dirty dirty horse

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michelleice

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my boy is dirty when stabled he wees every where and spreads it he poos and hides it hes currently on shavings but would straw be better?

unsure what to do straw is cheaper yes and I'm going threw allot of bedding when he was in hes messiest horse Ive ever had like he saves his wee for stable and does about 6!(probs not but looks like hes wee ed all night)

ETA he has laryngeal paralysis so would straw be ok?
 
I used to have an Arab gelding who was incredibly filthy in the stable. He was impossible on straw, I needed to take the whole lot out every day. I changed to shavings and he was much more manageable on them. I also used shredded paper which worked well too - the wet went into a solid lump and was really easy to muck out.
 
I would suggest that you maybe get your horse looked at by the vet especially if he is old, as a lot of weeing can denote various health problems, in particular diabetes and I believe cusings disease.
 
hes not old (16) and healthy as can be he was vetted and has clean bill of health had back man out last week and dentist due next week or week after at yard as he is done every 6 months


hes just dirty lol
 
no he hasnt got matting was gonna measure up stable today and see what it would cost
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my sisters horse is like this too... he's about 15 now and has done it all his life. Some mornings you could wring out the bedding!

We've tried straw - about the worst he's been, the whole lot had to come out daily.
We've tried shavings - about as good as he gets, can semi deep litter, doing a clear out once a week.
we can't get matting down as the floors are uneven due to the stables being 150yrs old!
we're going to try wood pellets this year I think.
 
you might find matting and a thin layer of shavings which you sweep out completely every day might be better.

Or deep litter straw... if you can face the massive job of emptying every few months
 
Take care because some horses will eat a straw bed and it can cause impaction colic. Can't see that eating it would be good for laryngeal paralysis either. Also, a straw bed can be very dusty so if your ned is at all chesty and coughy you might make him significantly worse.
 
im going to look into matting no idear where to start never got to measure the stable yesterday as had to fly by visit with little one in car in a mood so ill get it done today.

Any good cheapish places? hes costing me a fortune as it is but wouldnt change it lol
 
Mine is dirty fairly wet and buries poos. He also had a tendancy to dodgy feet and was on box rest last year.
He was on part livery but I was mucking out in the evening as well as the yard didn't skip out during the day.
Started with shavings which were messy and expensive. Was going through 4 bales of Hunters a week and the stable never really looked clean.
Added mats. Made things worse as nothing drained but sat on top of the mats. If the bed was too thin it got slippery and he fell on his knees a couple of times.
Feet were a mess and thrushy. The shavings absorbed the wee and then he stood on this and it all balled in his feet.
Tried megazorb and Aquamax. Preferred the Aquamax but that was a personal preference. His feet dried out and improved.
Bit of a pain to muck out and you have to get used to it but he was better. Didn't smell unless you disturbed the wee patch. I felt the Aquamax was much better than the cheaper alternatives which were a bit dusty.
I would have stayed with it however it was then discovered he was allergic to various types of wood so I was allowed to use straw. Yard didn't normally allow it.
Things improved a bit as everything drained through. Took alot of the bed out every morning but it was cheaper than shavings.
Still had the mats though and the wee sat on top of the mats a bit.

Last month moved yards.
He is now on straw, no mats. Good drainage in the stable and old fashioned bricks on the floor not concrete.
His feet improved within a week.
He has a nice deep bed and all the horror is underneath. I still take a good amount out from underneath but it doesn't affect him.
The 2 things that help is his new stable has good drainage which without mats does its thing and straw is included in my box rent so i don't have to worry about what it costs.
Plus the new yard is better and skip out more often.
 
What sort of mats were you using? Did they have the ridges underneath? I'm surprised they didn't drain if they did?

We've got a very mucky one, he's on minimal shavings - but enough to sleep and wee on (He doen't wee if he doesn't have a bed) and rubber mats. Gets all washed out and cleared out with mats up, once a year and is easy to manage!
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The ones with the ridges underneath and the bobbles on top.
The drainage is only as good as the stable and maybe when you have poor drainage like I did then mats can make it worse.
The wee sat on top of the mats and in the ridges and had nowhere to go.
 
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