Thinking ahead to winter (sorry) & bedding

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hairycob

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Last year was the first year mine have had to come in at night. I deep littered on straw -we have huge airy former calf pens which worked fine for Pickle & Bobby but HP kept getting a snotty nose. This winter I shall steam/short soak his hay but have been thinking about bedding. I haven't measured his stable yet but it must be about 14 x 15 (poss bigger) so it will bankrupt me to use shavings. I did think about mats & a minimal bed but he does mega (hugely mega!) wees so not sure it would work for him, possibly too yucky. I'm looking at wood pellets & was just not sure whether they would work for a horse susceptible to dust - any experiences?
 
I can HIGHLY reccomend Flax bedding, I use it on both my boys and as Lord is very clean I rarely add to his bed (one - two bale a month maybe when he is in) and banner gets through about one every 2 weeks and his beds are VILE !! Its really light to handle and working out much cheaper than shavings :)

They are also dust free and must be good as they don't aggrivate my excema! :D
 
We've been using wood pellets, find them great, they take a week or so to settle in, but very easy to muck out even with a messy horse, and economical. We tend to just bed the back half of the stable, specially the bigger ones.
 
You wont go back to straw or shavings if you try wood pellets or flax or hemp.

I use a mix of wood pellets and hemp and wish Id been able to do it years and years ago! Cheaper, more comfy (like forest floor, and lovely smell) and quick and easy to muck out.

Def give it a whirl!

oh and they dont stick to horses coat or your rugs either!
 
i got some mats from countrywide which were very resonably priced :D and i use bedmax shavings, one bale a week
 
My stables are 17ft by 17ft and yes to start a bed costs a lot but I love my Hemp bed once started it is really cheap to keep and less dusty and really suits deeplitter. do we really have to think of winter all ready!
 
Sorry to mention winter so early but YO is keen to get the straw ordered asap to make sure she can get enough - there is a mahoosive pig unit nearby that gets through an awful lot of the local straw.
Am thinking of maybe matting the front half & using pellets or flax on the back.
How much does flax costs? Any recommended brands?
 
Dont know about flax ect :)

But bed-down excel rocks :D

Goes sooooo far, only had to have 2 bales to start off a lovely thick bed in a pony stable and one bale every other week, costs about £6-7 depending on the area :D

Cant recommend it enough, i wouldnt say its cheaper than straw unless you go through more than one bale of straw a week, but if you do then i would say its cheaper, even cheaper if you use it on rubbermatting as you dont need as much :)
 
I originally used Liverpool WP who were very good to deal with and the product was very good too; last year, my feed merchant found some for me in bulk which were also very good; I'm hoping he does the same this year too! I can't tell you about others but most have been tried by peeps on here so you should get some more answers.
 
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