Horse Stall Bedding Options
Depending on what s available in your area there may be other options you can consider.
Horse stall bedding options. Table 1 summarizes the attributes of common flooring materials that will be described in more detail. Wheat and oat straw are most commonly used. You need to bed deeply with straw to attain this mat effect perhaps this is where the tradition of putting lots of bedding in a horse s stall came from. It is absorbent in the stall and virtually dust free.
Open grille is a good option for most horses as it affords greater visibility out of the stall. 14 2018 09 37 am. I ve even heard of people using m 10 or stone dust. You can find this at your local hardware or garden store and a little bit goes a long way so you only need to buy a few bags.
I was wondering if anyone knows of different bedding options that last longer than your traditional wood shavings. Pelleted bedding is sold in bags and is made of compressed kiln dried wood and sawdust and is generally less dusty than sawdust or shavings. I ve heard of some people using wood pellets but that seems expensive and uncomfortable for the horse. These are only a few of the many bedding options available.
Although a bit pricey they make stall cleaning much easier and can be hosed off periodically. While sawdust and shavings are the most popular wood bedding products pellets are also an option says jenifer nadeau phd an equine extension specialist at the university of connecticut who states that for a while in her area some horse owners were using wood pellets and liked them because they are very absorbent but now they are much more ex pensive since they have become popular for heating homes in pellet stoves. The most common horse stall bedding materials are straw and shavings. Rubber stall mats provide an easily cleanable base for your chosen bedding material s.
Stall doors can also be provided with an opening for the horse to stick his head out. Peat moss is an option that is easily available and horses seem to like it a lot because it gives them that soft bedding to lie down on. Horse stall bedding options oct. For example concrete may meet most of your stall flooring criteria but more bedding or solid rubber mats will be needed to protect the horse s legs.
Typically made of fir alder or pine the super absorbent bedding expands when exposed to moisture. Straw is used to form a sort of mat or barrier between manure and urine which settles to the bottom of the stall.