Where Have All Of The Banks Gone?

[EmmaC78]

I don't bother with banks either on the basis that they would have to be huge to have any chance of stopping a horse getting cast.

 

[Feival]

I still put banks in beds and at work anything that didn't have banks before, do now.

 

[ozpoz]

I bank my straw beds, to encourage the horse to keep away from the walls, to eliminate drafts, and a useful source of clean bedding if you happen to be snowed in. It looks weird to me without banks, but I'm old school, I suppose.

 

[PolarSkye]

Conniegirl, do you happen to recall where I might find the study you read please? I'd love to read it. It's not that I entirely disbelieve that horses can get cast with proper banks but in my lifetime I've never seen it happen, so I'm experiencing a little cognitive dissonance at the thought of giving them up! I can't help but think that while they won't prevent every casting, they might prevent some?

No idea about the study, but my own boy got horribly cast in a stable with a huge bank along the back - the bank hindered him from getting up - if we hadn't actually been on the yard at the time, I'm not sure what would have happened . . . he had actually given up and was just lying there when we got to him.

P

 

[conniegirl]

Conniegirl, do you happen to recall where I might find the study you read please? I'd love to read it. It's not that I entirely disbelieve that horses can get cast with proper banks but in my lifetime I've never seen it happen, so I'm experiencing a little cognitive dissonance at the thought of giving them up! I can't help but think that while they won't prevent every casting, they might prevent some?

Sorry it was about 10 years ago that I read it so no idea on the name or author!

 

[windand rain]

I hate rubber matting unless they have at least 8 nches of absorbent bedding on them then they are fine it is the dreadful smell of urine and rubber I cannot get out of my nose I have yet to find anywhere that uses them with a bucket of shavings that doesnt stink to high heaven and the horses and/or rugs are wet with wee. So although I think they are warmer I also believe you need a good big bed on top of either shavings or hemp type bedding. Rubber and straw doesnt work too well either as far as smell is concerned. I am not a fan of shavings type beds as they take forever to muck out compared to a straw bed but that is likely because I am OCD about mucky shavings and have to make sure they stay looking like new so crawl around on my hands and knees picking the bits out after I have mucked out normally. Straw is warmer too when I worked on a livery the only beds that had frozen poo were the shavings beds

 

[ShadowHunter]

I have a huge shavings deep litter bed with banks. I only use the banks for storing clean bedding and she poops on them which makes it easier to muck out.

 

[DD]

if not regularly turned banks can harbor rat runs.

 

[Getoutmypockets]

I have mats and use straw... Definitely have banks. I like a thick base, pony is very tidy so a thick bed works nicely however cob is a swamp monster and no matter how much you put in the entire bottom of the bed is mulched swampy mess and needs removing every day but I do love to see a giant clean straw bed with lovely high banks! It just looks... Appealing haha! Work horses use wood pellets which I must say are easy to muck out however very pricey if you have a messy horse. The wet doesn't smell, until you dig it out and then the smell is unleashed and as bad as straw I find!

 

[WelshD]

There has been a recent craze of posting pictures of clean stables on Facebook recently and some people have such huge banks that I am amazed the horse can walk in on to the bed and not remain wedged upright. With the amount of restricted turnout these days many horses are spending a large amount of time in stables and not very big ones

I use banks purely for stashing clean bedding, they are probably no where near the size they should be I suppose but the ponies do have plenty of room to move around when they are in

 

[case895]

Banks are useless. The idea that a few inches of semi-compacted bedding could stop 500-600 kg of horse being castvis ludicrous.

 

[tankgirl1]

I don't bank, I used to but found it just went mouldy, and then I read something that the don't actually help with cast horses anyway.

My girl has a massive straw bed on an earth floor, and it works great, I use chopped straw under her straw bed, and at the front of the stable (where it would normally be mats or concrete) only to give her a level 'base'. Granted its our first winter on this yard, but I am using a hell of a lot les straw than I did last winter when she was just on a concrete base

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Banks are useless. The idea that a few inches of semi-compacted bedding could stop 500-600 kg of horse being castvis ludicrous.

But a bank is solid, whether straw or shavings it is hit wth the back of a grape [proper four pronged fork], it will be clean if the owner keeps the bed clean and the stable is big enough.
Modern stables are often too small and the mucker-outer is not pernickety.
The horse is less likely to get cast if the stable is big enough, also the banks make the stable less draughty esp if horse is not rugged.
It must be more comfortable than cold wet rubber on concrete, stinks of urine.
To be usefull as anti cast measure they have to be a foot high and a foot wide. Then the horse is less likely to get jammed. We had about 80 racehorses in banked beds.
A webbed lunge rope was always kept in the vet box, with a hat and gloves, but I don't recall one getting cast.
My banks were always cleaner than average, so cleanliness is down to the effort put in, but everyone thought their beds were good [except the laziest who could not care].

