Beds in stables

russianhorse

russianhorse

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Afternoon all,

Firstly, this is not a critical post - its just bugging me and I thought I'd find the answer here...... So.....

When I first got my horse, I was taught that beds were laid to a fairly deep height, with big banks to the sides, covering 3 sides of the stable with a strip at the front clear for feed buckets, hay and water. I was very anal and have slight OCD, making sure the banks are the same height and the front was dead straight lol. Even now Dizzy lives out, his shelter is also set up like this

As of last week, I look after my friends horse a couple of times a week, so mucked out both their beds and laid them to how I have always done. The next day she made comment on how tidy my beds were and how I laid it to a square. I laughed it off and told her I had OCD

Yesterday she text me to say she had already made their beds so I didn't need to do them (they had stayed out overnight ). Anyway, so I look in the stable and just see that in the corner is a small pile of straw, with the majority of stable just concrete. It looked like it would if you were doing a full muckout

So, my question is: is this the norm now as I have been off a yard for 6 years??? She's just come from a livery yard, where they apparently commented on how deep her beds were? I could understand if there was rubber matting but it's not

I was tempted to change the beds lol, but didn't want to interfere with her way of doing things :)

So, is this the norm?? Does anyone else do this?
 
at my old yard my boy had just concrete flooring and i used to put a large bed down, like you do. Now he is on rubber matting I do put less down than i used to.
 
Um mine are 12 inch deep, 3 foot banks and whole of stable covered except a small patch of concrete for water. I've always been the same
 
Not for me... I always used to set fair my beds like this whether is it is straw or shavings.

However.......! Since having THE dirtiest filly on the planet, who I swear, has a party in her stable every night and turns it upside down and inside out... I have changed things.

I use straw now and I no longer bank up the sides, I still make a deep bed but I pile it higher in the middle.

I do this because, when I banked it up nice and deep, she would sleep on the banks and struggle to get up, not get cast as such on her back but she would dig her feet into the middle and keep pushing herself into the wall! Hence messy bed.

Now that I make it thicker in the middle and deep litter to an extent, she will plonk herself on the thick middle part and no longer struggle to get up.

This is the first horse I have ever had to "rethink" a bedding solution. She may improve with age but right now, filling her WHOLE stable deep with straw, thicker in the middle is the only way I can sleep easy withou worrying she will get herself cast or stuck against the wall.

I know, a bank is supposed to stop this but Betty is no ordinary horse... She's speshul.... And getting "thtuck" was her middle name!
 
Sure she wasn't leaving it up to dry? I do, don't bother putting fresh in until I put it down.

But no, not on concrete, there should always be cushioning. Mine is on rubber matting and messy so gets a bit less than some others.
 
I do only put a 1/3 of the stable covered in straw a big enough area for them to sleep on but certainly not covering the whole area. My big boy is so wet I find his thrush is worse if there aren't bare areas for him to stand in the dry (no matter how deep I make the straw I still find the wet comes up). I do have rubber mats tho.
 
I'm the same as you deep beds and I have ocd about the bed being straight in the front (can't even have one piece of straw on the concrete bit lol). Mine also has high/deep banks. my gelding is now has rubber matting as he was digging his bed and was then laying on the concrete, but I still do a big bed with banks :)
 
Mine are like yours most of the stable covered in a thick straw bed with bankings I love it making it look nice and comfy, a friend has a strip of shavings about 2ft wide for her poor horse he looks so uncomfy when layed down
 
I like big beds, with or without rubber matting. Silly question does rubber matting make much of a difference to comfort, it seems to keep my mares bed dryer but i swear the matting is almost as hard as the concrete.
 
Even if quick bed, I always give banks and a decent covering.

Rubber matting definitely makes a difference but I still bed the same.

Always on shavings, can't stand straw, I've never got the hang of it and always annoys me mucking out and so much waste. I enjoy doing shavings :p

Thankfully mine are all out 24/7 now so no more beds :) Do miss it though!
 
I no longer do banks, after working in Germany, where they don't get the concept at all. If the horse is on concrete, I like the bed right up to the door, and thick enough enough that he doesn't ever go through to the floor. I have mats now, and have about 4 inches of wood pellet bedding covering 3/4 of the floor.

I am OCD about presentation. I realised this today when I looked at the bed that I had thrown up against the walls to air the floor. I didn't actually notice myself doing this - honest!

IMAG1220.jpg
 
I have deep straw beds. when its fluffed up/new straw added I like it to be up to their hocks. Good for drying legs. Also very comfy and warm.
 
My bed is made from straw and its really deep as i have no rubber matting, everyone always coments on how deep it is and that he doesnt need it that deep but he loves to have a roll in his stable and lies down quite often so i would hate the idea of him lying down on concrete. i did have banks but gave up on the idea as eveytime he comes in he pulls them down all over his bed so its a massive watse of time as im following him around putting them back up again ( sure he does it on purpose lol ) I remember someone saying one day that its bad for the legs if you have a deep bed!!!! :eek: even if i had rubber mats i would still have a deep bed i wouldnt like lying down on rubber it cant be that comfortable.
 
igglepop said:
I like big beds, with or without rubber matting. Silly question does rubber matting make much of a difference to comfort, it seems to keep my mares bed dryer but i swear the matting is almost as hard as the concrete.
Click to expand...

It's not horses that want big fluffy beds - it's their carers! Horses are usually perfectly happy to lie on the ground in the field, so technically, they only really need a covering of bedding to soak up wee if on mats, and to stop them scraping themselves if they're on concrete. I love the look of a horse lying in a big thick bed, but I'm under no illusions that they wouldn't be just as happy lying on a small layer.

I have EVA mats - they are much softer than rubber, and feel lovely and bouncy!
 
Kal's bed has sealed rubber matting on the floor and about three foot high up the walls and I still give him a really deep bed with massive banks (straw) . . . right up to the door, except for a very small half moon space right by the door. I did try leaving a strip for water, feed, etc., but Kal just walks his bedding over it anyway so there's no point.

P
 
I use shavings and have mats but I still do a deep bed with banks. :o

Most of the other liveries think I'm nuts but she always lies down and when I catch her having a nap she looks very comfy.

She also really enjoys making as much mess as possible so I have plenty of tidying to do after work :rolleyes:
 
Auslander said:
I no longer do banks, after working in Germany, where they don't get the concept at all. If the horse is on concrete, I like the bed right up to the door, and thick enough enough that he doesn't ever go through to the floor. I have mats now, and have about 4 inches of wood pellet bedding covering 3/4 of the floor.

I am OCD about presentation. I realised this today when I looked at the bed that I had thrown up against the walls to air the floor. I didn't actually notice myself doing this - honest!

IMAG1220.jpg
Click to expand...

Thank goodness, it's not just me! I know they just go in and trash it, but I love to see the stable pristine when I'm finished.
 
Hope it is not the norm, I would hate to think of the horse lying on concrete, which if the bed is very thin they will end up on. I always used to do deep beds, in my day there were no such thing as rubber mats:p
In fact the one time I have had a pony on full livery when we moved areas, it really annoyed me that the beds were thin!
 
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