How do you build/make your horse's bed?

[PolarSkye]

I was thinking about this today while mucking out/relaying Kal's bed. There are so many different ways to manage a horse's bed . . . some of it down to fashion, some of it driven by practicality. What do you do and why? Do you put bedding down in the whole stable? Just a small corner to catch the wet? Do you leave a strip bare? Have rubber mats/no mats?

Kal is on straw . . . it's cheaper and, now that I've worked out how to manage a straw bed, much easier to maintain. Plus, I think it's warmer in winter (nothing like a deep, fluffy straw bed) . . . however, if Kal suffered from COPD or any other respiratory illnesses, I'd probably rethink.

I bed quite deep and don't use rubber mats (don't like them - having helped someone lift hers/move them out of her stable and seen (and smelled) the state of the underside, I much prefer a concrete floor . . . when it's clean I KNOW it's clean.

I used to bed down about 3/4 of the floor, leaving a strip at the front (about two-foot wide) where I put his water buckets and dumped his hay on the floor. I found, though, that the configuration of his stable/hay, etc. meant that the front, un-strawed strip was often the dirtiest . . . and certainly the wettest b/c he dribbles water from his buckets over to his hay (and, no, he doesn't have a problem with his teeth). So this morning, I bit the bullet and extended his straw bed over the whole stable floor . . . except for a small section where his water buckets sit and a very small section near the door in the hopes that the straw would absorb some of the wet (I could be regretting this and reverting to my strip).

Because he is a walker (I wouldn't say he qualifies as a full-on box walker, but he is certainly "active" in his box), and because I choose not to use mats, I need to give him a decent amount of bedding - otherwise he'd expose the floor and be lying down on/getting up and down from bare concrete.

So . . . my choice for Kal is no rubber mats, and a fairly deep (a good 10 inches) straw bed over the majority of his stable floor.

What about you . . . and why? Really just curious.

P

 

[xRobyn]

When I get my bedding delivered I'll do a full muck out and lay the old but still clean bedding down about an inch thick covering 3/4 of his stable (approx 10ftx11ft). He has a strip at the front 4ft x 11ft left bare. I'll lay his new bedding on top (at least 4") and then build big banks at the backs and sides.

I only take the wet out once weekly. He too is 'active' in his box and often for the first week I'll open the door to a wall of sawdust As the weeks go on, I drag the banks down and push his bed back slightly.

I've tried a small bed, he just turns it into porridge

 

[russianhorse]

When my lad was stabled, I did exactly the same as you 3/4 first of a big deep bed with lovely big banks and then found that he was wetting the front part from his buckets so laid the bed over the whole floor

Now he lives out 24/7, I still make a deep straw bed with big banks (it gets breezy in there ) to about 3/4 - right up to his huge round bale of hay. Luckily his water trough is outside

I think there is nothing better than a deep warm straw bed

 

[GinaGeo]

I deep litter on shavings. He has rubber mats at the front of the stable, so he's not stood on concrete when eating. He has a big 18ftx12ft stable and about 3/4 of that is bedding. It's been down now since the beginning of September and is about 8" deep. It's solid, no risk of getting down to concrete when he lies down. With a good covering of clean bedding on top, no wet gets through. He has banks round the back 1/2 which are solid and about 2ft tall.

The bed is totally dry. Takes me about 5 minutes to skip out in the morning. It's easy peasy and doesn't smell at all.

The only bad bit is digging it all out in spring. That's not a job I'm looking forward to!

 

[Kittykins]

I'm a big bank person. There's a strip left bare at the front for hay / buckets / to stop the straw being dragged out across the yard when she walks out, but I like to cover as much of the floor as possible.

When I was ten, during a quiet afternoon at the stables my riding teacher showed me how to roll and tuck the straw at the front to give it a neat edge but I've never done it since. I'm assuming it was standard practice in the old days in big houses but I've never seen it done anywhere.

