What Disinfectants Can Be Used for Horse Stalls?

Disinfecting a horse's stall after an illness or quarantine, or as a yearly spring-cleaning chore, is a time-consuming task. Cleaning after an illness or quarantine is necessary to prevent other horses from picking up the illness, and a yearly cleaning is just good hygiene for your horses.

  1. Clean out the stall

    • First you must remove all of the bedding and cobwebs from the stall, as well as your horse's buckets and feeder. If cleaning after an illness, the bedding needs to be burned, buried deeply in the manure pit so that horses or other animals can't get to it or removed completely from the property. The water buckets and feeder should be disinfected as well, as well as any items that have been used with a sick horse.

    Types of disinfectants

    • You can mix your own disinfectant using either chlorine bleach or Lysol disinfectant. For the bleach solution, combine one part bleach and ten parts water. If you prefer the Lysol, place two and a half tablespoons of Lysol in a gallon of water. You can also find commercial stall disinfectant at feed and tack stores, on websites or in catalogs. Mix these according to the manufacturer's instructions.

    Applying the disinfectant

    • Use a tank with a sprayer attachment (which you can find at a garden center) to clean the walls and floor of the stall, then let the solution sit until dry. You can repeat as often as you feel necessary. Scrub water buckets and feeders with the solution. You should rinse the buckets with clean water at least twice. You can scrub again, or even soak in a large tub if you feel the buckets are especially contaminated.