# what to put on the ground in a stall??



## Alwaysbehind

So you want a bedding option that drains, does not get in the way of picking up the manure and is comfortable for your horse?

Um..... invent something that does all that and you will be rich.

I bed in sawdust. It drains/absorbs and it is pretty easy to get manure with out getting too much bedding.


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## RhondaLynn

hmmm. maybe I need to clarify... I would love something that did all those things.. but mostly I would love to put a sand type something down on top of the dirt.. and then the manure would pick easier and would drain slightly and there would not be the muddy spots where my horse always pees. (naturally they pee in the same spot)

Mostly I want to know if others put down a coarse sand type material? I have always heard not to use sand because of sand colic. My horses do eat hay off the ground sometimes so that is something I have to consider.

Rhonda


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## Alwaysbehind

The one barn I was at they would add new sand to the stalls every now and again. For a few days after re-sanding they would not bed (owner cheap, did not want to waste bedding, wanted horse to pack sand down first).

Being the stall cleaner I did not find the sand any better than using bedding. Almost worse. Yes, the urine drains down through but you still have sand that is wet and stinky at the top. Over night, the sand does get wet (because they urinate more than once).

Sand is heavy to deal with and does not compost so when you clean it out (which you will have to do or it will get stinky and gross) you are stuck with dirty sand.


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## mls

A grade of fill that is good for packing (class 3?) and then place mats! That will save a lot of bedding and prevent holes from pawing or the frequent urine spots!


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## gunslinger

mls said:


> A grade of fill that is good for packing (class 3?) and then place mats! That will save a lot of bedding and prevent holes from pawing or the frequent urine spots!


 My wife did a beautiful job on my mares stall....filled it with 5 inches of gravel, then a couple of inches of sand on the top, and then rubber mats over that. She never fails to amaze me with the talent she has.


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## Alwaysbehind

I think mats are a great idea.


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## Countrylady1071

We have mats in our horses stalls. They're outside most of the time (by choice, we have Dutch doors open all the time so they can do what they want) and the mats are perfect. They usually have a pile or two each of poop daily, and rarely pee inside, but when they do I just put some shavings on the pee spot to soak it up and then scoop it up. Very easy and inexpensive.
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## Darrin

gunslinger said:


> My wife did a beautiful job on my mares stall....filled it with 5 inches of gravel, then a couple of inches of sand on the top, and then rubber mats over that. She never fails to amaze me with the talent she has.


You want the unwashed stuff, we call it it chicken grit here. Why unwashed? The fine particles allows your gravel to pack better, giving a better base for mats to sit on.

Two things about sand.

-I would never use it in a stall. Once it gets wet it clumps right up like kitty litter and it packs into manure when wet. That means you'll be packing a lot out everytime you clean. Guess that's fine if you can afford to resand often but for most of us it gets pretty expensive. Sand does work in covered in arenas where it stays dry all the time. Very easy to clean.

-Sand colic happens if your horses eat off sany ground every day. In your case of occasionally stalling it shouldn't be an issue. Guess the first point works this way too, occasional stalling will mean it wont go away to fast.


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## SarahAnn

I use something called Woody Pet, (funny because I was just going to post a thread about it) and so far I like it. I have wood floors though. A friend of mine has dirt floors and uses the Woody Pet, too. It absorbs pee, and almost "clumps" like cat litter would, and it turns into almost a saw dust, so it doesn't stick to the poop much, and you waste very little. It also has a great smell, and takes care of the nasty ammonia smell really well.
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## Beauseant

We use Equine Pine, a pine pellet bedding in our matted stalls. It smells like a fresh cut Christmas tree, and is great at absorbing urine and the ammonia smell....


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## RhondaLynn

Do the pellets "pick" clean? does the manure pick out good? do you understand what I am asking???

Would they work with just a dirt floor and where do you buy them?

Rhonda


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## Alwaysbehind

The pellets, once moistened, become a fine sawdust. 

So the manure is pretty easy to get with out taking a large quantity of bedding.


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## Beauseant

The pellets remain as pellets untill the horse walks on them and crushes them, then the bedding turns into a soft texture, much like sawdust...but without the dust!!! It is SUPER EASY to muck....the poop picks out really easily and without wasting the bedding. The urine is absorbed by the pellets which makes them expand and clump together....so it's easy to clean out the urine spots... if the horse pees on the pellets when they are crushed, the entire wet spot clumps together, so there is no missing spots.

