Bedding for a box walker

[tabithakat64]

My pony is a box walker, she's also very wet.
Over the years I've tried several types of bedding but none have worked long term on a semi deep littered basis although all have worked well for a few months to begin with.

Cookies for all suggestions as I'm currently spending £30/£40 a month on a bedding that just looks nasty after the first day.

 

[AmyMay]

Have you tried rubber matting and a small amount of bedding.

Although I have to be honest, I would be spending what you spend during winter on bedding on a clean horse...........

 

[Loika]

My friend had a box walker which she managed to cure by building a low wall across the stable with a couple of straw bales. It took a few days, she said but it worked by not letting him get into "the zone", interruptted his mindless plodding if you like, as he tried to walk round he suddenly had a small obsticle to negotiate, a puzzle to solve. Might be a solution? Otherwise i support the rubber matting only solution, its how its designed to be used or so the theory goes at least!

 

[tabithakat64]

Sorry, should have mentioned she has mats underneath.

I cannot believe anyone spends that much on bedding

My gelding who is on straw only costs £15 a month on bedding and the project horse on LWP costs £12.50, the horse I look after who is on shavings costs £24 a month and none of them are on matting as well as bedding so in comparison the pony is very expensive.

 

[rossiroo]

I can recomend wood pellets and rubber mats, workes for wet dirty fidgety horses.

 

[jenni999]

Liverpool wood pellets . Work really well as they provide a stable base but are still soft. The wet will all be at the bottom so you can take it out once a week.

I recommend about 8 bags to start with (will give you a really good deep bed) and then 1 or maybe 2 a week when you dig it out.

 

[AmyMay]

Sorry, should have mentioned she has mats underneath.

I cannot believe anyone spends that much on bedding

My gelding who is on straw only costs £15 a month on bedding and the project horse on LWP costs £12.50, the horse I look after who is on shavings costs £24 a month and none of them are on matting as well as bedding so in comparison the pony is very expensive.

It depends on the size of the horse and box though, how good you like the bed to be and also the length of time the horse spends in.

Once we get in to the depths of winter I would expect to put a bale in a week, perhaps two if it has been particularly wet and the horse spent longer in.

You can't compare the price of straw with shavings either.

 

[tabithakat64]

I tried shavings (Hunters), when in at night with a proper bed on mats I was using a bale and a half a week and she'd grind them to a grey dust with the box walking and you would end up with massive dirty banks and no bed in the middle as I couldn't get the base solid enough that it wouldn't move.

Have also tried megazorb, rapisorb, allbed, auboise and another type of hemp bedding all of which were great for several months, then she just seems to trash it on a daily basis.

I fully emptied the bed out about six weeks ago and started again with the auboise, even started taking out the wet three times a week and not dampening the new bed down but it hasn't made any difference.

I'm seriously considering wood pellets although I prefer her to have a big thick bed even on mats.

 

[AmyMay]

In your shoes I would go for rubber matting and litteraly a sprinkling of bed to mopp up the wee.

 

[Ali27]

I tried LWP on rubber mats with our dirty mare and it was no good! This winter, I am going to mix cushion bed (£3.99 ) with shavings and see how that goes. The cushion bed is heavier so hopefully the bed won't move around so much!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

You could also suspend a broom handle from the rafters to stop him going box.
we have used rubber and a sprinkling of bedding also hang a few toys from the ceiling the big ball types so he has to either walk into them or maneuver round them the big apple works well cos its hard

http://www.omahavaccine.com/product...112&itemid=07366&itemname=A+Big+Red+Apple+Toy

http://www.equishopping.co.uk/item-totallytack2626.htm

we use comfy bed , easy bed and bed soft

 

[Tnavas]

My pony is a box walker, she's also very wet.
Over the years I've tried several types of bedding but none have worked long term on a semi deep littered basis although all have worked well for a few months to begin with.

Cookies for all suggestions as I'm currently spending £30/£40 a month on a bedding that just looks nasty after the first day.

Does she really have to be in? If she is that stressed I'd prefer to leave her out 24/7.

 

[flirtygerty]

We have tried everything with our gelding, he doesn't box walk but has a very dirty bed spread throughout the space he has, he is now semi feral, coming in when he wants to or I decide he should be in when he stands and kicks doors.
Anyway the best result we had was putting him on deep littered straw, initially he spread the straw, but very soon he had a solid warm base, we kept throwing the cleanish straw back on top, mucked out solids daily, this was when on a livery yard with limited TO, if the straw was too nice he would eat his bed but on the whole it was a success

 

[Enfys]

Does she really have to be in? If she is that stressed I'd prefer to leave her out 24/7.

