# bedding material?



## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Kiln dried pine shavings are probably the most commonly used commercial bedding you can purchase from a feed store/supplier.

Shavings put in will certainly absorb the wet spot and need to be removed best on a daily basis to reduce stink, ammonia build-up and accomplish a dry stall for the horses.

Sometimes if the horse urinates in the same spot all the time you do get a "dug-out area" that needs to be replenished but doing the shavings should stop you from digging dirt material out and making a hole as often.

I'm not a fan of straw as some horses consume it for whatever reason and I just don't like that.
Pelleted bedding... if you read the bag it says you need to "moisten" the bedding to make it absorbent, expand and fluff...kind of goes against what I want of a dry stall so why would I choose to purposely add moisture...I also have found the brand the barn used where my horse was was pretty dusty...no thank-you. _{the barn returned to pine shavings due to $$ cost, waste and lousy looking stalls and owner complaints of not enough bedding resulting in rubs and urine burns!}_

Being you are also a run-in you will possibly need a way to restrict the shavings to stay in the stall area, like a barrier board they step over a few inches high or have shavings dragged all over the shelter...

Me, I would do pine shavings..._not_ large flakes as they are not as absorbent as smaller mixed fine and medium sized pieces...2 bags per stall to start with to me is a minimum and then add as needed to have the desired depth achieved. 
_Cleaned _every day of manure and wet spot, _Not Stripped_...once established you will probably use 1-2 bags per week to keep a really nice stall for each of your horses...remember because shavings may be dark colored does not mean they are wet...do a test of grab a handful & squeeze test will tell you what you want to know.

Good luck.


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## Blue (Sep 4, 2011)

Thank you for all that info! It really helps. I was leaning to pine shavings, but having you say "smaller" means a lot. I used to have only 2 horses. My older gelding that I don't ride anymore and my mare, but I recently took in 2 starving horses. Between work and all else, I'm having to figure a way to cut cleaning time. Unfortunately, "cleaning" isn't what I'm willing to cut. These horses have had a hard enough time and they deserve a clean home, but I need to try to save my back too! Thank you!


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## BigGirlsRideWarmbloods (Mar 28, 2010)

I have a gelding that is a prolific stall pee'er and the of course he's in a stall with no in-ground drainage.

Fortunately the liquids do pool in one corner, in that corner I lay down a couple scoopfulls of UNMOISTENED bedding pellets. Covered by a scoopfulls of regular bedding.

The unmoistened pellets soak up the liquids better than any other bedding. They're little pellets of sponges waiting to soak up all things wet. 

So long as you limit the dry uncrumbledpletsti a corner the horse shouldn't slip on them, especially when covered by regular bedding
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jmc (Jun 10, 2012)

*Bedding*

I also have a gelding with a huge bladder  

I use the pellets for the parts of the stall he pees on, to a depth of a couple of inches, then use shavings for the rest of the stall. This works very well - the pellets contain the pee to a much, much smaller area than the shavings do.

When he was on all shavings, it took 45 minutes to clean the stall (he's not clean). Now, it takes me 15 minutes on a bad day, usually only 5 or 10.

They have also lessened my bedding costs, because with the pellets I don't need to replace bedding as much - maybe one bag a week of pellets, and I usually throw a bag of shavings on at the same time. I also haven't had to strip the stall all summer... last summer I was having to strip every couple of months.

So, another vote for pellets with shavings!


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

Is there a reason you lock them in at night? It may save time and trouble if you left it open , so the horses could come in to eat, and hopefully pee outside. Once a pee hole starts , even in an outside pen, it is hard to control . In my outside pens i used the stall fresh pellets, the wood pellets and then shavings on top. Worked for a while. Most are now on pasture.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

If I'm right in understanding that you're talking about the outdoor area and not the covered part then shavings are just going to get really wet and messy
For what it would cost in shavings over time you could lay outdoor rubber matting there and just sweep any pee away - or scatter something like Stall Dry or Sweet PDZ over it to absorb any slippery damp patch
Large size rounded gravel is also good for outdoor standing areas - the pee will drain through it and you can pour some disinfectant over it now and again to remove the smell.


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## Blue (Sep 4, 2011)

Stevenson, yes I lock them up at night because out of 4 of them they have 4 different nutritional needs. In order to make sure the 2 starvation rescues get what they need, they get locked in. In order to keep me older gelding from being a pig and taking ALL of it, he gets locked away and my mare is an escape artist and visits the neighbors flower beds. All in all, it's simpler. then after morning feeding they all get let out to move around and be horses all day.

jaydee, yes the area of my concern is the outer part. I realize that it will get weather, but can't be helped. We have the rubber mats up under the covers so that they always have a dry place to stand and clean place to eat no matter the weather. I do use the sweet pdz and it's wonderful but can only do so much. 

My hope is to lay down a bedding material of whatever type that I can rake up and replace as needed (probably daily I'm sure) so that I don't have to kill my back digging out nasty muck. We've tried to 1/4 minus gravel and it worked well for a short time. Problem with that is that we apparently are on some sort of rock shelf. When the rainy season gets bad they're in muck.

My local feed store was out of the bedding pellets I wanted to try but will have some in next week. I brought home some shavings to give a try and just see if it's easier for me.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

Blue, maybe just sand not the fine playground type, but a coarser sand. Some old stall mats on top of the sand . I have clay dirt on top of hard pan, I gave up , dig out the nastiest spots and fill them back in . A real back killer .
For one horse where there was actually a puddle of pee, I poured in bleach. He did not like the smell , and moved to a different spot. I sympathize with you , it would be nice if they all could eat the same and not go hog down the others feed.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

It might be easiest in the long term to dig out the area and put in a bed of larger gravel topped with the sand they use in septic systems and then place the sort of rubber matting they use in wash stalls on top of that - pee should then drain through and you can easily throw some disinfectant over it on dry days as well
I asked a friend who lives in the UK and had a similar problem topped with the fact that it rains a lot there and she had slabs laid on her outdoor standing area with rubber matting on top - the matting lays flat on the hard surface and she can brush and puddles off


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Stall Dry.......AMAZING stuff. I used to live in Tucson and had to deal with the pee spots and that stuff will dry it all right up and firm up the ground too. They walk it into the soil and you just add as needed, no need to remove.


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## Saddlebag (Jan 17, 2011)

I use diatomaceous earth, the courser stuff mechanics use. It resembles cat litter. Swimming pool outlets sell a fine powder grind. Either way, it discourages the reproduction of flies and helps the pee spots dry. I rake just the surface and sprinkle down more.


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## Blue (Sep 4, 2011)

Wow! So many great replies and ideas. The DE is good stuff too. I sprinkle it out regularly and sprinkle liberally on my manure pile. I have way fewer flies than others around here and go through about 3 50# bags a spring and summer. 

My ultimate goal is rubber matting all the way through, however that takes money. Right now, just trying to make is as easy for my back and as clean as possible for the horses. 

As far as the bleach... I heard about that once and immediately came home and tried it. My old gelding (31 yrs) sniffed around a little, snorted, and peed right on top of it! No respect at all!:-x


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