Which bedding would your horse choose?

[Rumtytum]

Every animal we’ve had prefers the straw/hay You never see Bob asleep like this I’m the shavings ?

Looks like absolute bliss!

 

[Sealine]

My horse would prefer straw because he can eat it. I changed to shavings for that reason and others. Vet advised not to use straw to prevent mites. Also, it stinks.

 

[Glitterandrainbows]

Straw and she eats as much as she can ?

 

[meleeka]

Mine would like straw, but mares + straw = a smell than lingers and a heavy wheelbarrow, so it’s second best shavings here.

 

[ponynutz]

Mine would definitely choose straw - lots of yummy food to eat while you have your lie down!

 

[smiggy]

Mine would def choose straw , and that’s what they get though a not too deep bad on top of rubber mats for ease of mucking out.
they come in during the day for a few hours and often if I pop back down, all five will be flat out asleep

 

[Ratface]

In my humble opinion, if a straw bed is correctly mucked out every day, it doesn't smell. My horse is on a thick straw bed, which is fully mucked out every day, and skipped out at evening stables.
Horse's neighbour, his girlfriend, is on the same regime. Her bed never smells either. They are both in spacious, airy stables, in their own courtyard with access directly to fresh air front and back. The back windows open onto the rolling acres attached to the yard. These windows are only closed if there's a howling wind driving rain or snow straight in. I can only remember that happening on a couple of occasions overall.
I much prefer straw bedding. However, it requires favourable circumstances, and optimum care and management.

 

[SpotsandBays]

They’d pick straw (because it’s yummy probably! But also most of them only know straw).
I pick/use straw - no mats.
Mostly the horses are out all year round unless the weather is particularly awful. It does smell sometimes, but it’s cheaper, light and makes a nice comfy bed!
If I had mats I’d probably move at least one of them onto some form of pellet for ease of mucking out (one buries his turds at the back and it annoys me having to dig it out), but as they’re mostly out I don’t see the point in investing.

 

[tatty_v]

Big thick straw beds are the preference here. Like @Ratface, I don’t notice a difference in smell between them and the shavings beds, and they are a lot easier and lighter to muck out!

The fatty ID has to have shavings with pellets underneath sadly - he’d gorge a straw bed all night as he has no off switch when it comes to eating.

The Shetland weirdly prefers lying on the bare concrete?!

My oldie knows best and curls up in his enormous straw bed very happily ?

 

[Ceifer]

The biggest shavings bed you can imagine with big banks preferably on rubber.

I personally hate mucking out straw. I feel you have to take so much out if your horse is wet or messy and it takes me ages. They do look impressive when done correctly and they don’t smell - although the person mucking out will definitely smell.
Also I think I have mild trauma from working at a yard that had beautiful straw beds and we were allocated 25-30mins per stable as the YO wanted everything pristine. But then the YO fired half the staff due to money problems and we were expected to pick up the slack in the same time and keep the same standards ?

Unfortunately my bank balance won’t stretch to huge shavings beds so mine are on miscanthus which I find lasts longer than shavings.

 

[paddy555]

for mine straw would be top of their list. They are lazy and being able to eat continually all night would be their paradise. Ad lib hay wouldn't help, they would eat that as well as the straw.
For me straw would be bottom of my list. I hate deep litter beds and have found with straw/shavings cleaned out thoroughly daily it doesn't take much for the horse to get down onto concrete.

Straw is dusty, gives them too much to eat and stinks. To me this has adverse health effects and when I soak every scrap of hay I'm not going to give them access to dry straw.

Some of the DIYs put in minimalist shavings, and I wonder if their horses lie down enough. . I would not want to lie down on a rubber mat with a thin layer of shavings sprinkled over it.

but if you were a horse you would happily lie down on a hard, sun baked field. Or at least that is what 3 of mine are doing ATM in a little circle. So are they lying on hard ground because there is no alternative and they are forced to lie on that unbedded surface or because they want to/that is their general horse behaviour.

One of the others is still lying down inside for his morning snooze. He looks very comfortable and (per the cameras) does this every night in winter as do the others.

