Wood pellets for a Warmblood.

[domsmith]

Was looking at using pelleted bedding this winter, but my livery says that it wont be warm, soft or dry enough for my wb gelding. is that a reasonable comment?

pellets seem easy to get and store, easy to muck out and wont ****** my land up like shaving might.

straws the other option, but it will mean alot of running about for large bales just for the horses as we dont use any straw for any of the livestock.

thoughts please
d

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

I don't use pellets with my horses however a couple on our yard do. The pellets break up to make a comfortable soft bed which is absorbent and is easy to muck out. This bedding works well with a fairly clean horse/pony however if your horse is messy, poos & wees everywhere then it isn't very good. One of mine is very messy & pellets wouldn't suit him at all.

With respect, it sounds like your livery has no knowledge of using pellets & assumes the horse will be lying on a bed of pellets? It's more like lying on a bed of sawdust/peat when it's set up properly.

 

[DabDab]

Well I have mountains of the stuff on top of concrete (about 7 inches deep) and mine seems to love it - spends a lot more time laying down on it than he did on straw. He is also much cleaner on it, doesn't smell and isn't standing in ammonia soaked bedding for hours at a time. It doesn't move nearly as much as you'd expect when they get up and lie down, and even when mine had a thinner bed he never broke through to the floor. The other thing I like about it is that I can put my four white socks horse in with wet mud over his fetlocks and an hour or so later he will have clean, dry legs and hooves.

Some people do find it dusty in the summer though and it takes quite a lot of bags to fill the stable up to start off with.

 

[domsmith]

I have used it before for the shetlands and thought it ok, but she says i need to be kinder to him. she says he will end up with bad joints, but i am not sure she knows much about it.

think i might try him and see how he likes it.

d

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

but she says i need to be kinder to him. she says he will end up with bad joints, but i am not sure she knows much about it.

think i might try him and see how he likes it.

d

I think you're right about her not knowing much about it. If you have a deep enough bed there will be sufficient cushioning for any horse. If you've got rubber matting then there certainly will be.

 

[Polos Mum]

All the horses living out 24/7 have been sleeping this summer on concrete hard ground and will sleep on wet ground all winter with no issue at all.
I think they make nice beds - only swapped to straw as it is free and farmer takes muck heap for free too.

 

[9tails]

Warmblood mares must be more hardy that geldings because my horse loves her wood pellet bed. It's not wet, hard or cold, in fact I'd be happy to have a kip on it. She has rubber mats and a 2/3 bed with a play area at the front.