Pelleted Wood Shavings & Mats

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mcnaughty

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Anybody on here any experience with this type of bedding. I am going to give it a try - need to get some more mats though.

Mats - if you completely cover the floor with mats do you need to put a whole bed down or just a covering at one end? I was at a yard last year where the YO only had about 3 ft of bed and low banks down and the rest was all matted - is the thought there that in a field a horse would just have the bare ground to lie down on. I mean, doesn't seem very comfortable but are we just being nancies on behalf of our horses? Do they really care?

I have always been one to put a huge shavings bed down and about 3 ft banks all round but majorly difficult to muck out - takes hours - time I just don't have now with a full time job and 2 young kids + 1 horse and 1 pony to cope with.

Thoughts please....
 
Hi i moved on this bedding about 2 months ago now and think it's great. i have mats all over the floor and also on the walls, i do not make any banks either.

to start with i put down 15 bags and use one a week to top it up.
i take out the poo very easily and wet patch everyday and really mix the bed around every other day so that all the pellets are absorbing moisture.
this week though i have added a bale of shavings ontop of the wood pellet base, beacuse the tack shop had sold out of pellets and i've never had shavings stay so dry before.it looks more comfy too but thts me just being soft.
for the price too they are definately a money saving option, i think anyway.
 
I don't use pellets but i do matting.
"Ashley" is always lying down, presumably comfy with just 2 bales of shavings at the end of mats
it saves money and time as u just take out the middle each day
 
I have mats. I have about 4 bags pellets in per stable. On average topped up with a bag a week. No banks.

For banks to effectively stop a horse getting cast they would have to be as thick as the horses legs are long, this would leave a tiny unbanked area for the horse to stand in. Horses are not nesting animals, I don't know why we build them 'nests'.
 
I have rubber mats and use wood pellets (mare has a bit of Aubiose mixed in as shes sooo wet but 17hh heavy hunter gelding just has pellets. Pellet bed is only on the back 4 foot of stable, rest is just mats.

He loves it and lies down lots of different places on it. Its like a forest floor I think for him, he def is more comfy than on straw or shavings, which got kicked around and wet and stuck to him or his rugs.

And its massively quicker to muck out too. And cheaper than shavings, hurrah! I do the same as Thistle to manage it, its not deep bedded.

No banks, if your horse is prone to casting then you need a proper casting rubber strip at the right height. Ive never seen a bank the right height to prevent a cast except with very small ponies with very short legs :-)
 
Thanks guys - anyone else with anything to add???

I have really looked into the pellets and spoke to my local feed merchant (Bellingdon) who just so happens to have just started stocking them.... Yay!

Fi
 
Mines on pellets and I HATE it! It's so dusty and everything gets covered in the stuff... I'm looking to change tbh but it's good if you are looking for something cheap
 
I tried these, and absolutely hated them.

I couldn't get to grips with deep-littering them, the bed always looked dirty, and when I did take the deepest wet out, it was very heavy - and very hard work to take them out. I was having to add in 2-3 bags a week, which made it very expensive!

I'm now back on shavings for my very wet & disgusting horse - but he gets a shallow half-bed over his rubber matting, he seems quite happy with it. I put in a bale of shavings every 6-7 days (although I am very mean with my shavings!).

However, there are lots & lots of people who love them - I really wanted to love them, but just couldn't. My YO mucked out for me when I was on services a couple of times and also hated the bedding (she had been thinking of giving it a go but was pleased she didn't).
 
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