Banks? (The kind full of c***, I'll let you decide...)

AShetlandBitMeOnce

AShetlandBitMeOnce

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 January 2015
Messages
7,121
Visit site
I put in massive banks in Jake's bed and I assume that he uses them mainly as a source of food. (There is usually a large nose shaped dent, but never any flattened bits, so I guess he doesn't lie near them). They're made of straw and not totally compacted..
Anyway, I have been thinking of late, is it worth taking the time to rebuild them everyday? How much support are they going to give if he does roll over in a potentially cast situation?
I can understand they would work for a 12.2hh but a horse as big as Jake would surely just flatten the straw and they'd be useless.. (Not to mention the tiny weeny banks I see some people do on shavings bed, I can't imaging they have any purpose other than purely aesthetic?!)

Whats your opinion, are they really worth it?
 
One of mine has banks, the other one doesn't. The one that has them has what I would call a traditional bed - deep straw bed with proper banks. I put them up for warmth to reduce the draft when is lying down - he is incredibly clean in his stable and they are well-compacted and firm. The other horse is revolting in his stable, box walks when he is impatient to be fed/out in the morning, so has rubber mats and a smaller straw bed with no banks as most of the straw comes out every day where he has stirred it into slurry. He has been cast before when he had proper banks and it made no apparent difference so I just don't bother now...! They have both been on shavings as well previously due to muck heap restrictions, and both had tiny/no banks. So no, I don't think they are really worth it :)
 
The only thing that will help a cast horse is kick strips. I think there is nothing nicer than a deep straw bed with huge banks, but the reality is most straw is short and dusty so not great for lungs theirs or ours ! Years ago the combines used to churn out long lengths of straw that made fab beds. Anyone remember rolling the edge of the bed ?
 
AdorableAlice said:
The only thing that will help a cast horse is kick strips. I think there is nothing nicer than a deep straw bed with huge banks, but the reality is most straw is short and dusty so not great for lungs theirs or ours ! Years ago the combines used to churn out long lengths of straw that made fab beds. Anyone remember rolling the edge of the bed ?
Click to expand...

I'm not old enough to remember I don't think (20yo) but what is rolling the edge of the bed?

He has a massive bed! And I angle it up at the sides, but building banks for him to eat them, poo in them or destroy them seems a bit counter productive. He is in a barn so no draught. Think I may just leave them out from now on, and not feel guilty about it any more!
 
I stopped doing banks about 8yrs ago, I ran out of straw when we were snowed in and had to use the banks. Plus I don't think a bank of straw would do much against my 700k horse.

I've had a friend on my yard recently who does do big banks, and it's amazing how much smaller her stable looks compared to those of my two horses (same size). The horse has about 3' less of room in the stable as the banks take up so much room. Plus it makes the stable seem dirtier and slower to muck out.
 
AdorableAlice said:
The only thing that will help a cast horse is kick strips. I think there is nothing nicer than a deep straw bed with huge banks, but the reality is most straw is short and dusty so not great for lungs theirs or ours ! Years ago the combines used to churn out long lengths of straw that made fab beds. Anyone remember rolling the edge of the bed ?
Click to expand...

*cough*
Having to plait the front in, at pc camp :redface3:
 
Gave up on straw years ago. Rubber mats with a good 6 bales of flax. Half a tonne of horse is going to need a lot of straw to keep it off the walls. Anti cast strips on the walls the best way to go.
 
I only use banks if they're going to be draught excluders, they are no use for stopping getting a horse cast unless they are huge and firm.

I did them for my old boy in the depths of winter to help with warmth when he was struggling and I have them in one of the shavings beds but that's because I put in a whole clean bale in the banks and then pull fresh down through the week

Eta - AA, the yard I started at taught me to do 'proper' straw beds inc rolling.
 
AdorableAlice said:
The only thing that will help a cast horse is kick strips. I think there is nothing nicer than a deep straw bed with huge banks, but the reality is most straw is short and dusty so not great for lungs theirs or ours ! Years ago the combines used to churn out long lengths of straw that made fab beds. Anyone remember rolling the edge of the bed ?
Click to expand...

