Banks or no banks?

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chunkytfg

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So whats everyones opinion on banks in there stables?

My OH seems to think they are the be all and end all to a decent bed for the nags.

only trouble is that the new horse is very messy in his stable and is mixing up everything including the banks making the morning muck out more like a daily skip out.

To me her theory that the banks protect the horse should they choose to roll seems a bit strange as a raised edge of shavings is jst going to get crushed by a horse meaning they still end up on the stable walls!

If we got rid of the banks that would mean there is less shavings in the stable to sift though each day so we could get away with a thin layer on the rubber mats to soak and nothing else.
 
Banks are utterly pointless unless they are about 3ft high - personally I wouldn't waste your time with them.
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I was taught that banks are there to stop draughts from whistling around the wall edges and so prevented chills, keeping the horse far enough away to prevent getting cast was a bonus.
 
Banks perform no useful purpose. In order to help stop them getting cast they need to be about 3 ft high and solid so that the horse can gain purchase on them and push themelves off. if your OH is determined why not fix a strip of rubber or wood about 3ft high all around your walls so that should he get cast he can get himself up - then she has no argument for the banks. Personally, having one extremely dirty horse, I am with you on the using the absolute minimum bedding. Mine can make a new bed mushroom compost in one night. Not one clean bit of bedding remains. it costs me a fortune - so I have decided to give him a thin bed on the rubber matting and sweep out every day. Only way to save my sanity and stop it taking me 1 hour to do his stable every day.
 
I agree with Bosworth. Fine to have a 3ft bank with straw but otherwise with shavings, a complete waste of time and money especially with a dirty horse.

If your horse is clean and in a biggish stable, it can be more time efficient as instead of adding shavings each day you just bring a bank down until the end of the week when there are no banks left.

But I like my beds white so prefer to add half a bag every other day to a thickish bed with no banks, unless someone else is mucking out for me and then I do banks and tell them just to bring one down each day.
 
Per the above, banks do not stop a horse getting cast, a strip of 2x4 around the inside of the stable works better!

Mine don't have banks as otherwise they eat them (on straw), and enjoy pulling them apart.
 
they do look nice in a shavings bed but agree unless they are huge they aren't doing much.

We have small banks in our shavings beds as we deep litter the shavings and use the banks to store clean shavings which can be brought down a bit each day to cover the deep litter.

In straw beds, we use banks in some of the bigger boxes and then deep litter them (just the banks). This makes mucking out the middle much quicker and easier.
 
I have a horse who used to get cast regularly even with big banks in her stable, so don't really reckon them as a way to prevent horses getting cast! I suppose they might be useful if a stable has lots of gaps in the walls where draughts get in, but in a well-built, non-draughty stable I can't see the point myself.
 
Never use them unless I have put in a lot of bedding and then will put the excess along one wall for later use.

Years ago I cannot recall people having banks and think it is more of a recent thing.

Finally there is an argument that banks encourage dust etc as the bedding stays put for long periods whereas with no banks, the whole bedding is normally regularly turned over and used.
 
I was taught banks 40mumble years ago, but also to move them daily, clearing one wall first and then moving the rest round and then making up the final one with fresh bedding and the first one moved became the main bed. Try sitting in different parts of the stable on a breezy day, you soon find that normal air currents which follow walls become draughts unless the stable is so stuffy that ventilation is nil.
 
I surprised mine haven't all gone down with pneumonia then from all those chilly draughts that must be sweeping round their stable walls due to their non-existent banks!
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Firstly thanks for the replies.

secondly could someone explain 'getting cast' to me? I'm enjoying being one of the horsy fraternity but I still very much new to it all.

thirdly the stables are very new and of the non draighty type.
 
Getting cast is when the horse lies down but cannot then get up because they have lain down in a position in relation to the stable walls which means they cant get their legs in the right place to get up and/or because they have weak legs due to age or illness and therefore dont have the strength necessary to heave themselves up.

So older horses and pones are usually more prone to it.

It can take several people to get a horse up and its a dangerous job.

