Does anyone not use banks in their stable?

[MuddyMonster]

My native is seriously disgusting in his
stable. Trial and error has shown he's cleanest on wood pellets base layer & shavings and I've always made 'banks' in his stable, as well, just because.

I'm now wondering in a bid to help conserve beding, if I could not make banks and just have a tmflat bed? I've never seen anyone not use banks, but to be honest my banks aren't 3 foot high or solid (nor has anyone else's I've seen recently), so unlikely to prevent much injury even if said horse did get cast.

He's on EVA matting too, which I believe help keeps the stable warmer - which I know banks can prevent against drafts (not that he's a cold or wimpy horse ...!).

Does anyone else not use banks or is this a completely silly idea ...?!

 

[poiuytrewq]

Of course it's not silly!
I don't use banks. I also work on two yards, neither of which use banks. In fact I don't really know anyone who does anymore.

 

[Goldenstar]

We don't use banks .i don't like them they make the beds difffcult to clean and unless you move them daily they harbour spores .
We lay the beds level .

 

[catroo]

Haven't used banks in years, they need to be huge to stop a horse getting cast and I prefer the anti cast strips on the wall if needed.
I'd use them if I was worried about a draft in a particular direction but that's not a problem with current stables

 

[TandD]

I don't use banks! With 4 big horses turning around in stables/lying down they wouldn't survive the night. Horses just get a thick layer of flat shavings. Much easier to muck out and less wasted!

 

[alainax]

I use banks to store bedding for the next time I'm short of time usually a couple of days with banks then I pull them down and use the bedding, building them back up again Ina day where I have more time! ( sawdust and I need a bigger wheelbarrow for lugging it around!) Like others have said they need to big to be effective. It just looks weird for the first few times till you get used to it!

 

[Abby-Lou]

waste of bedding in my mind. You bank up and then my mares pee on it. I use thick mats and thin layer of shavings for the pee use one bale of shavings a week take out wet & droppings daily both ponies very clean

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I use them to store bedding. Just pull what i need down.
My old horse used to use them for pillows so i made sure for her i kept them fluffy

 

[rara007]

No banks here!

 

[Evie91]

No banks for me. Rubber mats, flat shavings bed, may bank one side to save some bedding for later in the week, no a true bank just means I can scrape the shavings in as I need them.
Most banks I see serve no purpose, that I can see not high or thick enough to prevent horse getting cast.

 

[JillA]

It always used to be a day bed - the thickness of the night bed for sleeping on was sorted and the clean bedding stashed along the sides with a thin layer across the floor to stop splashback when horses pee. And that's how I still use them

 

[dominobrown]

I have stopped using them. I have seen horses been cast with them any they need to be huge to do anything. Also if your stable has wooden walls they cause it rot quicker.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We don't use banks on our earth floors.

 

[Lammy]

I don't ever worry when putting a flat bed in for my mare as I know she sleeps right in the middle and never anywhere by the wall. The young gelding though has proper, thick straw banks as he likes to sleep right up against the end stable wall and I just know the day I give him a flat bed is the day he'll decide to roll over and get stuck. (Plus he likes to poo in the bank before he lays on it, must be like a big warm pillow )

I'm not overly sure if a small pellet bank would make much difference if a horse was cast so probably wouldn't bother.

 

[scats]

I still like a stable with banks, but I know plenty of people who don't have them.

 

[JillA]

It always used to be a day bed - the thickness of the night bed for sleeping on was sorted and the clean bedding stashed along the sides with a thin layer across the floor to stop splashback when horses pee. And that's how I still use them

I should add one of mine likes a pillow so he has a short bank in one corner

 

[Peter7917]

Nope, not done banks for about ten years!

 

[RubysGold]

No one at my yard uses banks
I have a small pile of clean shavings in one corner but no bank.

 

[Leo Walker]

I have them. High and thin. But only becuase my funny little horse likes to come in from the field and go round his stable snorkling in the banks and sliding along the walls for a few minutes. He then pulls the bed around till its how he wants it and goes to eat!

 

[Steerpike]

I only have one bank and that's because there is a breeze block height ridge and I'm worried he will knock his legs on it.

 

[Flashypants]

I still bank when I have them in. I put bed up during the day to dry the floor when turned out then pull it all down and put fresh bedding on banks to use the next day. Habit more than anything.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

My native is seriously disgusting in his
stable. Trial and error has shown he's cleanest on wood pellets base layer & shavings and I've always made 'banks' in his stable, as well, just because.

I'm now wondering in a bid to help conserve beding, if I could not make banks and just have a tmflat bed? I've never seen anyone not use banks, but to be honest my banks aren't 3 foot high or solid (nor has anyone else's I've seen recently), so unlikely to prevent much injury even if said horse did get cast.

He's on EVA matting too, which I believe help keeps the stable warmer - which I know banks can prevent against drafts (not that he's a cold or wimpy horse ...!).

Does anyone else not use banks or is this a completely silly idea ...?!

I always use abnk and even though mine mess the banks with pee, i would still use banks.

 

[joosie]

Nope. In 12 years of grooming on 11 different yards I have only been on one where banks were used and that was a dressage stable where the horses were in 24/7

 

[SEL]

My mare pees in her banks and unless you pull them down every day they start developing new life forms. I'm sitting in the No Banks club too.

Boy horse just trashes his stable, banks or no banks. Sometimes I feel I should just chuck all his bed in a heap and let him put it wherever he wants....

 

[Landcruiser]

No banks....and no bedding! Rubber mats on concrete floor that slopes towards drainage holes at the rear. I may re consider the bedding if the horses were actually ever shut in the stables but essentially they are always free access. That said, one will regularly wee in them, but the mats dry out in no time. I think banks are a menace, there were rat runs through the banks I pulled out at the last yard I moved to, and so much damp crud. Unless cleaned very regularly, I think they are a health risk.

 

[milliepops]

also no banks here!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

nope, no banks here.

 

[TGM]

No banks here either. The only time I have had a horse get cast was when at livery in a yard that did massive banks ...

 

[wiglet]

When on diy, I always did banks - mainly to store clean shavings and I'd pull them down as necessary throughout the week.

Now on full livery and although the YO doesn't put banks in her own stables, the liveries all have banks in their stables because it looks smart and clients expect it.

 

[lrw0250]

I put a small bank of fresh wood pellets at the back of our ponies stable but it really is tiny! And only there for me to pull in clean bedding when needed and to keep any draught out as it's an external stone wall. If I had wooden free standing stables I would be more inclined to have bankings to help with insulation but don't see the point with current set up.