Bedding - the big bank debate

Emmangel

Emmangel

Well-Known Member
Joined
27 October 2014
Messages
138
Location
Meopham
Visit site
I'm sure this has been done loads before but I can't seem to find the thread.

My two horses are both on wood shavings. I have always had fairly substantial banks in their stables but my yard owner has asked if I would mind having no banks as they have more surface area available and are cleaner so easier to muck out. YO is a lovely lady so I'm happy to try it, but it's just alien to me.

Do banks actually do anything or do we have them because it makes their beds look nice from aesthetic point of view ? Has there been any proven research carried out as to whether they prevent horses getting cast ???

I would like to point out they also have good quality rubber matting.

Thanks

PS I would have done a poll if I knew how !
 
I've always been brought up on that banks help prevent a horse getting cast and help stop hocks getting capped as well. My horses have never been cast and I've always banked- could be just lucky I guess though but that's over 20 years with horses!
 
Have looked before and never found any research on it.
The theory about banks stopping horses getting cast has been around for a very long time, but we were always taught that banks were not needed for shavings and similar beds (presumably the horses were able to push themselves away easier on shavings than on straw, but no research to prove this). Have known stables with banks and without for both straw and shavings and luckily the only time anyone has heard a horse sounding cast then it has got up before 'help' arrived.
I think some horses might be prone to getting cast though, so I would use banks if I had one.
The only one of mine that got cast was my first pony, who got cast in the paddock! Rolled too near to a bank, but fortunately it was sand and some unhorsey fathers (mine included) dug the bank away while pony waited patiently.
 
I have rubber mats and use shavings or rape straw with a bed about 4-6" deep. Never put in banks and my 4 horses have been fine for the last 15 years. Not had once cast yet!
 
I never do banks now. I used to many moons ago with my old horse but have never done so with my mare now. If I did banks she would barely have room to move in her stable.
 
If I bed on straw, I do two big banks (back and left) - his haynet is on the right so no point building a bank there or he'd just stand in it. If I bed on shavings, I just do one bank at the back - and use it primarily as a way of storing clean bedding - I build quite a big bank, and once the base starts to get low, I pull the bank down - he goes without a bank until the bed gets low enough that I need to top up and then we start again, dirty bedding on bottom, a top up of clean and a nice big bank of clean at the back.

The only time he's ever got cast was when he was in a stable that was far too small for him.

P
 
I have always had banks on all 3 sides as that is what i was lead to believe is the way to do a proper bed, they are about 20 in high and the bed about 10inches deep. When i'm running my bed down for a clear out i take them down and to be honest find it much quicker and easier to muck out without them. Stable is big enough and bed deep enough to not need them i guess but habits- good or bad are hard to break! If i were you i would try it at least. After reading earlier posts about them being necessary for straw beds bud not shavings i might just pull mine down too
 
My mare is on box rest atm,she got cast in front of me last week just after I'd straightened bed and re done banks (straw)
She did free herself as I was about to loop rope over her leg to pull her back over. I think if you are going to have banks which I have learnt is they need to be quite high and wide to make any difference and do the job which I make sure now across the back
 
The vast majority of the time banks are just aesthetically pleasing. If I'm doing the mucking out on my own horses then they don't get banks.
 
I think in the golden olden days of straw, you could bank up quite high but nowadays with shavings, you'd need a lot of shavings to do this...i know of one horse who used to get cast quite a lot and he ended up living out with a barn to shelter in when it was cold/wet weather. I only bank if I've put too many shavings in, for hock protection, you'd need very high banking. It isn't very common for a horse to get cast so it really is a personal choice.
 
I never use banks, I have looked after horses with think banks huge stables, wearing anti cast roller and if you think banks are going to stop it they are not.
My main problem with banks is most people do not move them and rotate the straw so the straw or shavings go mould and if you horse is stabled overnight its potentially spending many hours in a mould spore environment and you are more likely to get airway disease than the horse being cast.
 
I think banks are a result of the old style day bed - for horses standing in, you banked up the dry bedding to air after mucking out, and sprinkled a small amount on the floor to allow them to pee without splash back. Seems to have morphed into a fashion with no real reason other than appearance.
 
Ive never banked and have never had any injuries or castings. I think it is down to the horse and the size / shape of the stables rather than the banks.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Anti cast strips are the best way to go for horses that get down against walls.
Click to expand...

I agree with AdorableAlice.

Alternatively, an appropriate size stable for the horse and very substantial banks will help too. I used to work on a yard many years ago where the owner wanted very, very deep straw beds and massive banks - as in at least 30cm deep and roughly my hip height! They didn't want the banks turned over or moved at all, so they were very solid and probably had a few rat nests.

When I had my horse on DIY, I used Hunters shavings and only had smallish banks to save some clean shavings for later, which was gradually added to the 'flat' part of the bedding as it needed topping up.
 
Last edited:
Another that only really uses banks to store fresh bedding, ready to pull down into the bed. When I had a large stable, I had gigantic banks. Now I've got a 10x12 stable and no banks. I've swapped to wood pellets so just shove new in when I need it.
If I had a horse that I thought was particularly at risk of getting cast I'd get strips put on the wall.
 
I've done all ways. If its to stop a horse getting cast then they'd have to be pretty big, if its just to look nice then give it a try. Personally I think they are cleaner with banks for some reason
 
I had a colicking horse get cast in a large stable with a smallish shavings bed, since then I bed on straw and have big, thick, very firm banks just in case. Current horse is clean and barely disturbs the banks, other than flattening them a bit where he rests his pretty head! I redo one bank at a time maybe x3 a year, but check them often for damp under the window/auto waterer or underneath for wee leakage.
 
AdorableAlice said:
Anti cast strips are the best way to go for horses that get down against walls.
Click to expand...

I know someone that used to work at a yard with these and she said it made no difference!

I don't bank as I use wood pellets, neither of mine have ever been cast. Nor when I worked in a riding school and we had 25 stables occupied day and night (on rotation). The only horse I've seen cast was in a stable with banks.

I think it's just pot luck on these things!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top