# Shavings on horse mats?



## GracelynHorseLover (May 6, 2016)

Sorry if this is a stupid question but...

If you put in horse mat(s) in a stall do you need shavings on top? If so, I have a few questions about shavings.

1. How many bags do you go though a month for one horse?

2. How much on average does shavings cost you?

3. What type of bedding do you recommend?

Thank you so much and God bless!


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

You should put shavings or some other bedding on mats to avoid hock sores, slipping, pee lakes, poop piles being walked in & slept on.

The amount you go through depends on how clean the horse is & how well you clean the stall. It's not the amount of shavings you put that matters. It's the amount you throw out.

My stalls are 12x12. 4 heavy bags are used at the start & maybe I replace 1/2 a bag a week. I never have to strip a stall but I clean thoroughly every day.

Shavings cost about $5/bag but buying a whole pallet can be cheaper.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Agree with natisha....

_I use pine shavings_ packaged for sale as _*horse bedding.*_
I prefer small, finer shavings than large chips.
I find smaller pieces are more absorbent.
Shavings I find are around $4.50 - $7.00 a bag depending upon bale/bag size and where you purchase at.
You can also find sometimes a local mill that does loose horse shavings but need to have a truck bed or dump trailer, some way of moving the stuff without it blowing away if they don't deliver.
If you do "loose" then you need to build a containment area that can be water-tight to store and have for future use...

_Some like pellet bedding...._
I have issue with needing to water it and make it moist for it to expand...my mind just won't wrap around adding moisture to and in the stall I am looking to keep clean and dry...
My horses also have tried to eat those pellets of bedding thinking they missed or dropped a food morsel :x not good!
I have taken some unexpected slides on pellets not expanded and did not enjoy that feeling.

Regardless of what type bedding you use,_ make sure it is sold as horse bedding._
Certain woods, chemicals can be used/applied otherwise that could be harmful to your horse.
:runninghorse2:.....


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## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

I used 2 bags per stall. I like the bigger pine shavings but the sawdust is easier to clean. I think I add a bag every other week or so depending on which horse I'm dealing with. The neat ones that poop in a corner last much longer... the sloppy ones... not so much.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Ditto shavings or something "soft and absorbable" on top of mats.

1. I use grid mats - even with the holes plugged with shavings, most of the urine drains thru them.

2. I buy kiln dried/bagged shavings as I know I'm NOT getting a mix of something like Walnut that will founder them.

I am down to two horses but I still buy a pallet at a time which is 45 bags. My horses come in at night, I use a pallet about every five weeks because I want things clean.

I pay around $4.75/3 CuFt bag. The bags are compressed.

My stalls are 12 X 14. If I completely strip them, wall-to-wall, it takes 4-5 bags per stall. We only do that every few months.

I clean stalls daily, the pee spots (which both my geldings pee in the same spot in their stalls) get deep cleaned once a week, with some minor cleaning during the week.

3. I prefer larger shavings, as opposed to finer/bordering on sawdust. I have geldings and I don't want that fine stuff migrating up inside their sheaths, maybe causing infection. And the way my luck runs, that is exactly what would happen, lol


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## DraftyAiresMum (Jun 1, 2011)

Look into Terramigo or wood stove/heating pellets. We use Terramigo and wood stove/heating pellets at the barn I'm at now and they're awesome. We also used Terramigo at the first barn I worked at and it worked really well, especially for the messier horses. It fluffs up and expands when wet, so is very absorbent. It doesn't stick to poop and most pee spots can simply be turned over and fluffed up, so there's far less wastage. Depending on how messy the horse was, we'd average about four bags per 12'x12' stall. We had one OTTB mare who was extremely messy, so I had to strip her stall on a weekly basis and rebed it, but the majority of horses just had bedding added to their stall a couple of times a month to freshen it up. Made picking stalls super easy.


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## Abzeez (Aug 22, 2016)

Has anyone ever used the Aspen bedding? I have used it a couple times, but always seem to go back to pine. I prefer the finer shavings because I feel it is much easier to clean.


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## RhiannaShea (Aug 8, 2016)

GracelynHorseLover said:


> Sorry if this is a stupid question but...
> 
> If you put in horse mat(s) in a stall do you need shavings on top? If so, I have a few questions about shavings.
> 
> ...


I have mats all over and shavings on top, roughly one bag a week at £7.50 which is around $9.50 in USA, bedding on matting can be anything really but I prefer medium to fine shavings for my mare but if your horse is wet pellets can be used instead


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Also ditto shavings. When I used to show much more seriously, thus stalled hroses a lot more then now, I bought shavings in bulk, and had a huge shaving bin, that I kept covered ( as you find at many hrose show venues)
Now, I buy them bagged, and it does not cost me much, as I no longer go through lots of shavings, as I only stall horses occasionally, but do use shavings both over the matts on my stall, and in my horse trailer
All our shavings, are spruce and pine, as walnut trees do not grow here, so I don't have that Black walnut shaving worry!


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## secuono (Jul 6, 2011)

Wow, shavings here are $10-16 a bag....


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

secuono said:


> Wow, shavings here are $10-16 a bag....


Shavings where I am cost $7.99 for an 8 cu ft bag.

I also do the shavings over rubber mat stalls. I've started shifting to shavings as it is harder to get wheat straw in small square bales unless I can get a field that I can bale myself. So I guess that makes shavings my number one choice for bedding and wheat straw my number two choice.