 

[madeleine1]

i have rubber mats and im bracing myself for clear out when i need to go home for the summer.
i use shavings as i get them for £5.50 a bag and use one a week
she has 2/3 of her stable bedded down but its always all of the stable when i get to her. but her doown doesnt reach the floor and so i cant do all the stable as it would just get wet.

i take the droppings of the top and know the only two spaces she wees and just take that out each day so like a really good skip out and then a proper much out twice a week. when i muck out properly i move all the clean bedding to the banks and then take out any muck and then make smaller banks so some of the banks can be made to make a bigger bed. if im putting in a new bale i put all the clean banks into the middle and the new shavings go at the side and the bed is all lovly and fluffy.

 

[Littlelegs]

Both have pretty much the same as you, no mats & very deep straw beds. Huge square banks & small bare strip at front for hay, water & feed buckets. Full muckout each day & bed left up on banks to dry. Why- discovered 20 years ago mine gets more stable stains on shavings so put her on straw & since then with the exception of the odd experiment she's stayed on it cos if it ain't broke don't mend it lol. Other is daughters pony, so put her on straw for convenience of only one type of bedding to order.

 

[Jackson]

I alternate week to week which wall my horses bed goes against, to let the wet parts to dry out. When I muck out, I chuck all of the good straw in to banks, the re-useable but not great stuff goes in the middle as a base, and wet straw goes to the muck heap. I then fold the banks down to make a flat bed, and make up new, very high banks with fresh straw, and top up his bed. He has rubber matting which is all sealed together, so I don't worry too much about the depth of his bed

 

[3bh]

Equimats, a decent deep bed of straw (as most cost effective for me in current situation) probably about a foot but not all fluffed up to look impressive, and personally I use anti cast strips rather than banks.
The stables are 12x12 but not much I can do about that - but found they are more comfortable and happy about rolling/lying down if they have a bigger visible floor space (I also think that you either do large effective banks or none atall - don't see the point in miniscule ones!) - so I have invested in anti cast strips which have worked fantastically (as in one horse with history of snuggling in corners can always get himself up again without trauma!). If stables were bigger I would prefer to have large banks though!
I skip out droppings whenever seen, and take out wet every 2nd day.

 

[Stinkbomb]

Shavings, No bankings at all. My bed is deep enough so i cant hear the fork if i drop the prongs. He has a strip where his water and hay goes. I poo pick every day and take the wet out about once a month. He has 1/2 bag of shavings a week. Takes me 3 minutes to skip out, water and rehay!!!

 

[Black_Horse_White]

I bed on shavings I also have mats, I do a full bed with banks. Use one bale a week, and take the wet out when it comes to the surface.

 

[Devonshire dumpling]

I have a deep Elephant Grass bed, square with a 4 foot margin around 2 sides, other 2 sides up against the wall, banks up against wall. I remove the wee patch once a week and I use one bag of grass once a week, the bed remains thick, dry and springy. I absolutely adore this bedding, it's sooooo economical, and this is with a 16.2 TB mare! who box walks.

 

[Archiepoo]

i have my two on 34mm EVA matting which is lovely and spongy with shavings banked up about 6 " deep over the mats ,i take out all the wet and poop every day so my beds are always like new.i cant do deep littering cos ive got a bad back and so this way i use 1 bale of shavings a week between the 2 stables. easy!

 

[muddygreymare]

For Bella I use easibed with sawdust on top and have rubber mats in the whole stable. I do small bankings and the bed fills about 3/4 of the stable. I had a similar set up when on shavings but with big banks. How it's set out now works well though and mucking out doesn't take long at all as she poos all in one place now and doesn't bury it/tread it through the bed like she did whilst on shavings so I much prefer having her on easibed now

 

[emma.is]

Cover half of his stable with bedding stable about 20ft by 10ft. The part where bedding goes has rubber matting. The straw is deep enough so that I can't hear the prongs of the fork hit the floor. Slightly thicker round the edges but no bankings. I don't deep litter but I don't skip during the day. Get to the farm straight from school and muck out then


I also put a small square of shavings/sawdust/hamster bedding right at the door so when he dribbles his water onto his haylege he doesn't cause a huge puddle...