# winter use of pelleted bedding



## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

Question for those who use pelleted bedding in really cold conditions: how do you go about adding water so the pellets will expand before you put them down in the stall?

I just started using pellets last summer, and like them. Then I moved to a teeny barn with dirt floors rather than rubber mats and still liked the pellets.

With a thick base layer they soaked up the urine before it got down to the hardened dirt floor.

With sub-freezing and sub-zero F degrees this winter so far I've been using a fine "quick pick" shavings by Top. The pellet base is now used up and the dirt floor is getting wet daily. I don't want to dig anymore floor out of the already dished out stall floors, And am using tons of Stall Dry.

I tested putting some dry pellets in the usual wet areas, but they did not expand and were worthless. 

In the summer I would cut a big 'X' open in the bag and add about 5 gallons of water (the recommended amount on the bag). It would take 20 minutes or so to fluff up and expand, spilling out of the bag. Then I would pull the bag out from under it and spread it around.

Seems to me that that would make it too cold and damp in harsh winter weather.

I know some HF members from Canada use them. @Acadianartist for one. How do you manage it?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I use them year round, love them year round! 

For starters, I try to avoid having to strip out the entire stall. So there is always a thick layer of crumbled pellets right over the stall mats. I only take out what needs to come out, and leave as much as possible. That way, the bottom layer stays moist. Sometimes it will clump a bit, and I stir it up with the manure fork to break up the wads of crumbled pellets. in fact, I often mix it all up, scraping the pellets away from the walls, fluffing everything up. I just add half a bag to a bag on top, and I don't wet it at all. The pellets on top just soak up any excess moisture in the bottom pellets. I clean, stir, mix, add a little more on top as needed (no more than a bag a week per stall I'd say). They absolutely do expand, but I don't add water. My stalls are open to the outside though, so the horses are constantly coming in and out, bringing in snow, which melts eventually, and gets absorbed.

Also, I have rubber mats which gives me a good surface if I need to scrape up some urine-soaked pellets. So not having mats is a bit of a problem for you I would think. Can you find some mats to put over the dirt? Secondly, you mention that the pellets aren't expanding, which makes no sense to me. If my pellets expand when they're in contact with snow, yours should expand when they're in contact with any moisture. 

Even in the summer, I don't use the soaking the whole bag method. If I'm adding a lot, or starting a new stall, I will dump it out in the middle of the floor and wet it, but I don't wait 20 minutes to spread them. Maybe a couple of minutes. I do spray the whole stall down a couple of times a day in the heat of the summer while I'm filling the water buckets, but I really don't add that much water. 

I do know someone who absolutely soaks her pellets, to the point where you don't know where the urine spots are because it's wet everywhere. I don't see the point of that. I think they need to be damp, but not soaked.


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## Captain Evil (Apr 18, 2012)

I wondered about winter use also. Sounds intriguing. I always assumed they would be cold, crunchy and that you would need really hot water to expand them in winter, and that they would just then freeze into a block. Huh. Do you know if they compost?


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Captain Evil said:


> I wondered about winter use also. Sounds intriguing. I always assumed they would be cold, crunchy and that you would need really hot water to expand them in winter, and that they would just then freeze into a block. Huh. Do you know if they compost?


They do, and a lot faster than shavings! Because they are essentially sawdust compressed together, they fall apart easily into very small particles. As an added bonus, your manure piles are smaller. Just be careful you buy either the ones made for animals, or ones for pellet stoves without any additives (I buy the ones for pellet stoves - I know someone who works for the company and she has confirmed that they don't add anything but softwood, uses them for her own horses).


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

Only have a minute right now.

I do not strip a stall much, if at all. Just thoroughly clean daily including removing the wet spots completely. And I do turn over and 'rotate' the bedding. Meaning put the dirtier but drier stuff in the wet spot(s), and putting the cleaner around the edges where Chief stands. When I add, every other day or so, I add to the edges, banking a little to draw in the next day.

