Bedding shelter

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Vodkagirly

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I have a field shelter on mud mats. Horses do use it a lot (nice and dry after snow storm) so I rarely bring them in now. I was wondering if bedding it would be good idea so they could lie down. Only issue is that its bottom of a field away from muck heap so would be a pain to muck out. It would be straw I think.
Bedding shelter, yes or no?
 
Mine is just bare earth (faces away from the prevailing wind and rain with a big over hang so never gets wet inside). They are happy to lay down in there as it is.
I can't be doing with the extra work and money to bed it down. Plus on the rare occasion I've had to use it as a stable short term, it just got muddy where they peed and the bedding mulched in.
 
Aubiose all the way you will never have to muck it out. If they do poo in the shelter just take a bucket with you and some gloves and pick it up. The bedding self dry's so nothing to do with that apart from level it out now and then.
 
Mines bare earth with mats over the top. In the summer I leave the mats as they are and sweep it out easily. In the winter I use barley straw. I like it nice and deep to clean and dry their legs when their stood in.
I often find all 3 ponies led down in there. It's 18 x 12 so not the biggest space but they manage to squeeze in.
 
Being sited at the bottom of a hill will rain run off get into the shelter and soak any bedding?

I just have rubber mats over concrete in my shelters, the important thing is that the footing is dry and not slippery.

Both of my shelters have double entrances for safety purposes so, depending on the wind direction, rain can blow in despite the overhangs. The rubber soon dries.
 
I have stable mats on top of earth in mine and I put a bed in so they can have a small munch if they run out of hay.
If it was at the bottom of a hill I wouldn't as that would be a pain.

In curious about Aubiose mentioned for mine as that could be a good alternative for main bed with straw banks.
 
mavandkaz said:
Mine is just bare earth (faces away from the prevailing wind and rain with a big over hang so never gets wet inside). They are happy to lay down in there as it is.
I can't be doing with the extra work and money to bed it down. Plus on the rare occasion I've had to use it as a stable short term, it just got muddy where they peed and the bedding mulched in.
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Mine is too, it stays dry inside. They lay down in the field all summer on the dry earth so they could lie down in there but they tend to only go in there to eat and then go to sleep in the field. We have stables too for the really bad weather. I’m similar - the mess of it being walked out and round the field would drive me mad too!
 
I used to use aubiose on bare earth. It helped keep their feet dry. I had to stop, though, as my cob decided it make a great toilet and made special journeys to the field to pee in there!! It was lovely before I bought him, though!
 
spotty_pony2 said:
Mine is too, it stays dry inside. They lay down in the field all summer on the dry earth so they could lie down in there but they tend to only go in there to eat and then go to sleep in the field. We have stables too for the really bad weather. I’m similar - the mess of it being walked out and round the field would drive me mad too!
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Me too. They're perfectly happy lying in the field so it just feels like extra cost and effort for no reason. We also have stables for really bad weather so maybe that makes a difference.
 
One thing about bedding shelters is how much gets kicked around/dragged outside as they wander in and out
I found that what looked like a decent bed soon gets thin
Some sort of barrier eg an old gatepost laid across the doorway helped to keep the bedding inside
 
I have thick stable mats in my shelters, some over limestone, some over soil, 1 over mud control mats. Two of my horses sleep in their shelters every day despite having other options, so they are obviously comfortable enough, and super easy to muck out.
 
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