| Don't let your horse stand on wet or hard stall floors. | | | | mention yours. Dusty or moldy bedding can also be a |
| Horses need extra cushion and dryness in their stalls | | | | respiratory irritant. As a horse owner, the reality is you |
| to help promote healthy hooves and overall general | | | | also have to factor in the cost and maintenance |
| health. Horse bedding provides comfort and warmth | | | | required to keep your horse's bedding in good |
| for your horse and provides traction to help keep your | | | | condition. Good mucking methods will help to reduce |
| horse from slipping. | | | | waste and though some bedding products are |
| Bedding materials today are excellent for maintaining | | | | seemingly more expensive at first, are often cheaper |
| such conditions. Traditional straw bedding is still | | | | in the long run since it results in less waste. |
| available and popular, and provided it is clean and dust | | | | What are Some of the Horse Bedding Choices? |
| free, makes an excellent bed. The disadvantage of | | | | - Straw. Common bedding used by many; however, it |
| straw is the amount of waste that is generated with | | | | is not quite as common as it once was with many |
| its use, which in turn may result in more work for you | | | | horse owners turning to processed wood shavings. |
| and increase in cost to dispose. | | | | Straw is not as absorbent as other commercially |
| Many horse owners have turned to sawdust and | | | | available bedding, but is often relatively inexpensive and |
| wood shavings to help eliminate horse health concerns | | | | decomposes quickly in your compost. Straw provides |
| of dust and spores often present in straw and for | | | | a nice soft bed for your horse. |
| better absorbency and reduced waste. Though saw | | | | - Sawdust and Wood Shavings. Sawdust is high |
| dust does improve upon absorbency, it does not | | | | absorbing, but if your horse is prone to respiratory |
| eliminate the dust problem entirely. Wood shavings on | | | | problems it should not be used. A better alternative is |
| the other hand cut down further on dust, but do not | | | | wood shavings. Wood shavings are easy to muck out |
| absorb as much moisture and are slow to decompose | | | | and can be found easily at lumberyards, feed stores, |
| in the compost pile. | | | | and bedding suppliers. Processed wood shavings are |
| Good Characteristics of Horse Bedding: | | | | preferred over shavings found at lumberyards. The |
| - High absorbing bedding will absorb urine better and | | | | shavings at lumberyards may have harmful debris or |
| reduce the level of ammonia odor in your horse's stall. | | | | toxic wood chips and dust. Processed wood shavings |
| The more absorbent the bedding is, the less bedding | | | | are more expensive, but are clean and dust free and |
| required, which means you use less and don't have to | | | | do not contain any toxics that may be harmful to your |
| dispose as much. | | | | horse. Sawdust and wood shavings do not |
| - The bedding should be low in dust. A horse's | | | | decompose well in your compost pile. |
| respiratory system is not well suited for high volumes | | | | - Shredded Paper and Cardboard. Very inexpensive |
| of dust. | | | | as well as absorbent. It provides comfort for your |
| - Ideally the bedding is easy to cleanup with waste. | | | | horse; however, it compresses easily and requires a |
| A horse bedding with a high level of absorbency | | | | large amount to create a bed and to keep the bed |
| allows liquid waste to be contained in small areas so | | | | maintained. Paper and cardboard bedding keeps your |
| less bedding becomes dirty. The smaller amounts of | | | | horse cleaner than other bedding products and does |
| contaminated bedding is quicker to clean and makes | | | | provide warmth. Disposing the bedding can be |
| the bedding less expensive by reducing the amount of | | | | problematic and the most effective method is to burn |
| bedding required, and saves on the time and effort | | | | it. Some horse owners use straw or wood shavings to |
| required for mucking out. | | | | supplement the paper and cardboard. |
| Rubber matting is a fairly new innovation providing a | | | | - Rubber Matting. Many advantages such as being |
| warmer, softer and more comfortable stable floor for | | | | completely dust free, drains well and is warm. The initial |
| your horse than concrete, brick, dirt, or wood flooring. | | | | cost to put in rubber matting can be high, but the |
| Rubber matting also greatly reduces the amount of | | | | recurring costs to maintain bedding can be very low. It |
| bedding required. A downside is horses don't like to lie | | | | is very safe for your horse. Many horse owners add a |
| down on bare mats. They prefer the comfort of a | | | | little bedding, such as straw, to make a bed |
| bedded area. So even though mats cut down on the | | | | comfortable enough for you horse to lie in or if the |
| amount of bedding needed, be kind to your horse and | | | | drainage under the matting is not adequate. |
| provide him with enough soft bedding to make him feel | | | | No matter your bedding of choice, it needs to be |
| comfortable enough to lie down. | | | | cleaned at least once-a-day to keep it safe and dry |
| The most important factor to consider when choosing | | | | for your horse. You don't want to promote a bacteria |
| bedding is the health of your horse. Damp or wet | | | | breeding ground or to allow soiled bedding to cause |
| bedding softens the horse's hooves and provides a | | | | your horse health problems. Horse bedding that is |
| bacterial breeding ground. Bedding that does not | | | | consistently looked after does not take long to |
| absorb well also allows more ammonia to be released | | | | maintain each day. |
| and can irritate your horse's respiratory system, not to | | | | |