So although the pellets are completely expanded, they are not very moist after a while. Hmmmm, maybe when I had the level matted stall that was more accurate. This time the dirt stall is terribly dished out. literally a foot or more lower in the center than in the one foot or so away from the walls. I cannot invest in someone else's property to properly fill, pack and level enough to put the mats I have down. Truly if I had money for that kind of property repairs it would have to go to my own home.

Here I began by soaking and filling the giant hole 3 or 4 bags at a time and tamping them down to make a base. Then when level and somewhat hard, used that plane as a floor and added loose as normal. When cleaning, only occasionally would I get down to the yellow base.

These stalls are also open 24/7, and with the rainy and snowy conditions the horses are peeing more in the stalls, it is coming in from outside, and too humid to dry much. And I am down to the 'real' sunken dirt floor. A dismal situation. But I knew it would be when I moved in.

I just sprinkled some on the bottom when I put in the Stall Dry. The next day those had not expanded even though they were in a wet spot. Guess I will try soaking some in empty feed bags and when I have enough, pull what is in the stall back and rebuild the base.

I have the same concern as @Captain Evil , that it will just freeze into a hard block.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

The wood stove pellets around here, from TSC, are hardwood. So I stick to the kind for bedding.

I do have 2 sources, TSC's are harder and do not expand as quickly as American Wood Fiber. 

But TSC is closer so is used more. Think I'll go to Buckley Brothers for the other kind.

Thanks for your help.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I use pellets all year round, over mats. I have found that if I put dry pellets where they pee, I don't need to add water. I just put them down and walk away. I DO strip my stalls periodically, but maybe only once a month or 2. I wait for a not too cold day, and around here today would have been a great day for it, and put the new bags down on the clean mats and poke a hole in the bag. I use the hose to put water in, can't say how much, I just eyeball it now. Leave them sit for as long as I can to fluff and then come in and dump the bags. I pick and stir until I just can't stand looking at them anymore and then we rinse and repeat. I don't wet them until they're really WET WET, and I try to leave the barn open to let them dry out before putting the horses back in. Never had a real problem with them freezing too much, more likely it's the 'poop BBs' that get formed when we freeze real hard. The horses stir it up enough we don't get big clumps of wet bedding.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

anndankev said:


> The wood stove pellets around here, from TSC, are hardwood. So I stick to the kind for bedding.
> 
> I do have 2 sources, TSC's are harder and do not expand as quickly as American Wood Fiber.
> 
> ...


Yes, that might be why they don't expand quite as easily. Mine are strictly softwood. It's a big industry here, so essentially, these are the leftovers from cutting wood. 

I still don't quite understand why they're not expanding in wet conditions, could the Stall Dry have something to do with it? 

I do get that you have to deal with what you have. Some people like to add shavings on top of pellets so that's something else you might try.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I just went out to feed, clean the stalls, and added half a bag of pellets to each stall. It's -10C inside the barn tonight (colder outside) and the texture of the bedding is perfect. The old pellets are crumbly, but moist to the touch, kind of like very fluffy snow. The new ones I just dumped on top and spread with my feet. The horses will do the rest of the work. Here's what it looks like:


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> I use pellets all year round, over mats.
> 
> I have found that if I put dry pellets where they pee, I don't need to add water. ...
> 
> ...


Just the other day that is how my daughter described that a couple at her barn do it. And is why I tried adding some in the uncovered wet spot. I'm thinking my action was too little, too late. 

I've been using the fine shavings alone for long enough (since December) that all the pellets must be gone by now. So a handful of pellets on the scraped out area did nothing (without other pellets around them). I tried a greater amount the second night, tonight was the third night. 

You are right, it was a nice day ... well at least no precipitation and above freezing temps. The larger sprinkling did a little better, and the horses were outside much of the day so had not 'chummed up' the poop. The stall was better overall. I had about a third of an open bag of pellets left so added water to the bag and left it, it did take 20 min for them to expand. Then put them down in the scraped spot and covered with the other bedding. 





