Straw for EMS/cushings pony?

[TwyfordM]

So Mystis been bedded on shavings or wood pellets for years. She’s always been clean and it’s been cost effective. Recently I’m having no luck, I’m going through lots of bedding. Only change is she’s having soaked hay and the yard puts a net in for me in the morning. I’ve tried putting bedding underneath, bucket underneath (she just flings it around stable) tying in a different place. Nothing is working as stable slopes slightly towards the only place the bed can go and it’s fully rubber matted. So I’m considering going back on straw as it’s not quite as it’s not quite as “tight” to the ground so might drain a bit better and isn’t going to get soaked through to the point of being squishy (plus I won’t be dying at the cost to replace - three bags of pellets and a bale of shavings in last week ?) only concern is it causing issues with her eating it, however I did feed her straw alongside her hay rations through the summer, which is tended to pick at but never finish (maybe one slice every two days) so I don’t think she would gorge on it.

Doable? Or not worth the risk of giving her unlimited access?

 

[SantaVera]

I give mine a bit less hay than they actually need and a net of straw to pick at otherwise he gets too fat even in winters

 

[holeymoley]

Yes I used it last year while furloughed for my ems horse. It was okay, he would nibble the bankings if they were fresh but not much. I actually felt better knowing if he ran out of hay he could eat the straw. Downsides though is that it stinks. I had to use pellets/sawdust under it to create a base. Basically it really only saved me the outlay of buying in pellets as I still used a base of pellets but made the bed ‘big’ with the straw.

Eta- used pellets as straw won’t soak up liquid.

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I swapped both my EMS and laminitic prone ponies back to straw on top of rubber matting last year with no ill effects on either of them. I did have wood pellets underneath the wetter one but now just remove wet bedding once a week and poo daily. Their beds are now lovely, deep and soft and they never smell and they don’t wolf the straw down either, merely pick at it.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I had to take mine off straw bedding as he ate so much. He's a proper little piglet though.