Vet Guide: Cleaning and Disinfecting Horse Stalls and Trailers 2025 🧼🐴🚛

By Dr Duncan Houston, BVSc

Keeping your horse healthy starts with keeping their environment clean. Stalls, trailers, and other shared spaces can harbor bacteria, viruses, and fungi that threaten equine health. But the most common mistake horse owners make? Jumping straight to disinfectants without first cleaning. 🧽❌🧪

In this 2025 guide, Dr Duncan Houston outlines the right way to clean and disinfect stalls and trailers to prevent disease and protect both horse and human. 🧠🐎

1. Why Disinfection Begins with Cleaning 🧼

Disinfectants are only effective on clean surfaces. Studies show:

• 🧽 Cleaning removes up to 90% of infectious agents
• 🚫 Disinfectants don’t work through manure, bedding, or fluids

Organic matter includes:

• 💩 Manure
• 💦 Urine
• 😮 Nasal discharge
• 🩸 Blood or pus from wounds or abscesses

Step one: clean. Only then is it worth applying a disinfectant. 🧪

2. Step-by-Step Stall & Trailer Cleaning Routine ✅

Step 1: Remove Organic Debris 🧹

• 🧺 Remove all bedding, manure, feed buckets, and gear
• 🧤 Wear gloves and a mask if respiratory or infectious cases are suspected

Step 2: Wash Surfaces with Detergent 🧽

• 🧼 Use a mild detergent or horse-safe soap
• 🪣 Scrub all walls, floors, gates, doors, mats, and feeders
• 🌡️ Use warm water when possible for better dirt removal

Step 3: Rinse Thoroughly 💦

• 🚿 Use a garden hose—not high pressure (to avoid spreading pathogens)
• 🛑 Avoid power washers in infected spaces—they aerosolize bacteria

Step 4: Let Dry Completely 🌬️

• ☀️ Sunlight helps speed drying and provides natural disinfection
• 🌬️ Use fans in closed barns to circulate air

Step 5: Apply Disinfectant 🧪

• 🥼 Follow label instructions precisely
• 💧 Apply with a sprayer or mop to cover all surfaces
• ⏱️ Allow full contact time as per label (often 10–15 mins)

Once dry, the space is ready for use again. 🐴🏡

3. Choosing a Disinfectant 🧴

Not all products are safe or effective around horses. Safe and effective options include:

• 🧪 **Diluted bleach** (5.25% sodium hypochlorite): Mix 1 part bleach to 10 parts water
• 🧫 **Chlorhexidine-based products:** Long-lasting, broad spectrum
• 🦠 **Quaternary ammonium compounds:** Effective but rinse well before reuse

Important Tips:

• 🧾 Follow label instructions exactly
• 📆 Don’t mix different disinfectants
• 🧪 Choose horse-safe products—avoid anything corrosive or overly scented

4. Cleaning Horse Trailers 🚛

Trailers are often forgotten—but they’re prime hotspots for contamination, especially after hauling horses to shows or clinics. 🧬

Key Trailer Cleaning Tips:

• 🔩 Remove mats and spray underneath
• 🧽 Scrub interior walls, partitions, and floors
• 🧼 Let everything dry fully before replacing mats
• 🧪 Disinfect after traveling with unknown horses or visiting high-risk areas

Schedule a deep clean at least once a month—or after each trip during show season. 🗓️

5. What NOT to Do ❌

• 🚿 Don’t use pressure washers in infectious disease cases
• 🧴 Don’t rely on “2-in-1” cleaner/disinfectants
• 💦 Don’t skip drying—it reduces disinfectant efficacy
• 🥼 Don’t clean without personal protection if disease is present

6. When to Disinfect Regularly 🕒

Disinfection should be part of your routine when:

• 🩺 A horse is sick or recovering from infection
• 🛏️ New horses are introduced to the barn
• 🚚 Returning from shows, vet clinics, or public facilities
• 🧼 Seasonally, as part of deep spring/fall cleaning

7. Summary Table: Cleaning & Disinfection Essentials 📋

8. Final Thoughts from Dr Duncan Houston 💬

Clean stalls and trailers are about more than appearance—they’re about disease prevention and animal welfare. The key is this: clean first, disinfect second. Whether at home, a show, or in transit, a clean environment reduces risk for colic, skin conditions, respiratory illness, and infectious outbreaks. 🛡️🐎

Need a disinfectant recommendation or cleaning checklist? Visit AskAVet.com or download the Ask A Vet app 📲 for 24/7 support from equine care experts.

— Dr Duncan Houston, BVSc