Acadianartist said:


> ... It's a big industry here, ...
> 
> ... could the Stall Dry have something to do with it?
> 
> ...


All the pellets and bagged shavings I get here in Ohio are marked as a product of Canada. LOL

I do add a particularly fine bagged bedding from Top called Quick Pick, in the summer I liked the blend. Also did spray the stall frequently to keep dust down. 

Don't think the Stall Dry caused the few pellets to not expand, but rather that it was too little, too late.

I think I do need to get the percentage of pellets up to well over 50% to get the effective capture of pee before it works its way down to the dirt floor. It is supposed to be above freezing until Feb 1st here so that is what I'll be doing this weekend. hahaha

So here is another question. I have enough mats to cover the stalls. 



Do you think it would be worth a try to fill the giant hole with pellets and put the mats over them? Then bed as usual on top of the mats.
Or do you suspect it would be too great a probability that the mats would just curl up and sink down into the sunken center?

Thanks much to both of you. Definitely will be trying adding dry pellets once I get a moist pellet base built back up. 

Harley's stall does look picture perfect.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

anndankev said:


> So here is another question. I have enough mats to cover the stalls.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


hehe... I try  I do think the environment has something to do with it. I only add water in the summer, so clearly there's lots of moisture in the air and getting tracked in to keep the pellets moist. 

As for the hole in the stall, I'd be hesitant to use pellets, but maybe I'm wrong since I've never tried it. I'd personally worry that dry pellets would be too unstable (they are like marbles when they are dry in large quantities,which is why I like to keep a nice thick base of older, crumbled pellets under the dry ones) and wetting them would mean having them freeze solid, then freeze-thaw-freeze-thaw over and over again until spring. Even if you left them dry, they'd eventually get wet and expand and then you have a big hill where the hole used to be. 

I'd be more tempted to put in a very fine pea gravel, or something like crusher dust. I realize it's not your barn and you don't want to spend a fortune or do a lot of work, but you probably don't need much. Even sand might work. Damp sand will freeze pretty solid, but not heave up like a solid block of frozen pellets might.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

anndankev said:


> So here is another question. I have enough mats to cover the stalls.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


The thing about pelleted bedding is, you HAVE to do the maintenance or you won't like them. I was at my feed store the other day and talking to the owner and another customer who was saying how much she HATED pelleted bedding. I asked her some questions and found out that she only picked every other day or so, and didn't replenish with fresh pellets periodically, until the stall was practically stripped bare. I pick 2X/day and we add at least 1 bag of fresh pellets every week, kind of a 'need it or not' thing and it works really well for us. I also ONLY put dry pellets on wet pee spots and then cover the area with the fluffed shavings, so they aren't standing on wood BBs. I know it isn't comfortable for me, so imagine they probably don't like it much either. 

Here's how I maintain my stalls, just so you know what I do and I'm happy with the pellets. Periodically (if you've read my other thread you'll know I have some "furniture movers) I strip everything out right down to dirt. Maybe 2-3 times/year so that we can wash mats and level floors and then put them back. I look at the floor and fill in any hollow spots with clean dirt from the compost pile and tamp it all down and make sure it's all level. Then I put the freshly washed mats back in, now going to attach them with some cable ties and see if that stops the furniture movers, and then in a 12 X 12 stall I use 4-5 bags of pellets. I've found that if I bed deep it's easier to pick and it lasts longer. I lay the bags out flat on the mats, then put in the water (about 1/2 full or until the bag is leaking a little) and go away for 30 mins to an hour or so. I try to do it so that I have something else to do and keep me occupied while the water is soaking in, so I don't get impatient. When the bags have expanded and look like they want to burst, I cut them open and dump out the shavings. Then I spread the shavings until they're pretty evenly spread around, thicker in the middle for them to lay on, and then just go away until it's time to bring the horses in. By then the bedding has dried out quit a bit and the first thing they do is come in and pee before they eat. Yeah, no, they can't do that outside.......:confused_color:

I do not let a moist base build up, I try to keep stalls very dry, because when we're not in drought we tend to have quite a bit of rain. I dig out pee spots 2X daily if they're in all day/night, otherwise once. Pick the poo 2X daily, unless I can toss them out and leave them all day. 

