My experience with all kinds of pellets

[Wagtail]

I think I have probably tried just about every pellet on the market. I have tried wood pellets from Liverpool WP, Verdo and aquamax. I have tried two different brands of straw pellets, and I have tried miscanthus pellets.

I am now trialing the Five Star Premium on the messiest horse on the planet.
I will report back on this latest trial as I only just cleared out his old bed and laid the new one yesterday.

So far the very best have been straw pellets by LWP. They are by far the most economical, using half of the amount of premium LWPs. However, my mare eats them, and now the messy horse has started to eat them too! Hence the change to Five star. Also, straw pellets are very dark compared with good quality wood pellets so don't look as nice, but their performance is worth the darker looking beds. They are dry and odour free, so I will be sticking with them for the horses that don't eat them.

Miscanthus look nice because they are much paler. Also, none of the horses ate them. But I found I used more of them than I did of the straw pellets.

Would be interested in anyone else's tips for dealing with messy, dirty and wet horses. I have two on the yard that use twice as much bedding as anything else!

 

[Rebels]

I mix wood shavings with wood pellets, he has the front half rubber mats. So far 1 bale of shavings and a bag of pellets lasts a week, a weekly wheelbarrow of wet comes out plus droppings, in 10 hours a day. Previously needed a bale of straw or shavings a day to keep it habitable! Truly disgusting horse. Worked out for my other very wet horse.

 

[Spookywood]

Hi Wagtail, sorry no tips on dealing with wet messy horse, but will be watching this thread with interest as I'm also trying to find out what's the best way.

Rebels - how do you work it using both pellets and shavings? Do you put pellets on the base to soak up wet and shavings on top? Or just mix them together? Do you soak the pellets first or mix them through dry?

We get a bale of shavings a week included in our livery costs so not keen to transfer completely over to pellets but if they could be mixed to good effect this may be a good compromise!

 

[ponypilotmum]

I have a VERY messy cushings gelding, and swore by wood pellets. But after his bed being down for half the winter it became back breaking. He stopped laying down and was miserable and stiff, so I changed to hemp (my feed store didn't have any shavings in). I haven't looked back. I just LOVE it. So much so that everything's now on it. I use perhaps 1 bag every THREE weeks per horse (that's £6 a bag) so it's been the most economical too. I don't use rubber matting. I just take poos out daily and wet once a week.

 

[Perissa]

I find there is only two ways to deal with a really wet messy horse. Either minimal bedding and clear out ever day (STINKS) or loads of bedding and deep litter the wet but still take poo out every day. Take the wet out once a month. Fork the bedding from the outside to the inside and replace the banks with clean bedding. You will still need to add at least a bale a week on an established bed (large ID x mare). I have never used pellets but I know this method works with Aubiose. They stir the wet in the first week but resist the urge to remove it, after a week it settles and lays.

 

[Rebels]

Now i have bedding down i clear the wet out. Usually a barrow per week, was previously everything in the stable! Then rake bed level, shavings down, i use the big flake stuff then add a dry bag of pellets and rake it level. The shavings seem to settle and the dry pellets allow for the very wet horse. They seem happy to lie down. Ive always liked the softness of a shaving bed, the pellets keep it 10x drier. Rake daily, also dries well.

 

[Wagtail]

I mix wood shavings with wood pellets, he has the front half rubber mats. So far 1 bale of shavings and a bag of pellets lasts a week, a weekly wheelbarrow of wet comes out plus droppings, in 10 hours a day. Previously needed a bale of straw or shavings a day to keep it habitable! Truly disgusting horse. Worked out for my other very wet horse.

Sounds like an excellent solution. Sadly, I don't have the storage space for shavings though.

I have a VERY messy cushings gelding, and swore by wood pellets. But after his bed being down for half the winter it became back breaking. He stopped laying down and was miserable and stiff, so I changed to hemp (my feed store didn't have any shavings in). I haven't looked back. I just LOVE it. So much so that everything's now on it. I use perhaps 1 bag every THREE weeks per horse (that's £6 a bag) so it's been the most economical too. I don't use rubber matting. I just take poos out daily and wet once a week.

I have never tried hemp. Is it quick to muck out?

I find there is only two ways to deal with a really wet messy horse. Either minimal bedding and clear out ever day (STINKS) or loads of bedding and deep litter the wet but still take poo out every day. Take the wet out once a month. Fork the bedding from the outside to the inside and replace the banks with clean bedding. You will still need to add at least a bale a week on an established bed (large ID x mare). I have never used pellets but I know this method works with Aubiose. They stir the wet in the first week but resist the urge to remove it, after a week it settles and lays.

That's what I am doing with this horse. Sitting on my hands because the lovely fresh bed looks a mess after only one day. I took out all the droppings and REALLY wanted to remove the semi wet patches which are everywhere because he wees everywhere! I have two of them on the yard like this and find it gets better once the bed starts to pad down.