to act up this would be a good oppurtunity for them to do so. Prayers for strength to the OP.

[AnnaCrew]

Thank you all! I'm still at home, will fly over only tomorrow morning to London (which is not very good as G24 mess there and super high security + switching on summer time for complete fun).

Barn sitter will be here in few hours (it is late afternoon here already) so I will be able to show him everything around.

Safety system is not so bad - my mum will be here to look after him and he in turn will look after my mum. And best of all they both will be overlooked by my neighbors - very very nice couple, elderly, who were owners of Puika (if you know my story here on COTH) - they can completely overlook pastures and barn from their house so they will instantly report if something will go wrong. They always do watch us when we are working with horses for our safety and promised to carry on for my mum and barnsitter.

Other than that my problems are just growing - FIL had died yesterday when my husband was on buss between London and Somerset, and this morning got a call that my husband is seriously ill as well. Oh, well, when problems start, they just seem to building up in lots.

But anyway - if there is a COTHer in Somerset area (I will be mostly in Wellington), maybe we can have a cup of tea? :)

[Quin]

Anna - so sorry; hope your husband bounces back quickly.

In addition to the vet, I leave the number for a back up vet. And the number for a 3rd vet I can tolerate in an emergency. The last time we were away from the farm for an extended period the mare waited until Sunday night to cut her leg open. Yep, the first vet the sitter could reach was #3 on the list, and it was definitely a 'first available' situation, to get somebody out to stitch her up.

You said the farmsitter is also doing training? I'm sure you're going over everything in person, but writing down what you do and don't want done with each horse would not hurt, if you have time (and might help quiet your nerves). Specifics about what tack to use - we do the color-coding thing as well for feed/halters/supplies, and have been known to attach matching colored plastic tabs to tack items as well.

If you blanket any of the horses and the weather might require on/off, color code tabs on the blankets and written instructions for who wears what and when.

[AnnaCrew]

Thank you. Oh, yes, he has a big notebook, full of instructions about each horse - what can be done, what is definitely no-no, 5 pages of instructions for each horse. And tack is also listed - we have 6 horses, 2 of them do not need training at all, 2 need only lunging so only 2 actually will need a serious work.

The same with diets - Puika is prone to colics so he has his own diet, Nelson is way too fat so very tight food with supplements, Shella and Giva just need to be stuffed up reasonably with different minerals/vitamins... It is complicated list so it is all written down.

Seems like I sis everything this end to sleep peacefully in UK. Situation there is another story.

[Doodlebug1]

Anna, I'm so sorry to hear about your in-laws - and hope Peter is OK too. I've only just found this thread and realise you wrote it a while ago - If you are in the UK still and want any help at all (or just to meet up and walk the dogs on the beach) then please don't hesitate to PM me.