I wouldn't put the pellets in the hollow, they'll break down and you're right the mats will shift and curl. Fill it with dirt, level it out and then put down the mats and put bedding on top. That will stop the destruction of your floor too. I have found that pregnant mares are pretty bad for making out of the way pee spots that need a little extra bedding. So, pick the pee spot, spread some old shavings on top of the cleaned spot, then add a 1/4/ to 1/2 bag of dry pellets and then pull some fluffed shavings over the top. They'll come in and add their own water.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Forgot to mention, the smell of ammonia in a barn makes me want to hurl. It's a real THING with me, so I use a LOT of Sweet PDZ on the mats before I put down bedding and when I pick the pee spots I toss a cup full over the pee spot before I put new bedding over it. I can't seem to get anyone to carry Stall Dry (Canadian) or Dry Stall (American and not as good a product, IMO) down here, so I don't use any of that. The PDZ helps dry the stalls a little but isn't near as effective as the Stall Dry and it's not as good with smell control. Ideally, I'd be able to use both. Go figure, when I lived in the CA & AZ deserts I could get BOTH products.


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## jaydee (May 10, 2012)

We did try the pellets once and to be totally honest the faff of having to damp them down and the fact that they're just sawdust which soon becomes dry and dusty (not good for the lungs especially if a horse is a bit sensitive to dust) once they're 'fluffed' up then I rated with really low and went back to normal shavings.
My horses can't go in and out as they like because our barn isn't set up like that so once in they're in and in the winter they're in longer so they pee in there more. My stables are never soaked with urine, never smell strongly of it.
We clean out once day to remove the wet patches and the poo gets taken out every time we go over when the horses are stabled
We use Stall Dry and in the summer spray with a barn disinfectant
In the winter here the shavings that get peed on freeze so if pellets were even slightly wet to get them to break down they'd be frozen and the horse would be lying and standing in damp bedding all the time


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

I would worry about the fact those pellets degrade to sawdust, as when I buy shavings, I buy medium coarseness and not the fine shavings for that very reason.
Did not realize that people use wood stove pellets for bedding, as I never heard of it.
Of course, not arguing with anyone who has through experience, found how they work great !
i do think rubber mats over a good base really save on bedding , plus allow you to pick that stall with a shaving fork, scrape any wet spots with a shovel, and use stall dry on those spots
I use the method of throwing the shavings against the stall wall, where the manure balls roll to the bottom,then clean any urine soaked area, apply stall dry to those, and then re distribute the shavings when the horse goes back into the stall.
I never kept horses in 24/7, even when I used to stall them either all night or all day.
Never have an ammonia smell.
My horses now are out most of the time now, full time, with run in sheds. 
At one time, I used to have bulk shavings delivered by a semi, but now just buy bagged shavings.
Interesting about the wood stove pellets! How can you be sure in areas where black walnut trees grow, that they won't contain some from them?


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I have an older heavey horse boarded here. The only bedding the vet wants us to use with him is the pellets. They are actually less dusty than the shavings & straw we can get locally. Even the 'triple sifted, cleaned race horse shavings' from the tracks are to dusty. I used to buy them by the truckload and we all had to mask up to avoid breathing in the dust. Not a problem with these pellets. I suspect it's because we add regularly? So while not wet, it's damp enough to keep the dust down? Don't know, but I do know that the heavey horse doesn't need as much medical care if he's on pellets, vs. anything else we tried. 