I do. And making a hay wisp. I probably should have been put down long ago!
 
My mare was really mucky in her stable - I put banks in and she is cleaner.
My friend's gelding is mucky unless he has banks and a rug on - he likes to use them as a pillow and he feels the cold easily.
Another mare I have tried banks, big bed, small bed but she is mucky regardless.
The other 2 mares have beds with no banks and are the cleanest horses of all of them.
 
The solution is to turn the clock back and keep our horses tied to a log in a stall. They can lie down or stand up and that is their lot. I think the army still keep them like that ?

Just imagine keeping them like that.
 
Banks used for anti casting ,ethics seem pointless unless the banks are feet and feet high!

I used to thatch the horse when he was soaked: taught by an older lady. I used straw to rub him down, too.
 
The Fuzzy Furry said:
Ah, slightly lucky - drafty weighing room (no curtains) and ponies in the slip rail stalls at Twesledown in the early 70's :biggrin3:
Click to expand...

Hah ! We boys had to sleep in the stand backing onto the weighing in room. Did give us room for a lot of mischief though. And there was that huge green shed with a canteen in the middle .Good days those!
 
Unless the banks are solid and about a foot thick they aren't going to help a cast horse.

I did away with them years ago and I just have a flat bed, I haven't had a cast horse in about 15yrs, last one being a TB prone to doing it, he needed up sleeping in a cast roller, so personally I don't see the need for bankings.
 
"Rolling the edge of the bed" - like this. I think it really came from bedding in stalls, loose boxes leave the horse free to stomp all over them

plaitedstraw_zpsf22cccdd.jpg


Banks? For one thing they are too close to the wall, by the time a horse feels them he will be half way over to getting cast, and for another, a bank of straw to hold the weight of around half a tonne of horse? Bit of a myth as far as I can see. Look nice and cosy though - I think of them as warmth
 
I have small banks on my shavings beds, their only purpose is as a place to keep the excess shavings from a bale away from where the horse pees. It's just a way to save money (can you tell I'm tight? ).
 
I have approx 2ft high by 1 1/2ft wide, firm banks of clean, dry straw. My horse doesn't really disturb them so they only get topped up/refreshed occasionally and checked for damp underneath (which isn't usually a problem as he wees in the middle of the bed). IMHO no point having them unless they are big and firm; keeps the horse away from the walls and it's where I sit when I'm chilling with my boy!
 
Last edited:
I read somewhere that they don't help stop horses getting cast so I decided to stop doing mine, I use shavings. The first time my pony went back into her stable without the banks, she got cast.......which might just have been a coincidence but I think it was because the stable looked bigger she tried to roll right over and perhaps before she didn't....anyway mine are staying now..I've decided its better for my nerves.
 
Mine are purely for a way of storing extra bedding which I pull into the main bed during the week. We use wood pellet as the bed and shavings for the banks and the shavings are good for filling in when I've lifted wet patches out of the pellets. My horse likes to use them as a pillow and the yard cats like to sleep on them so they stay. However, they are far too small to serve any practical purpose and just look nice.

At this time a year when we are hoping that they will soon be out 24/7 they get smaller and smaller each week as I use them up and don't restock.
 
AShetlandBitMeOnce said:
I put in massive banks in Jake's bed and I assume that he uses them mainly as a source of food. (There is usually a large nose shaped dent, but never any flattened bits, so I guess he doesn't lie near them). They're made of straw and not totally compacted..
Anyway, I have been thinking of late, is it worth taking the time to rebuild them everyday? How much support are they going to give if he does roll over in a potentially cast situation?
I can understand they would work for a 12.2hh but a horse as big as Jake would surely just flatten the straw and they'd be useless.. (Not to mention the tiny weeny banks I see some people do on shavings bed, I can't imaging they have any purpose other than purely aesthetic?!)

Whats your opinion, are they really worth it?
Click to expand...

My boy yes as he uses them as a pillow
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top