This. I was going to say "a field" .

Not always a solution for all kinds of reasons and I do appreciate that, at one yard I was at horses had to be in from November until May, thankfully I didn't have boxwalkers, but it is an awful long time to cope with if the horse doesn't like to be stabled/is wet etc. What sort of facilities do you have?

A larger stable perhaps if possible? Perhaps just try a different stable? A stable with an attached pen? A friend? Paddock with a run in shed? In a school overnight?

Otherwise, if the horse absolutely had to be in, for whatever reason, I'd grin and bear it and just put down the minimum bedding to soak up the urine and resign myself to dumping it every day

 

[angelish]

hi my box walker has been on box rest for the last 4 months

i have equi mats ,the really thick soft ones and i use the wood pellets as banks, throwing about half a bucket full into the middle every day then throw the lot out

he is in his stable on a night time and in a field shelter through the day so he is not in a filthy stable all the time ,however he has now worn the mats out
they have no tred left so i am now experementing with a very deep bed of wood pellets adding a bag every 3 days ,ill let you know how i get on

last time i tried it i put 6 bags down to start and he reduced it to wet s***y mush within 4 days and i had to take the whole lot out ,ive just put 10 bags down

the field shelter is great as it is the size of 2 large stables and has an earth floor so the wet falls through the straw and just disapears ,leaving the top fairly clean
i find mine is much better in a bigger box especially a deep box as i can put the bed at the back and he walks around the front leaving the bed un touched

so it may help if you can put her in a bigger stable

 

[Jade17]

A friend of mine, her horse box walks and trashes his stable, he's been on box rest since start of July, between us we came with using, mats, cat litter and straw, she puts the car litter and straw in the middle of the stable (like a roundabout) so he can still walk round, she puts a small section of straw in every 2 days and nicks out twice a day

 

[Enfys]

A little off topic, my apologies

A friend of mine, her horse box walks and trashes his stable, he's been on box rest since start of July,

This is not criticism in any way, shape or form, more a question of me just pondering, but if a horse is on box rest and is a box walker, doesn't the walking defeat the object of box rest . To my mind, if a horse is capable of box walking then he should be fine in a small pen or paddock rather than a stable.

 

[Jesstickle]

A little off topic, my apologies



This is not criticism in any way, shape or form, more a question of me just pondering, but if a horse is on box rest and is a box walker, doesn't the walking defeat the object of box rest . To my mind, if a horse is capable of box walking then he should be fine in a small pen or paddock rather than a stable.

I have had this discussion with my vets more than once this year. I won in the end and she went out to a pen as she was a damn nuisance in her box and was definitely NOT resting. She did, however, stand in 24/7 at the vets without a peep. Go figure.

 

[Box_Of_Frogs]

Why don't you tackle it from a different direction and ask yourself why your pony box walks? The answer is usually not enough turnout. I'm so so happy at my yard because the horses are on the opposite of the normal management system. Unless owners don't want it, our horses are OUT overnight from 3pm to 9am all year. Horses and owners are happy happy bunnies. If you could swap your pony around I bet his box walking would lessen, you'd need seriously less bedding and you'd be able to do a fabulous muck out, to include changing water, filling haynets and making feeds, in approx 15 minutes. Also the horse is in during the day for riding, checking, vet, farrier, whatever.

 

[wispa]

would recommend you go for a heavier bedding that isn't going to move around which would make me suggest you go for eco comfybed. Cheap, dust free and doesn't move about!!

 

[Hexx]

Have you tried Bedmax? The flakes are larger than normal shavings and take longer to break down - we started them at our yard last year, at first we were a bit sceptical, but now, we wouldn't go back to normal shavings. Combined with rubber matting, they make a good solid bed.

 

[tabithakat64]

Thanks for the advise everyone

I've chosen to use Megazorb, only on day three but it seems to be going well so far.

My pony has been out at night for the last few years along with my gelding, however they were re-introduced to a small herd earlier this year as I felt it was better for them both. The others are all coming in at night now and both mine get stressed when their friends come in so have decided to stick to the same routine as they other ponies.

She has always been a box walker and is actually much better now than she used to be, she does get enough turnout 9 to 12 hours year round depending on whether she is out at night or during the day.

I'm going to split her hay ration so she has more of it in the morning and see if that helps and also turn her out as early as I can.