We tried the wood shavings, and I absolutely hated hated them. Shavings stuck to the poop and I ended up throwing SO much away when there was no need. As for urine, the wood shaving did ABSOLUTELY nothing in regards to soaking up the urine....it just ran through the shavings and collected on the stall mats underneath, making them wet and stinky. 

Wood shavings are my least favorite bedding.

We have also boarded at a place that used sawdust. i didn't like that either. When mucking, alot of sawdust got thrown away when cleaning out the poop, and it didn't absorb the urine like the pine pellets did...it also DID NOT clump together well when wet, so when mucking, alot of wet sawdust got missed .... plus it made Beau cough and sneeze alot! 


straw is out of the question due to mold concerns and the fact it is stinky and heck to muck.

I love the smell of the pine pellets. I love their absorbancy and the fact that they TOTALLY kill the urine smell.


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## kitten_Val

I did layer of gravel, layer of stone dust (I think that's how it's called), mats (for the stalls and run-in). I also use a funny combo of sawdust/shavings in stalls (I'm getting it in bulk). They are not as fine as sawdust (which is too dusty in my experience), but not as big as pure shavings. Very easy to clean up!


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## gigem88

Tractor Supply sells pine pellets, Equine Fresh...I think that's what it's called.


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## Alwaysbehind

Beauseant said:


> The pellets remain as pellets untill the horse walks on them and crushes them, then the bedding turns into a soft texture, much like sawdust...but without the dust!!! It is SUPER EASY to muck....the poop picks out really easily and without wasting the bedding. The urine is absorbed by the pellets which makes them expand and clump together....so it's easy to clean out the urine spots... if the horse pees on the pellets when they are crushed, the entire wet spot clumps together, so there is no missing spots.


It is pretty common practice to pre-charge the pelleted bedding by wetting it some so it become saw dust. Expecting your horse to walk on hard pellets on a matted stall floor sounds like a very uncomfortable experience for the horse.


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## Beauseant

The type we are currently using does not instruct that the pellets be mad wet before use. Neither did the ex BO at the TB farm we boarded at for two years wet her pine pellet bedding before use.

So, I dunno. Bag doesn't instruct they be wetted. Ex BO didn't wet hers...so.....we dont either. The horses don't seem to mind, though I haven't thought to ask them directly. No one is lame or has been in the last year, no one has pellets stuck in their hoofs, neither horse seems to avoid the pellets when freshly added vs. the barn aisle or the area of their stalls that have crushed pellets, neither horse seems disturbed by the uncrushed pellets enough to not lie down in their stalls for a nap as I've seen them do it frequently..... so....guess it's all good.


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## mls

Interesting.

I've always heard they were supposed to be wet to expand to fluff. Supposedly more cost efficient than regular shavings.


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## Beauseant

As i said, ex BO never did, bag doesn't instruct it...sooo....:?:?:?

who knows.

I DO know that when the bedding we currently uses gets wet via urine or spills from the water bucket, it clumps together like cat litter....so pre wetting it would cause it to be virtually useless.

But maybe that's just the kind we use, maybe other kinds of pine pellet bedding are different. lol:lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## Alwaysbehind

Beauseant said:


> We use Equine Pine





Beauseant said:


> The type we are currently using does not instruct that the pellets be mad wet before use.


Hmmm, per the website (of the brand you state you use) you are supposed to wet the pellets to "expand and fluff".


Here is a link for you.


I certainly would not want to have to lay down on a hard surface covered with hard pellets.


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## Corporal

Equine Fresh (aka Stall Dry, I believe) is my favorite additive to a stall, HANDS DOWN!
Equine Fresh: Horse Bedding, Animal Bedding, Equine Bedding
I have mats in my stalls, on top of a cement floor. We, in Illinois, live in a drained swamp, and I think we have as many swear words for humidity as Eskimos have for their beloved snow.
I use two 40-lb bags of this stuff in my stalls/week. It 100% pine, but soaks up urine twice (if you do as I do and not water it down before use.) The difference in odor AND wet in the stalls is remarkable. I put one 40 lb bag of shavings on top of this. I look for the area where my horse prefers to urinate and that's where the Equine Fresh goes. The whole stall stays cleaner. Also, it's 1/2-way biodegraded already when you clean it from the stall. Mine goes into my garden's raised beds.
I'm a fan of rubber mats but ONLY where you can keep them dry. If you use them outside of a building and it rains your horse will slip on them. I'm not a fan of dirt floors by themselves bc the urine will be leaching downwards and the only way to really clean the floor is to periodically dig out and replace the dirt, but I'm just a "clean it with bleach" freak, so it's JMHO.


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