Bedding ideas for dirty mare?

tonitot

tonitot

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Hi all, wondering what bedding would be best for my filthy mare. She's currently on straw and she buries her poos and box walks so they break up everywhere. When I put new straw in she'll eat it, even if I mix it in or try to bury it. Shes not very wet but does poo a lot and I'm having to put half a bale in everyday. I'm losing the will to live with it, it takes me about 45mins to go through the bed and chuck it up, that's not including actually laying the bed.
I have tried to deep litter it but with her box walking she just churned it up and so it was worse. We're not allowed shavings on the yard, we are allowed hemcore or similar so long and it breaks down quickly on the muck heap (YOs rules)

Does anyone have any ideas on the best bedding for her or how best to manage her bed?

Ta :D
 
comfybed will work. Because its heavier its not going to move about as much ergo it won't allow so muck won't be stirred in to such an extent.

Its cheap as well at about £6 per bale

And re the composting side of things, it breaks down in just a few months :D
 
If she box walks most bedding will be difficult to deal with and the hemcore will be far more expensive to use. I would be inclined to stay with straw, I put big banks that I do not really move and muck out the middle, even if its really trashed it does not take 45 mins to do, I would still be mucking out now if it did:eek:
Can you try to address the box walking, a mirror may help or using several nets of hay in different parts of the box.
 
Will check out comfybed, never used it before :)

I would get rubber matting but I'm hopeless at saving money so I never have the funds to buy it :o
 
Sounds alot like my new TB!!!!! He is a dirty git, the worse horse ive known! I started on different beds of shavings and the like but he was disgusting! I ended up putting him on straw, a very deep bed and he has improved. The more straw the better i have found ;)

Like your mare he box walked......i was told by many peeps to buy a stable mirror for him, i really was scepticle about this but thought what the hell, i bought one 2nd hand off a friend (its quite big 3'3 x 3'3) amd hey presto...the box walking has stopped!!! :D:D They really are worth their weight in gold, they are expensive but DEFO worth the money. I would highly recommend you try one for your mare, you will almost certainly see a difference. Khan is still dirty compared to my other horse but he is BY FAR cleaner than before!! ;)
 
Be positive, I do the same as you, big banks and just muck out the middle but she kicks it around all over the stable and turns the poo to dust :o Have tried to address her box walking, she has a big haynet of hay emptied onto the floor plus a haynet tied up. She has a treat ball which as far as I know she only knocks around at the front of the stable, not actually on her bed. I don't think she does it through the night it's more when other horses ho out and she gets upset about it. I would get there earlier to turn her out but one horse goes out really early and I don't think.I'd manage to get there before she's already messed her bed up.
 
Another vote for wood pellets...

My TB gelding takes dirty to an as yet undefinable level... He squidges every last bit of poo around every bit of his bedding and as he has the appetite of two small elephants - it's a lot of poo! :D

He can completely trash a nice straw or shavings bed in two days... It's bogging and needs to be completely hauled out...

The wood pellets are amazing by comparison... Far less time mucking out, no wee leakage out of the stable door, even the broken up poo that he's kicked and squidged everywhere is easily forked out of the bedding...

The amount removed is less than 25% of the old volume and he has maybe three bags a week - compared to totally new beds every two days... Wood pellets took some time to get used to but I wouldn't change back... The muck heap contributions from our stables is way smaller...

I'm a rather chuffed convert... :D
 
To get YO on your side you could suggest hemcore mixed with wood pellets. The pellets take up very little storage room compared with other bedding and the two mix very well, I use this mix (3 parts wood pellets to 1 part hemp (Aubiose) with my two. It produces masses less muck heap and rots down extremely quickly and well to black gold that local green peeps treasure for their polytunnels and gardens. On straw my mare looked like she pooed through a sieve and then danced on it all night...:-O))

But I would save up for the matting too.
 
Sh sharky, you're the only one who noticed :p

Think I will have a chat with YO and see what he says. Hes normally pretty easy to talk to. He puts all the rotted down muck on his organic veg and stuff so need to make sure it's good for that :) Which are the best wood pellets or are they all the same?
 
tonitot said:
Sh sharky, you're the only one who noticed :p

Think I will have a chat with YO and see what he says. Hes normally pretty easy to talk to. He puts all the rotted down muck on his organic veg and stuff so need to make sure it's good for that :) Which are the best wood pellets or are they all the same?
Click to expand...

I was using Blue Ribbon but had some delivery issues... Not their fault - the courier they used in our area...

Liverpool sent out some samples - the economy is about the same as Blue Ribbon but the premium is both more absorbent (I did test the economy and premium with bowls and measured water because I'm a bit of a fuss pot :D) and whiter looking... Pellet beds are a bit dark compared to shavings...

We use the premium on the gross TB and a loan pony that doesn't wee outside - then turns the taps on when she is in her stable... The others are on the economy...

HTH :)
 
Carry on with straw but make a deep, deep bed and high banks. I also pack it down tight with a snow shovel and she's on rubber mats too!

My mare buries and hides everything if she can.
 
She has a very deep bed and high banks and is disgusting. She always eats a lot of the bed as well even though she has plenty of hay, shes known to go into her stable with hay in there and start munching on her bed. Doesn't matter if it's new bedding on top or hidden, she'll go in, munch on the bed for a while then go to her hay. I guess once she finishes her giant pile of hay that she goes back to het bed :/

Looking for something she won't eat really as I think this is the main problem along with the box walking.
 
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