HARNESS BAKING SODA’S POWER

Next time you’re at the grocery store, pick up a box of baking soda for the barn. You’ll be surprised at how many uses you’ll find for it there.

• Scrub out water buckets and troughs. Combine a few tablespoons of

baking soda with just enough water to make a paste that you can use on a sponge to scrub buckets. The baking soda is abrasive enough to remove “gunk,” but rinses away easily with no chemical residue.

• Clean bits and metal stirrups. Apply some of your baking soda paste to a toothbrush to clean the metal parts of your tack.

• Freshen your horse’s laundry. A sprinkling of baking soda in a load of saddle pads or leg wraps will help deodorize the material while brightening the colors.

• Deodorize drains. Pour a half-cup of baking soda down a stinky washstall drain, then follow that up with a half-cup of vinegar. The mixture will bubble and overflow, so don’t be surprised. After five minutes, flush the drain with water.