stable bedding

H

harmony_

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 April 2007
Messages
709
Location
lincolnshire
Visit site
Can you use shavings without matting?
or shavings with straw.
just been down to muck out as harm is on boxrest
and i couldnt believe how much mess there was!

Was thinking shavings would be alot easier, and wouldnt make her lift her leg as much to walk about?

Also how much would i be looking at for some rubber matting if i need it?

thanks!
Robyn
grin.gif
 
I've never used matting, and we used to have shavings! I prefer straw, always have, and thats what we're on now, but there was a time when we used to have shavings underneath, and a straw bed on top. Very cosy, quite tricky to muck out but you will find that the shavings soak up much of the piddle!
 
Well Harmony will be ok boxrest for a good 2-3 months now, and i found today when i went to muck out i was there for hours! it was just a mess!
she is normally a messy mare,
i just wondered if you have shavings, do you HAVE to have rubber matting?
if so, how much am i looking
 
No you don't have to use rubber with shavings, but do need to make the bed deeper (than you would if you had rubber) to stop the horse going down to the concrete.
 
Think you will need 7 mats (6ft x 4ft). Mats range in price depending if you go for the heavy rubber type or EVA (lighter, thinker, softer) ones. I got the rubber ones about 3yrs ago and paid £40 per mat (but you can get these for about £34 per mat now). However if I was to do it again, then I would probably go for EVA one and you can use even less bedding and they are easy to lift and clean under. Mine are sooooooo heavy I have NEVER lifted/cleaned under them!!!!
 
The only trouble with mats is that you need a perfectly level floor otherwise you get pools of pee underneath it and the mats wear unevenly. If you have a messy horse then i would personally stick with straw as its way cheaper than shavings.
 
When my mare was on box rest, i started off with her on straw and then rubber matting and shavings and then back to straw. If your horse is messy then probably better to stick with straw - my mare is disgusting which is why i changed back to straw
tongue.gif
 
Why is she on boxrest (sorry if I have missed previous posts)? If she needs to be able to move without dragging her leg through the bedding, then rubber matting with a small shavings bed on top would be your best bet. Rubber matting is expensive to start with, we bought ours 5 years ago for all our boxes and it has been fab and hasn't worn at all (inspite of having two heavy horses on it) and we haven't lifted it once. We use Excel on the top of it (mix of shavings and chopped dust extracted straw) and the horses have half depth beds. We skip out daily and bottom the beds once a week or so, but all our stables are very big, so the beds don't get very wet. The last lot of rubber matting we bought, we got from
these people The quality was just as good as the more expensive mats we have and they were delivered in 48 hours (delivery charge is extra, so make sure you check with them how much it is).
 
If using shavings on concrete I would use it as a deep litter bed, but he major hassle of that is when you have to muck it all out at the end.
I've not seen of anyone else doing it, but we cadged our rubber mats from a quarry that was throwing them out. They are 3 or 4 foot wide strips of smooth rubber conveyor belting (about 1.5cm thick) which we've fitted wall to wall and nailed with masonry tacks to the concrete floor. If they start to lift I have a good clean out of that area and re-fix it to the floor, but only need to do that once or twice a year and I've had them in about 10 years now. I only need to use about 2 bales of shavings/ stable. I muck out the wee & poo daily and top up with 1-2 bales per 2 stables a week depending on how much they're in.
They've saved me a fortune over the years, not to mention they were free and I've done my bit for the environment by recycling!!
tongue.gif
 
She got kicked in the field and had a cut on her hock, so we got the vet out and had to get her to york for a emergany op that night, turns out the did something to her bursa and cut all her tendon up!
 
Mine has shavings straight on concrete floor, fairly deep though and a rubber mat at the front of his stable as he spends a lot of time looking over his door!! Best way to test the depth of shavings is to drop your shavings fork (prong end) onto the shavings, if the ends touch the floor you need more, if not you've got enough.
 
Get some rubber matting its awesome stuff, my yard now provides it for every stable but in my last yard i bought 4 standard size mats for £100 (apparently i got a fantastic deal..bit of a flirt worked a treat!) but its defo worth investing in! Also im on shavings.....more expensive but cleaner smell a hell of a lot nicer than straw and if you have rubber matting you dont need to use as much!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top