I don't use the hardwood pellets for stoves because they don't break down as well as the soft wood bedding pellets.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

I agree with Dreamcatcher that picking the stalls often helps. I pick every time I go to the barn, which is 5 times a day this time of year. In the summer, only twice, but then they are hardly ever in their stalls. 

I also cannot stand ammonia smell. Have been in some awful barns where I could barely breathe. My barn never smells like ammonia. In fact, my mother, who is the least horsey, the most finicky person I know (I must be adopted) came in the barn and exclaimed that there was no smell at all. Urine spots are removed as soon as possible. 

I use softwood pellets because that's all there is here. It's true that if you put a lot down, and don't have a nice, thick bed of crumbled pellets underneath, they feel like marbles. You have to water them at that point. But if you keep up with it, sifting and adding a little each week, it's very little maintenance. 

There is no dust. But I can see how there might be in a very hot climate. If we get several hot dry days in a row. I spray down the stall every time I fill the water buckets, so 2-3 times a day. Just a quick, 30 second spray all over is plenty. But I also have stall doors that stay open, and a very open barn, so dust is minimal. As some of you know, Harley coughed a lot the first winter we had him (he was boarded, and on shavings), a little less last winter, and not at all this winter! Pellets are recommended for heavy horses.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

Such great opinions from you all (aka All Y'all, LOL). 

Reading each reply I am nodding my head and thinking 'yes, I do/think that, too'.

Spending the rest of day trying to locate an appropriate fill and find out the cost.
Seems it shouldn't cost more than filling the hollow with pellets. However, I can do the pellets on my own but would need help and muscle for the other options.

Then if that turns out feasible I'll try to get my son to bring the mats over and 'install' them. (Wish me luck on that one, haha.)

I'll post more later.


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## Cottontail (Jan 23, 2018)

When I lived in the mountains I had to use stove pellets for Pete because he liked to snack on the shavings. :neutral:
It worked out well, other than in the colder months where the shavings would not dry, and then ended up freezing and getting clumpy. For reference, I always have rubber mats down.

My process was also cutting the bag and then pouring water in to cover all the pellets. During winter I would dump them in a muck bucket (due to leaking bags the majority of the time), let them expand, and then throw them in the stall as needed, but I gave up eventually when it started clumping from freezing. 

I figured they'd set better in a heated muck bucket, but I never tried it. I'm sure it would work. I think there was a little dust issue, but not too bad. Again, I did use stove pellets.

Now Pete is fine and after mixing old dirt in his stall with fine-cut shavings, he doesn't eat them. :lol: Thank goodness.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

anndankev said:


> However, I can do the pellets on my own but would need help and muscle for the other options.
> 
> Then if that turns out feasible I'll try to get my son to bring the mats over and 'install' them. (Wish me luck on that one, haha.)
> 
> I'll post more later.


If you go to Home Depot or Lowe's you should be able to buy some pea gravel and sand by the bag, not more than 50#. It would only take a few bags to fill and tamp down and level out the hole, unless you're talking a crater.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

I agree with Dreamcatcher; the deeper the pelleted bedding the easier to maintain, especially the pee spots. The bedding acts like cat litter when deep, and the pee doesn’t spread but clots in one spot.

I also hate the urine smell and use stall dry every day.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I just WISH I could get somebody to carry Stall Dry or even the American version, I'd buy it by the pallet. Evidently, I'm the only person in the whole state who would use the stuff, they all want me to order a truckload. Yeah, no.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

I get it from my local TS. WHen I get down to two bags, I go and get three more. I will admit I am anal, compulsive, obsessive in my use of stall dry.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

sarahfromsc said:


> I get it from my local TS. WHen I get down to two bags, I go and get three more. I will admit I am anal, compulsive, obsessive in my use of stall dry.