Quite often where an oldie is found dead in the stable there will be evidence of them having been cast during the night (scrabbles on the wall boards etc) so it can have sad ending sometimes.
 
I only use banks as somewhere to keep my clean shavings before I pull them down into the bed to replace what I take out. At work (full livery yard) it's more of an aesthetic thing.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Whats is the purpose of the rubber/wood strip round the edge then?

[/ QUOTE ] If the horse does get cast in the stable, then the strip gives the horse a foothold against the wall so it can get up again, unaided.
 
I've always had banks before I learnt why... and still do, but current horse seems to like lying up against them (will always find flattened shavings on the banks). Going to change to flax soon but not sure how that's going to work with banks!!! It'll be gradual change over so hopefully I can keep my shaving banks!
 
I do have banks in my mares' stable. They are 3 feet high and packed solid. I lift one per day. It's how I was taught as a kid. Old habits die hard!!

Jo x
 
No banks - totally pointless waste of bedding. Horses are not by nature nesting animals, they don't need to go to bed in a giant birds nest. It is far more natural for them to lay on a flat surface.

As said before an anti cast strip nailed aroung the walls is a useful addition if a horse has a tendency to get cast.

I use mats and a 2" thick half bed of Woody Pet.
 
OH's horse is a dirty, wet gelding. He just uses a minimal amount of straw on top of mats. Works well.

I have my two on shavings, filly lays with her back against the banks, mare lays on the edge of the rubber/shavings.
 
[ QUOTE ]
our gelding isnt wet he just churns up the bedding to the point where you're lucky to find a complete nugget let alone a pile of poo

[/ QUOTE ] I've got a mare like that - I keep her out as much as possible, but when she is in, I opt for rubber mats and minimal bedding!
 
I think they're an old fashioned idea which has been proved useless IMO. I read that they'd need to be much higher anyway to stop a horse getting cast. As for keeping them cosy by minimising draughts - TBH most modern stables are pretty draught free anyway.

I use rubber matting. None of mine are stabled but on the odd occassion they are (and they have 24/7 access to the stables) then I just put down a small square of shavings for them to pee on. Otherwise, they lie on the matts no problem.
 
personally i say no banks. I have a 16.3hh that is stuffed in a stable with banks. They are of a decent size but with banks the stable seems to shrink! They lasted a couple of days then they were all dragged down. I think if the stable is large and you make them like 3ft high and solid then yeah ok that would be fine but anything else then no... Just my opinion of course
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As already noted above, my vote is for deep litter shavings beds. I store the "spare" in a bank against the back wall. Mucky stuff comes out every day and fresh is drawn down from the bank. Brilliant system - 1 bale a week. Walk into my neds stable, with deep litter beds that have been down over a year and they are fresh and sweet. Walk into next door stable which has just rubber mats, a sprinkle of manky shavings and vast wet patches and poo piles and it smells like a public urinal!
 
I worked in a yard where the banks were to be 3ft high and 1ft wide with square edges and packed so that you could sit on them without leaving an indentation. Boss used to come round and sit on them to check - if anything moved you had to start again. She also used to take a spirit level to them....
We took one bank down every three days and left the floor underneath to dry before re-erecting it.
 
I think banks are just somewhere for the yard to hide poo that they don't bother taking out. Must take them forever to get perfect right angled banks but I've tried to tell them not to bother as i pull them down most nights! My horse pushes her bed up to the edge if she wants to roll anyway so creates her own banks!
 
I've always been taught to use banks for "anti-casting" purposes.
My big 16.3 TB has a big big stable, more than enough space for him.
Hes coming in this week to be stabled at night, Hes on straw and hes a dirty gelding so hes mucked out everyday.
Should i not bother with banks, since all he seems to use them for is pooing on anyway?
Hes never shown signs of getting cast before
 
old YO always did banks in stables and moaned at any liveries who didn't make banks. If any of mine were on full livery for whatever reason there would be banks in the stable the next day ,1ft wide and perfectly square on top! they never lasted as i pulled them down into the bed when i needed more bedding
 
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