 

[Honey08]

I am old school and always did huge straw banks. Then one year we got snowed in badly, and ran out of bedding and couldn't get a truck through, so I had to pull the banks down and use them. I realised that the horses seemed to have more room in the stables without the banks and that it was much less time consuming to clean out. I also don't believe that a pile of packed straw would do much if my huge hefty ISHs were to lie on them. I do still do decent full straw beds, despite having rubber mats. I like beds to come right to the front of the stables (my pet hate is half beds that are only about 4' wide) and be over the fetlock in depth when flattened down.

However I don't understand why people think banks bring more spores. They should be moved and cleaned along with the rest of the bed.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

I am old school and always did huge straw banks. Then one year we got snowed in badly, and ran out of bedding and couldn't get a truck through, so I had to pull the banks down and use them. I realised that the horses seemed to have more room in the stables without the banks and that it was much less time consuming to clean out. I also don't believe that a pile of packed straw would do much if my huge hefty ISHs were to lie on them. I do still do decent full straw beds, despite having rubber mats. I like beds to come right to the front of the stables (my pet hate is half beds that are only about 4' wide) and be over the fetlock in depth when flattened down.

However I don't understand why people think banks bring more spores. They should be moved and cleaned along with the rest of the bed.

I would be ok with half beds if the rest of the stable have clean EVA matting. but it is a lot of work to clean them if they are not bedded up, I don't want bedding right up to the door.
I used to have free straw and farmer wanted as much as possible converted in to muck heap, that horse had bedding very high, but he once got a capped hock, no idea how he managed it.

 

[Honey08]

I hate a horse standing uneven in a stable, back feet up a step from the front because the bed is so short. I also like a horse to be able to lie in any direction and spread out, not balance on a strip at the back. I'm sure it is less work to do a half bed, but for me it's about the horse not the work.

 

[zizz]

Horses aren't nesting animals, they are perfectly happy lying down in the field so why do people insist in cocooning them in piles of dusty straw?! Eva mats and enough wood pellets to soak up any wee here.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Horses aren't nesting animals, they are perfectly happy lying down in the field so why do people insist in cocooning them in piles of dusty straw?! Eva mats and enough wood pellets to soak up any wee here.

I would never use dusty straw.
In ye olden days the horses were bedded on long stalk wheat straw which could be laid perfectly, and finished at the front with a "plait".
Modern wheat/barley varieties are short stalked except for few varieties grown for thatching. The straw will often be barley straw which is not ideal for either bedding or fodder.
In my opinion the horse should be able to walk round the box, not have to stand diagonally as is seen these days.

 

[MagicMelon]

I read that there was no evidence to suggest banks did anything. If they did, I would have assumed that by now some company would have made artificial banks (just angled hard pieces of foam!) to put into stables. Ive never used banks, although I never stable my horses unless they are on box rest. My stables have their doors left open at all times directly into the field so the horses come and use them as they please, the base is hardcore which I put shavings over (which has filled the gaps) so its very free-draining.

 

[Tnavas]

I have been told that banks are useless as an anti-cast measure unless they are about 3' tall and solid, I.e. dirty.

Anyone who tells you that has probably never really had a horse prone to getting cast.

They do need to be high and thick but they don't need to be dirty, unless you have a horse that poos on the banks then its easy to slide the fork under and remove the wet bedding. Banks do need to be made from straw that has been used as part of the bed as it tends to pack more firmly than fresh straw.

We had a racehorse who's life and career was in the balance as he'd get cast so often - Banks saved the day and the horse - he went on to be a top racehorse in Hong Kong.

But teaching the Kiwi staff to leave the banks alone was another matter!

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Horses aren't nesting animals, they are perfectly happy lying down in the field so why do people insist in cocooning them in piles of dusty straw?! Eva mats and enough wood pellets to soak up any wee here.

are they though? mine mostly live out but when they come in, they like to lay flat out and the youngsters like to lay down more. I have also seen them lay down in hay that I've given them outside in wet weather.

I don't use dusty straw either and have two 20 x 10 stables. As they are internal stables I don't deep litter-they have a good, thick dust extracted, chopped straw bed. The only time I would consider using matting as well as the deep bed is if I had very big or heavy horses.

 

[Annagain]

Genuine question - how do banks work in terms of stopping them getting cast? Is it a case of stopping them from getting close enough to the walls or do they provide something to push against?