I WAS until I moved to OK. Not gonna buy by the truckload, local TSC doesn't offer it and haven't found a feed store yet to carry it, in the whole state. Just to tell you how much fun feed shopping is around here, I travel 60 miles one way to buy the feed, the Gro Strong Minerals come from 60 miles the OTHER direction and nobody near me will order what I want. Town I live in is very strange that way. If I won't feed the stuff from the mill, I'm out of luck.


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## sarahfromsc (Sep 22, 2013)

^^That sucks!

Last winter my TS ran out of stall dry...... for three weeks. Hence why I keep several bags on hand and have become compulsive about it....lol


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

*Limestone Sand*

So about 2 in the afternoon I called my son to see if he could get a work truck, a smaller dump truck, and equipment to help this weekend.

8:30 pm he arrives at the barn with the truck and a bobcat. !! I was so excited, the bad news is that the field was/is too muddy to get the equipment to the barn. 

Now for the good, no great news, he had a load of what he called Limestone Sand. !! 

Ended up he has cleaned out the empty stall, but had to dump the Limestone in the house driveway just outside the gate. Luckily I have an old very large tarp which goes under and over the top of the pile, about 8 or 9 foot square area maybe 4 feet tall in the center.

I am so so happy to have it here. Have seen what is called Limestone Screening around here many times, this is much sandy-ier than that. Not sure what Limestone Crush is so took a baggie of the stuff home and just took some pics.

What would you call this stuff?
















































Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> ... unless you're talking a crater.


Will try to get some pics that show the floors. These pics I took to try to show the better features, and do not show the 2 stall floors. They are large stalls though, bigger than 12x12 I think.




























sarahfromsc said:


> I agree with Dreamcatcher; the deeper the pelleted bedding the easier ... pee doesn’t spread but clots in one spot.
> 
> I also hate the urine smell and use stall dry every day.


Yes-yes-yes. No running and the clotting is the main attraction for me.

I've used Stall Dry for years. Usually a cup or so sprinkled in the wet spot
Right now though, without pellets, I am using way more. Which is the reason I started this thread.




Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> I just WISH I could get somebody to carry Stall Dry or even the American version ...


Yes, yes, yes to this, too. TSC doesn't carry Stall Dry they carry PDZ. I've heard of Dry Stall but have not seen it. The small feed stores in the small towns around here do carry Stall Dry, so I do go out of town to get it. 
TSC is $10 for 25# of PDZ. 
Mom and Pop feed stores $15 for 40# of Stall Dry.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

*Limestone Sand*

Duplicate post

Was trying to correct the size of the Limestone Sand pile to maybe 3 feet high, 8x9 area or so.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

My neighbors who use shavings used to apply a product called Stable Boy over wet spots. I imagine it's the same idea as Stall Dry. Here it is:
Stable Boy, Wilton Tack Ltd

I haven't found it necessary since we moved Harley home (he was boarded there before) and started using pellets, but it might do the trick for you if you can find some.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

Very well could be. Description and price range are about the same.


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

Stall dry is basically diatomaceous earth and clay. There are various other products with similar composition. I got one from my local Hi-Pro geed store, when they stopped carrying stall dry. Have to go to the barn to see what the actual label is.

'Stall DRY® Absorbent and Deodorizer is composed of a natural blend of food grade diatomaceous earth and clay in a granular form, which has the ability to

neutralize ammonia and absorb odors and moisture.


Stall DRY provides Ammonia Control and Deodorization - Safe for all animals


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I have found Stall Dry to be awesome at drying stuff up, not so great for killing smells. PDZ does great on smells, not impressed with how it dries stuff up, which is why I always used both when I could get them.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

Yes, Dreamcatcher and Smilie are both correct.

There is also a straight food grade DE product called Red Lake Earth or something like that. I have tried it in the barn. It made great clouds of dust rising and coating everything around. Must be pulverized. It is choking, and does not control moisture at all. I will only use it outside if at all. Still have some left.

