_{How Long Should It Take to Do a Yard of 22 Horses?}

This was a question that we came across in a Facebook group.

If you spend any time in horsey Facebook groups, you’ll know this type of question always sparks a debate:

“How long should it take two people to muck out a yard of 22 horses?”

Some people swear it’s done in record time. Others say it’s a full day’s graft. And many point out that horses (and humans) aren’t machines.

With so many wildly different answers, we decided to do something a little different. Instead of adding another opinion to the noise, we used AI  (ChatGPT) to analyse every comment, look for patterns, remove the outliers, and calculate a realistic average based on the collective experience of working grooms, yard owners, and freelancers.

This wasn’t guesswork. It was data.

The job being discussed

For clarity, this is what people were timing:

• 22 horses
• Straw beds
• Full muck out (poo and wet out, not just skipping)
• Changing waters (with only 2 taps on the yard)
• Filling 2 haynets per horse (44 haynets total)
• Keeping the yard tidy (swept or leaf blown as the day goes on)
• Muck heap close to the stables

No turnout, riding, grooming, or extras included.

What the comments really showed

Once all the comments were analysed, something interesting happened.

Despite the extreme answers at both ends (from “under 3 hours” to “all day”), most experienced, realistic responses clustered tightly in one range.

The true average

• 4.0 to 4.5 hours total for two people working together

That is the point where:

• The job is done properly
• Bedding isn’t wasted
• Waters and haynets are done without rushing
• The yard is left tidy
• People aren’t broken by lunchtime

Breaking the time down properly

Here’s how that 4–4.5 hours typically stack up:

Mucking out (straw, done properly)

• Around 15–18 minutes per stable
• Total yard time: 2h45 – 3h20

Waters (with 2 taps)

• A genuine bottleneck is mentioned repeatedly
• 25–40 minutes

Haynets (44 nets)

• One of the biggest time drains
• 35–60 minutes, depending on hay and net size

Final tidy, barrows away, yard swept.

• 15–25 minutes

Total

Around 4 hours on an efficient day

4.5–5 hours if you want consistently high standards

What this means in real terms

Across all comments, the average worked out at around 22 minutes of labour per horse when you include mucking out, water, haynets, and tidying.

That figure came up again and again, regardless of whether people described themselves as fast, slow, young, old, professional, or a regular freelancer.

The biggest factors affecting time were:

• Straw vs shavings
• Number of taps
• How wet the horses are
• Haynet size and type
• Whether people are rushing or working sustainably

Why this matters

So many comments touched on burnout, injuries, staff leaving the industry, and unrealistic expectations. And it’s not surprising.

Yes, some people can go faster.

Yes, some days everything flows.

But when this is done every single day, the data is clear:

4–4.5 hours is the realistic, repeatable average for 22 horses between two people.

Anything consistently tighter than that risks:

• Corners being cut
• Bedding being wasted
• Physical strain
• Staff burnout

Final thought

The most useful comment in the entire discussion wasn’t about time at all. It was this:

“It’s not about how fast; it’s about whether you’d be happy with the standard if it were your own horse.”

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