Bedding question- The dreaded!

ljohnsonsj

ljohnsonsj

Well-Known Member
Joined
23 December 2011
Messages
1,219
Location
East Yorkshire
Visit site
Hi guys,

sorry if this is done to death but I need to know the best bedding for my mare!

She's big and very messy! Currently on shavings & matting, but doesn't even matter if I give her a thin bed as she just walks her banks in and trashes the lot anyway!

Not straw, gross on it & I just hate the stuff.

So, wood pellets, how do they perform? what other options do I have?

Thanks in advance!
 
millie walks round her bed a LOT and pellets are the most economical bed for us. It's not as pretty as Kira's box (all wee and poo in one place) but it is manageable and on the days she trashes the lot, it's not expensive to replace!

On shavings she mashes the whole lot up and I could put a new bale in daily (used to, when she was living at HAPPA!)
Straw is just too minging
Aubiose too expensive
Pellets are quick and easy to skip out - everyone says they don't work for a messy horse but for me it's the only way to cope with mine.
 
milliepops said:
millie walks round her bed a LOT and pellets are the most economical bed for us. It's not as pretty as Kira's box (all wee and poo in one place) but it is manageable and on the days she trashes the lot, it's not expensive to replace!

On shavings she mashes the whole lot up and I could put a new bale in daily (used to, when she was living at HAPPA!)
Straw is just too minging
Aubiose too expensive
Pellets are quick and easy to skip out - everyone says they don't work for a messy horse but for me it's the only way to cope with mine.
Click to expand...

This is my thoughts. She could have a bag in every day of shavings and still look the same! It's just black within a day of her being on it. Which do you use?
 
white horse energy, Platinum plus. I have a discount code if you want it.

I went back to shavings when I ran out of pellets before xmas and it was AWFUL. Never again!! :D
 
You need to deep litter the wood pellets. White horse pp forms a nice heavy base. Don't remove wet. Just add more dry over the top until you get that base. Although it's like hard compacted sand underneath, you will have a dry top. Once a week, skim top off one side, dig out wet and put dry pellets down in hole. Put top back on. A week later, do the other side the same. Also, not sure if you have ned at home, but on my final night time inspection at midnight, I remove all solids to save it being stepped through during the night.
 
Thanks, the White horse energy site says they're out of stock? I don't have them at home unfortunately! I am often down late though and try to keep them as poo free as possible!
 
worth a quick phone call to WHE, they were doing something to the number of bags on a pallet and apparently it kicked out the stock on the website (saddo that follows them on FB!)
I've always found them helpful to deal with :)
 
I got a new horse last September and blimey was I shocked at how disgusting he was.. I was clearing two wheelbarrows a day (shavings lifted every day to let the sealed mats dry) after some research he is now on recycled eggbox bedding, which is light, very absorbent, dust extracted and doesn't smell. I also like it doesn't stick to anything. Now onlyvtake out 2/3 wheelbarrow a day and am down to one bale every 5/6 days. Cheap too at £6 a 20kg bale. Only issue is the company I use is quite local and currently only deliver to Dorset but worth a thought if there are any suppliers near you??
 
I know you said you hate straw but I've tried every type of bedding under the sun with my messy horse and have ended up back on straw. Everyday take the poo out and fork/sweep any straw to the sides to make banks on either side, then put fresh straw in the middle. It doesn't take too long to do and actually stays clean. I've found any type of shavings bedding to be the most annoying and messiest.
 
My two are minging. My stables also have crap drainage but because it's cheap I use straw even though it's not really ideal.

I was taking 2 barrows of soaking wet straw every day from each stable and relaying a new bed but it was driving me mad - not to mention taking ages.

Last night I bought 2 bags of pellets and put one in each under the straw and the difference this morning was amazing! One small wet patch in each stable and there was even dry pellets so hopefully it will soak up more tomorrow.

One barrow from both stables. Job done.

Next winter I will move on to a full pellet bed I think as I think it could be good for the really wet horse.
 
What size stable do you have your horse in? One of my mares has always been the messiest horse alive and would always flatten shavings banks and churn everything up so mucking out was a nightmare. I'd have to throw out most of her bed every day - cost a fortune. Recently moved her into a 14 x 12 stable and it has revolutionised my mucking out! She has equimats and a relatively deep shavings bed at the back (about 2 metres forward from the back 12ft wall) and now find the bed stays pretty much in place, which I think is because she's not stomping around at the back shavings section as much. Worth a try if your yard has any bigger stable available
 
Shredded card - a similar product I guess to the egg boxes mentioned above but maybe more easily available? Eco bale is one company that provides it.
 
Im having a similar problem, she is just minging!! Ive tried the deep litter and semi deep litter which looked good for about a fortnght, then I ended up removing it all :( currently trying putting down a bale (have existing bankings which are minging too!)and basically clearing it out over the next couple of days and doing the same again. My aim is 2 bales a week with a 3rd bale if absolutely desperate. Its costing more for her bedding than her feed lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top