Likely great for gardens, and have heard it is good for killing bugs and especially for ant control when put around ant trails going into the house.

Karliejaye, a HF member from a while back said she uses it around her rhubarb plants and it is well known for that.

All of these products are good for manure piles if you don't like worms. But kill fly predators so be aware if you use them.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

*Pics of stall floor*

OK @DreamCatcherArabians here are some pics of the empty stall's floor.
They do not do the stall justice, do not depict the depth well in my opinion.

First a pic of the Limestone Sand Pile









The top of the 'rock'. It seems to be a boulder size conglomerate that covers about a 3 foot square close to the front of the stall, on the side next to Chief's stall. Which it also extends into.

The top of the rock seems to be about an inch below the original surface of the floor.























I tried using the longest handled rake I have to show the depth. It did not reach to or over the deepest part so I had to settle for the closest edge.

Also there is a small dust pile swept up that is maybe 6-7 inches deep that I left there. The rock is much taller that it is.















Here is one of the pony next to the rock, again not in the deepest spot.









Now Chief with his dirty feet just inside the back door.









Here I tried to get him to put his foot on the rock apex as if it were a hoof stand. But when I backed up to take the pic he would move.

So here he has his fronts on the rock.









Another post coming of the other stall.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

*2nd Stall pics*

Here is the other stall, Chief's stall. It is better than the empty stall. I;ve been working on building a base of bedding and did not want to dig down to the floor, so this is just of a regular cleaning.

Also, my daughter is sending an older lesson horse here for some R&R, or possible retirement, so I need to get the first stall ready.

Need to do this quick as my computer keeps blinking out.

These are using the rake to mark the edge of the 'rock'















Rakes trying to show depth in rear of stall









During cleaning (see white PDZ on wettest spot, then after done cleaning


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I would use sand and gravel and water it in, tamp it down and then put mats over. The way that floor is so unlevel, you'll never get mats to lay flat and stay put. So, gravel, sand, tamp, wet it down, tamp, check level and let it settle for a couple of days. Then mats, bedding and you're life will get a lot easier.


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## Acadianartist (Apr 21, 2015)

Wow, yeah, that stall is really uneven. You have your work cut out for you, but as @DreamCatcher says, it will be worth it in the end.

I just spent an hour adding heat tape to my water pipes. The weather is so warm today, it was a good day to do it, but it was a big job because we had boxed in the pipes in an effort to keep them from freezing so everything had to come out. The fun never ends!


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Anndankev that looks like what we call road base. If it is lime and has the fines once you level the stall if you tamp it well and spray it then it will harden so once covered it should stay where it is put.


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## anndankev (Aug 9, 2010)

*sp*



Dreamcatcher Arabians said:


> ... gravel, sand, tamp, wet it down, tamp, check level and let it settle for a couple of days. Then mats, bedding and you're life will get a lot easier.





Acadianartist said:


> ... will be worth it in the end.
> 
> ... The fun never ends!





QtrBel said:


> Anndankev that looks like what we call road base. If it is lime and has the fines once you level the stall if you tamp it well and spray it then it will harden so once covered it should stay where it is put.


Wow, thanks a bunch you three. Although I had been hopeful, last night I was struck with the thought that I would never get it done and peeve off the BO by putting a pile of limestone next to her driveway. 

Now with your words I have hope again.


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

anndankev said:


> Wow, thanks a bunch you three. Although I had been hopeful, last night I was struck with the thought that I would never get it done and peeve off the BO by putting a pile of limestone next to her driveway.
> 
> Now with your words I have hope again.


It's a lot of work, and as a BO, I would HOPE she'd give you a break on board for doing those improvements. She's not obligated to, not even obligated to allow you to do it, but it's an improvement to her property and if you're willing to do the work, I'd hope she'd show her appreciation in some kind of tangible way. It will be worth it in the end, whoever cleans that stall will have a lot easier job and once those floors are level, I bet the horses even like it better.


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