How do you help prevent your horse getting cast in the stable?

[Beanriding]

I read an article from a few years ago suggesting that bedding banks might not be as effective at preventing a horse getting cast as traditionally thought, and that they can also cause some hygiene issues.

I then went down a bit of a rabbit hole trying to work out what people actually do in practice, which seemed to vary quite a lot. Some people suggested they think a flat bed is actually safer.

There are obviously lots of additional variables too (stable size, bedding type, how big the banks are, etc.), but I’d be interested to get a sense of what people here do.

 

[Surbie]

I don't do banks, other than as a storage option for fresh bedding or when it is really cold - and that's to provide draft-proofing.

My understanding is that banks need to be hock-high and fairly thick to be of use to a cast horse, and that would really make my stable quite small.

 

[rabatsa]

Having had a culprit who could get cast in an open field, I do not do anything in the stable to prevent it. If an animal always chooses to roll against a wall, no matter how big the stable, you cannot stop it rolling there. Fortunately my regularly cast one used to lay and wait for help in getting up, even if it was positioned so that it probably could have got up itself.

 

[Horseysheepy]

I've only had one horse go cast in my lifetime and he was a very table top native on a shavings bed with no banks
Most of our cast ewes in the field are those with a very flat backs or carrying multiple lambs.
I've come to the conclusion that shape of the horse's back may come into the equation here, but not always so!.
I still put banks up, but whether they would help a cast horse self right itself? Possibly not.
I was a stable girl back in the day where all horses wore anti cast rollers and good blocky straw banks in place.