HELP! Dirty Mare

wvfoxylady

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Can anyone help.As winter is fast approaching the horses on my yard live in 24/7 come october. My mare is seriously dirty in her stable. She wees all the time and is constantly in and out of season like a yoyo.LUckily this does not affect her temperament however her stable gets drenched. She is usually bedded on shavings and I used on average 2/3 bags per week(quite large bags) and its very heavy work not to mention it costs in addition to my livery an extra £16 per week which I dont mind paying to keep my horse dry and clean if thats what it takes but does anyone have any other suggestions for bedding? Im pregnant and although im only 4 months at the moment come nov/dec time I'll be huge.I have someone riding her for me at the minute which im very grateful for, but due to lack of time can only ride and not help with the hard jobs.My partner who although is not horsey has been a star and will help also but something that is less time consuming would be a godsend.Also big factor my horse has COPD so no straw or dust.Any suggestions?What is rubber matting like for wet horses? xxx
 

AmyMay

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Can't help you with the cleanliness factor. But I think that you'll find that most horses stabled 24/7 will need a lot of bedding to keep their stable clean and fresh.

I would definately expect to use between 3 and 4 bales of shavings a week if my mare was kept this way - and she is very clean.

Also if your horse has COPD then this is not a good way to keep her at all - she should have plenty of turnout and fresh air. This presumably isn't an option at your current yard - but could it be if you moved??
 

rach1984horse

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I've mucked out on a racing yeard that used bed max. It's like shavings but there's a lot bigger and super absorbent. They worked really well and took no time at all to muck out. Even with the dirty horse.
 

wvfoxylady

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Thanks guys. My horse does cope well in the winter at my yard.Unfortunately lack of grazing does force our horses to be in in the winter they do get turned out through the day in the arena and to be fair she doesnt really have a problem with her chest on the bedding shes on also her stable is positioned well enough that she gets plenty of ventilation. I know that a horse with copd in an ideal situation would live out all year round but she is happy at the moment i've been at my yard for 4 years now.The only time she was bad was when she went out on loan and they kept her in an american barn on straw and hay! that is how we found out that she suffered from copd.Everyone else at my yard manages on 1-2 bags of shavings per week and like I say I dont mind the fact that Im using 3 bags per week just was wondering if there was an alternative? What is Aquamax/megasorb do you have any info on it? x
 

jacks_mum

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Megazorb is like chewed up egg boxes!! We use it as cat litter and it is fab. With 4 indoor cats we need something economic and highly absorbent and Megazorb ticks all the boxes for us. I can imagine it would be good to bed a dirty horse on - it was designed as horse bedding not cat litter after all!
 

vicster

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Hi there, i have rubber mats but i use Bliss bedding as long as you deep litter though - this is dust extracted and smells lovely i find this work for me and my horse is very wet and dirty. However as i have said this bedding is onyl for deep litter. It is not that expensive (cheaper then shavings)
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Good Luck
 

mandy4727

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We have just put our horses on nezbeds. It is dust extracted chopped up straw. There is no dust whatsoever. It is strayed with citronella and eucalyptus so smells nice. The wet bits don't clump together like shavings do. And they are no where near as smelly when you go in the stable. You muck it out like shavings but it is much lighter to work with. We pay £4.70 a bale so cheaper than shavings but if you buy more than 60 bales it goes down to £4.30 a bale (20kg bale). Only use 1 bale a week. About 4 bales makes a full new bed too. - depending on stable size. Def worth a try. And you don't seem to throw as much out when you muck out cos the poos don't stick to the bedding. But it is early days for us but we seem impressed with it so far. There are 2 different types and it is the nedzbeds pro that we use.
 

Super_Kat

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Look at flax bedding it is idel to use if you want to put your horse on semi-deep litter, when the bed is fresh down it does get quite slippery but once she's weed on it it's very good. All you need do is remove the droppings every day then turn the bed over and take ut the wet once a week and put fresh flax down. It's very comfy, very absorbant but I think it needs to be disposed in a particular way.
 

wvfoxylady

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You have all been very helpful.I havent heard of any of these beddings before so have plenty of research to do but hopefully will find one suitable.Like the sound of the eucalyptus one.cheers everyone.x
 

Theresa_F

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I too have the same problem with the Little Stinker aka the Piddler for England.

I never have had such a piddly pony but he does like his salt lick and his water - he is perfectly healthy - just the way he is.

I use megazorb - like you I went through 3 bales a week of shaving and I don't use banks.

On megazorb I use more than they say, a bag every four to five days rather than one a week. My life was transformed. In the week I just skip out the poo and pull over a bit more bedding on the wet patch. Every other week dig out the pee patch. One small barrow a day rather than two heaped ones.

At the end of the winter, I emptied out the stable. He is only in for a few hours a week now, so is back on shavings - purely because they are to hand rather than having to travel to pick them up. Come winter, I shall be back on the megazorb. It is slightly more expensive than shavings per bag, but in my case saved me money as I didn't need so much.

I shall also try it as cat litter - have four old ladies who like their indoor comforts.
 

piebaldsparkle

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I would either semi deep litter shavings - Deep bed, take out poo every day and wet every 3rd day or when it reached the top of the bed (used to do this with my mare and worked quite well). Or rubber matting with thin bed of Bedmax (my mare is now on this and its great and completely dust free too).
 

wvfoxylady

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Have looked into all your suggestions and can only find a supplier for bedmax in my area.Aquamax will deliver however but want to try it first so going to pick up some bedmax next week.Was at my friends stables yeaterday and noticed a gorgeous bed,asked what it was and it was bedmax so looking forward to seeing results.Thanks everyone as would never of heard of these.Did like the sound of that nedzbed aswell but couldnt find a supplier.thanks again.xxx
 
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