They are doing this on fieldguard mats with a sprinkling of shavings. The stables are permanently clean and dry and there is no smell of ammonia. I know this as I spend endless time kneeling on the floors trimming feet. The stable doors are kept open and each horse has access (in their yard) to an outside pee area which they use.

This is course is based on mats being kept scrupulously clean in the same way that people are keeping straw and shavings clean.

I have found the factors that make horses lie down over the years are very much influenced by how happy they are in a stable/their stable, how much of a stressy horse they are, company, do they have their herd mates over the wall to talk to/scratch or do they hate company and are too scared to lie down, do the rest of the horses lie down which encourages them to follow, do they like the yard, the excessive noise or the excessive quiet and other factors.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Mine have a big mega spread shavings bed that covers most of the stable with concrete underneath can't abide rubber mats, it has to be white and pretty immaculate I am old over my horses beds.

Both will lie down quite a bit Louis is often flat out and snoring ?

 

[Chianti]

The loveliest bed I ever did was shavings mixed with paper. It was so soft to walk on. Beds have to be very deep - horses shouldn't know that concrete floors exist. I loved straw beds but I had to muck out and go straight to work - I used to walk around and the smell would follow me about. I hate thin pellet beds on rubber mats.

I wonder if anyone has looked at sleep patterns in horses living out and compared them to stabled horses. The former have to sleep on hard ground so do they not get enough sleep?

 

[BBP]

Mine get a big bed of sand. They seem happy enough. Not sure it’s the cheapest if you take into account the initial outlay.

 

[leflynn]

Straw - a lovely big fluffy bed, he seems to sleep better and lies down more in a straw bed. He does pee like the (ex) racehorse he is so I have a layer of wood pellets underneath which soaks up wee and stops his stable and him stinking. He does love a good roll in shavings given half the chance

 

[paddy555]

The loveliest bed I ever did was shavings mixed with paper. It was so soft to walk on. Beds have to be very deep - horses shouldn't know that concrete floors exist. I loved straw beds but I had to muck out and go straight to work - I used to walk around and the smell would follow me about. I hate thin pellet beds on rubber mats.

I wonder if anyone has looked at sleep patterns in horses living out and compared them to stabled horses. The former have to sleep on hard ground so do they not get enough sleep?

if horses are quite happy to sleep on hard ground out in the open is it simply human emotion that likes a nice deep, immaculate white bed?
If you put the horse on a suitable surface then many times it will roll. New shavings in a stable, a deep layer in a school, a mud patch in a field, a sand rolling area.

I don't see you can compare horses lying down outside with stabled ones. There are so many factors to take into account, one being danger. The horse has to feel safe lying down anywhere. A field may well be more dangerous for him.
OTOH lying down in a field is often a group activity,, some lie down and 1or 2 stand over them.

 

[Chianti]

if horses are quite happy to sleep on hard ground out in the open is it simply human emotion that likes a nice deep, immaculate white bed?
If you put the horse on a suitable surface then many times it will roll. New shavings in a stable, a deep layer in a school, a mud patch in a field, a sand rolling area.

I don't see you can compare horses lying down outside with stabled ones. There are so many factors to take into account, one being danger. The horse has to feel safe lying down anywhere. A field may well be more dangerous for him.
OTOH lying down in a field is often a group activity,, some lie down and 1or 2 stand over them.

But isn't the research saying that they sleep more on a thicker bed? I've had them living out 24/7 and stabled over night. I would now always have them out, if I could. I just wondered if being outside has any impact on their sleep patterns.

 

[HashRouge]

Straw - they both love having a snack on it!

 

[paddy555]

I just wondered if being outside has any impact on their sleep patterns.

it's a very interesting question but I can't see how it could be answered. I guess if living outside in a herd they would be more likely to take on the herd behaviour of horses which I would imagine would include less sleeping due to continual wandering, browsing, danger etc. One advantage would be weight loss from more movement.
If it is stuck overnight in a stable then it's only choices are stand, stand and doze, eat or lie down. There is a lot of time to waste away in a night. Maybe that is why they lie down more as there is not much else to do.. Is the amount of time spent lying down a good thing or a good guide to be using?