Banks (straw)!

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spider

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How often do you muck out your banks? As my horse is on part livery I don't muck out very often, but when I do I always take the banks down into the middle and build them up again with the fresh straw. however I know some people just do one bank a day.

When I went up today my boy was standing on bare mats with the banks still there and a pile of fresh straw in the corner so I went and got a fork to put the bed down. I soon realised that the banks were digusting and must have been left for ages, so spent ages mucking out. Feel bad that I havn't noticed before but guess it's because it's usually dark when I'm there. The girl I asked thought the banks were done every week but I'm really not convinced.
 
I actually leave mine for weeks at a time. Although they may not be sweet smelling underneath, you put them there for a reason (not just to look pretty) and I think that if you leave them alone they become more substantial and do a better job.
 
Every day, and they get disinfected underneath too every day. IMO banks aren't good for stopping a horse getting cast unless they are HUGE and solid. If you can manage huge then leave them and let them get solid, but if you can't then you may as well keep them clean!
 
I'd rather have them clean. I can see why you might leave them, but I think in this case it's just that they're pushed for time or can't be bothered. Is it reasonable to ask for what I want or I have to accept what they decide?
 
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No it's me being thick. I know the only reason for having them is to stop the horse getting cast. But I have seemed to suggest that there might be other reasons! I can't think of any. Somewhere for the rats to hide perhaps.
 
I dont think banks serve much purpose for most horses other than
i) pillow (my IDxTB also likes to tug the rug off the rack and put that on top to stop the straw tickling his muzzle)
ii) warmth - helps insulate the gaps
iii) somewhere to store some of the new straw so that sh1tty horses dont trample the whole bale in one night
iv) somewhere for the rats to hide

Taking up the banks every day to me is like lifting all the rubber mats every day, not necessary at all, though good to do on a regular basis.

All of my banks get taken up completely at least once a week, even thats not needed I dont think. When you uncover them they are a bit grey looking but no worse, and with the mats any smell only happens as you uncover them, if you leave them down and they are draining ok theres no issue.

So I would expect that as part of livery if they use banks they are turned regularly but certainly not daily - maybe weekly/fortnightly.
 
At the yard I work at we don't use banks at all (and in fact haven't done for some time!). All our stables are rubber mattered and the horses just have a layer of straw to pee on (except for if we have liveries in then they decided what they put down/ and my boy has a bit more).

Touch wood we haven't had a cast horse so far, and we've had the yard and been not banking for around 7 years now!

However, those people that do have banks (and I think now it's actually only one person on part livery) as far as I have seen turn them everyday. If not at least every other day I would imagine!!

If you want your banks done everyday though I'd certainly mention it to you yard manager...because you're paying them and you should get what you want!
 
Oscar has a shavings bed but banks of straw. They are still in their bales (string removed) and are packed tightly enough so they dont move and then covered in shavings so he doesnt eat them.

The reason we have done this is he has had colic recently and we suspect he got cast so we are trying everything to try to prevent it happening again.
 
I put the clean straw on mine and then next day it is mixed in with the rest of the bed and clean straw put on the banks again - thinking about it I have no idea why I do this but he has clean banks and a clean bed
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it sounds like your horse is a "messy banker" so his banks may need checking more often than others??
my pony is not too bad but some off the wee seeps underneath sometimes so i do kind of scoop with a fork the wet out until the fork starts to drag out clean bedding.

but aside from that i only turn my banks max once every two weeks, i give them a really good turn and air 6-8 weeks. obviously if i see the bank has been distrubed and looks like it may be dirty i will dig it out to check but i try to avoid turning the whole lot when not necessary.

otherwise the straw doesnt bed down enough and they are flimsy and good for nothing other than pillows or for my pony to pull down and make a mess with.

i turned mine 2 weeks ago and they still arent bedded down properly again they are still abit wobbly so not serving a great deal of purpose at the moment. especially as im a big bank person, i dont believe anything under 1 foot over the size of the bed is going to stop a horse getting cast.

turning my mares banks every day would be waste of time as they are 90% of the time clean underneath and as she has been cast before they need to be solid in structure to keep her away from the walls.
 
I would speak to the YO/YM about this and formally complain. The chances are they have no idea they have got so foul. My own experience from working on yards is that this is a classic place for grooms to shortcut and save time. Once they're covered with a sprinkling of fresh straw nobody is any the wiser unless they have a good look like you did. It shouldn't really happen if they made the beds properly (my way) and one bank was turned over every day and the new straw builds the new bank, rather than just pulling everything off from the tops into the middle and not touching the bottoms of the banks.
 
I am on part livery and so I only muck out at the weekends. The staff at the yard turn the banks over everyday and every weekend I make sure I take at least one of the banks up and allow it to air.
 
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