 

[case895]

But a bank is solid, whether straw or shavings it is hit wth the back of a grape [proper four pronged fork], it will be clean if the owner keeps the bed clean and the stable is big enough.
Modern stables are often too small and the mucker-outer is not pernickety.
The horse is less likely to get cast if the stable is big enough, also the banks make the stable less draughty esp if horse is not rugged.
It must be more comfortable than cold wet rubber on concrete, stinks of urine.
To be usefull as anti cast measure they have to be a foot high and a foot wide. Then the horse is less likely to get jammed. We had about 80 racehorses in banked beds.
A webbed lunge rope was always kept in the vet box, with a hat and gloves, but I don't recall one getting cast.
My banks were always cleaner than average, so cleanliness is down to the effort put in, but everyone thought their beds were good [except the laziest who could not care].

If you want big solid banks, have them cast in concrete. That might actually be of some use for a cast horse.

 

[Orca]

Genuine question - how do banks work in terms of stopping them getting cast? Is it a case of stopping them from getting close enough to the walls or do they provide something to push against?

In theory, they prevent a horse from rolling over so close to a wall that their hooves become trapped between their body and the wall, rendering them stuck. So, in theory, if they roll against a bank, they'll roll right back ' down' into the middle of the stable, where they'll have room to get their hooves under them to get up safely. As I said earlier, in my experience, banks seem to help. I don't believe they will prevent every casting but I do believe they avert many. If I had a cast or colic prone horse, I'd use them and it does seem from this thread that those who believe in them are the ones who build true, solid, packed, sloped and high banks the old fashioned way ��.

eta: Equally, I believe current stable sizes might have an impact on the effectiveness or even suitability of banks. In the case of smaller stables, there are good modern alternatives, it seems.

 

[be positive]

If you want big solid banks, have them cast in concrete. That might actually be of some use for a cast horse.

That would definitely be a disaster with a horse rolling into a solid concrete block a sure way to get a leg broken, banks can be moved if a horse gets cast so you can get to the leg underneath, they also tend to push into the straw to get more grip and can often extricate themselves.

I think most horses do prefer a proper bed, they may lie down in fields on a firm surface but a stable is different they cannot choose a place that is suitable, well they have very limited options in the average 12x12 box, one of my liveries is on mats with a thin bed and I never see him lie down whereas last winter the evenings he had been bedded down with a new bale I would nearly always catch him lying down when I went out to do late checks as the bed got thinner he was down less often, he very obviously prefers a decent bed.

 

[Orca]

That would definitely be a disaster with a horse rolling into a solid concrete block a sure way to get a leg broken, banks can be moved if a horse gets cast so you can get to the leg underneath, they also tend to push into the straw to get more grip and can often extricate themselves.

I think most horses do prefer a proper bed, they may lie down in fields on a firm surface but a stable is different they cannot choose a place that is suitable, well they have very limited options in the average 12x12 box, one of my liveries is on mats with a thin bed and I never see him lie down whereas last winter the evenings he had been bedded down with a new bale I would nearly always catch him lying down when I went out to do late checks as the bed got thinner he was down less often, he very obviously prefers a decent bed.

I agree that they enjoy proper beds. As I said earlier, Orca's reaction to seeing one (for probably the first time) was like a cat with cat nip! She literally entered her new stable and dived straight in for a roll and rest. If I've ever seen a horse experiencing complete and utter joy, it was then.

 

[Cortez]

I have banks in all my stables, but I don't think they stop horses getting cast - rubber strips on the walls would do that. I like the shape of a well banked stable, though, and they are more for draught exclusion and "spare" bedding than anything else.

I've also had horses lie down on hay on the ground in the field, so they obviously do appreciate the insulating effect of bedding. They also like to pee on it (hay on the ground); not so appreciated by me!

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I have a 12 x 12 stable with rubber mats and Equinola (think its chopped rape straw). I have banks on the right hand wall and at the back. I don't have one on the lefthand side wall as that is where horse wees. I have removed the rubber mat from that area so that the wee just soaks into the bedding and is easy to lift and therefore doesn't pool under a mat and become stinky. Seems to work pretty well. I don't think he is a roll in your stable type.

I used to have a 17hh ex racehorse who, for a time, was in a 10 x 10 ft stable. It was all that was available and I did spend more than one evening pacing it out to try and make myself believe it was bigger. Anyway he had big banks and wore thermatex leg wraps in the stable as he would roll and roll in there. However, it was almost like he knew how much room he had and I don't think he ever got cast.