It's my thought that shavings are more expensive than straw; shavings seem to absorb better than straw; shavings are easier than straw to clean out.


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## Dustyisace (Dec 11, 2014)

Hi! By floor mats I'm guessing you mean rubber mats?

I do have shavings on top, but you don't need as big a bed because the floor is softer on the ponies's feet. Simply from experience I've found banks are still needed 

For one horse I use about 2 bags a week, but I use quite large bags and the smaller, and cheaper ones I generally use 4 a week. I use the bigger bags, even though more expensive because they are better quality, last longer and are 99.9% dust-free. In a month anything ranging from 8-10 bags a month, because we get ours delivered weekly I'm not entirely sure.

We get ours delivered so the price is around £8 a bag (sorry I don't know what that is in dollars) and £10 when they are delivered. We have 2 horses, both on mats so we get around 4 bags a week and occasionally 5, depending on how dirty the horse's were and also if we need any for the trailer.

I don't know about America but either DuoBed (a mix of about 40% rape straw and about 80% woodchippings) or StableChoice (which is the good-quality, dust-free shavings our horses are now on) and both are very effective. StableChoice is finer, softer and better for winter when the horses don't get grazing time but often we use DuoBed in summer because it's cheaper and the we don't have to worry as much about respiratory.

I clean Dusty's stable out daily and take about 1-2 wheelbarrows out, so generally I put down half a bag every other day. Shannon is much dirtier but has thicker matting and therefore requires a thinner bed (this is to save money).

Stable mats, are a highly expensive option but they generally last a long time and means a cheaper bedding. 

It is still necessary however to disinfect the stable every now and again and this job is made significantly harder with mats as they are extremely heavy!

This is all I know about them, mostly from personal experience. Good luck - I think they're fantastic!
Dulcie x


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## Kay Armstrong (Jun 28, 2015)

I buy a pallet at a time...36 bags $4.oo per bag. I usually end up replacing 1 bag per stall per week. My horses are in while it's dark...so right now they are in their stalls from 5 pm to 6:30 am.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I use pellet bedding over rubber mats and love it. I pay about 5-6$ a bag (Canadian) and might use a bag a week per horse. Sometimes not even that much. However, they have dutch doors and go in and out as they please so tend to just spend the night in their stalls. 

I have not found it necessary to wet my pellets except when I first put down a new bunch (which I've only done twice in 6 months). They crumble and expand and form a very thick, spongy layer over time. The key is to clean them every day. I take out the manure and any really concentrated urine areas which tend to clump. Then I spread it around a bit. Add a few fresh pellets on top and it smells nice without feeling all slippery like it would if I stripped the stalls and filled them all with fresh pellets. It's the sort of thing that builds up with time. There is enough moisture from moisture being tracked in by the horses or dripped from their water buckets to keep them from being too dusty. I might spray them a little during the hot summer months when they dry out a little more, but right now, I don't need to add any moisture and they are not dusty at all. 

I much prefer the pellets because I am not having to strip the stalls and because they feel spongy when they expand and crumble. Shavings do not have that thick, spongy consistency, unless you are getting sawdust.


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## Chasin Ponies (Dec 25, 2013)

Here in the Midwest where lumber mills and trees are plentiful, sawdust is the bedding of choice in every single stable I know of. The sawdust is basically free as the mills don't want it laying around, transportation is the only cost. There are companies who have invested in the large dump trucks with an auger built into the back and they will fill a storage area in minutes. Smaller stable owners simply take their pick up trucks down and haul it themselves. Then the used bedding gets thrown into a manure spreader and spread over various fields.

Most of the time the sawdust has minimal dust in it but occasionally there will be a dusty batch. No one uses shavings (too expensive and non-absorbent) and only use straw when a foal is on the way. Sawdust is extremely absorbent and easy to leave a clean stall (at least for 5 minutes as all horses seem to feel the need to poop the instant it's clean!).

Rubber mats are definitely worth the investment as you need much less bedding. One of the stables I boarded at did not have mats of any kind (owner too cheap) and you had to leave a 4-5" base built up in the stalls, clean off the top layer on a day to day basis and then strip down completely every couple of months. Then you had to build the base up again. 

One thing I've experienced with mats is that they do take some maintenance. To keep them flat and in decent condition, they will need some cleaning and rearranging underneath from time to time. The expensive full care stables around here will completely pull them out every 6 months, clean and then reset them! Usually it's enough to just roll up the edges one at a time and clear/flatten the floor underneath. If you don't keep them fairly flat, they will start breaking along the edges that stick up over time.


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## DeanChandler (Feb 9, 2011)

The amount of bedding you need depends on the surface underneath. There are microcellular rubber-foam mats that are 1" thick that only need a very small amount of bedding to absorb urine. On concrete you need more to help cushion as well.


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## Chasin Ponies (Dec 25, 2013)

Wow, we really have it good here in the Ohio/Kentucky/VW area. Virtually everyone here uses sawdust and never buy shavings unless you need to rent a stall at an event. Bagged shavings are available at the feed mills for about $6-$7 a bale but they generally don't sell a whole lot of it. 

Because of the quantity of hard woods and sawmills in southern Ohio, sawdust is basically free-the only cost is transportation. You can drive down and get it with your pickup truck or they also have huge, specially designed dump trucks with a huge auger built into the back that literally throw a big pile of it into your building in about 10 minutes. Then the used stuff is spread on the fields or given to local garden centers and nurseries.


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