Horse Bedding
Which bedding is right for you & your horse?
Choosing the right horse bedding can be a difficult choice to make these days. With an ever increasing range to choose from it is becoming a frequently difficult question to answer.
So here is my guide to most popular types of bedding:
Straw
Whilst the quality of straw is greatly dependant on the weather, it does make a good, soft bedding for horses. Straw is a favourite with traditionalists and old school horse owners as it creates an inviting bed and works best in stables with good drainage as it is not particularly absorbent. The down side of straw is that it can be dusty so not best used with horses that have dust sensitivities. Wheat straw is the most popular as it is less palatable for horses and is available from many arable farmers but check the quality.
Chopped Straw
Chopped straw is of a uniform quality and is dust extracted, giving a modern twist to traditional straw. It comes in easy to handle bags, and can also be coated with antibacterial agents to help kill odours and bacteria in the bed. Chopped straw is readily available from your local feed agent and the supply is stable.
Shavings
These are a favourite with horse owners due to their fluffy white appearance and good absorbency. There are a variety of types available from wood flakes to sawdust. Originally a by-product of the building industry, the supply can sometimes be unreliable and difficult to get hold of during the winter months. Shavings made from this by-product can sometimes be dusty and therefore not suitable for dust sensitive horses. However if dust isn’t a problem it can be an economic bedding when on a tight budget.
The most popular form of shavings are those that are purpose made. These are fully dust extracted and treated with antibacterial agents. They come in easy to handle vacuum packed bags but can be expensive!
Hemp
Hemp bedding is made from the fibrous core of the hemp plant. This is shredded into uniform sized pieces and is highly absorbent making it an excellent bedding for deep littering. As a result it only requires occasional removal for wet patches with regular removal of droppings.
Hemp can be difficult to source and as result this is reflected in the price. It still remains however the bedding of choice for those with dust sensitive horses or those that have rubber matting.
Wood Pellets
Wood pellets are relatively new to the market and are gaining in popularity due to their lower price than other traditional forms of bedding. The pellets are purpose made and originally used as fuel in wood-burning stoves and as a result at first look appear to be hard and unforgiving as a horse bedding. Almost all wood pellet manufacturers recommend that the pellets are soaked before use to ‘activate’ them. This then creates a soft bedding that is easy to manage like hemp bedding. They also break down easily therefore creating a smaller muckheap.
Paper and Cardboard
Finely shredded cardboard is growing in popularity whilst Paper has been used for a long time, especially by racing yards. Paper and Cardboard are both eco friendly as are generally made from recycled material and rot down quickly. They create a soft absorbent bedding, with the only major downside being that newspaper can leave a newsprint mark on grey horses that like to lie down on it.
Rubber Matting
It would be wrong to have a bedding section without mentioning rubber matting. Growing more and more popular with ever increasing different forms to suit any horse owner it helps to provide a safe base for your horse to stand on. Whilst the original cost is expensive, it does allow you to use a smaller bed for your horse thus saving you valuable time when mucking out.
Rubber matting manufacturers claim that you can use them without any bedding but personally I would also use something if only to help soak up them wet. However, I come from the traditional side when it comes to bedding and prefer my horses to have a big deep bed to sleep on, afterall I wouldn’t sleep on the bedroom floor!
