background source: bgfons.com
Our horses spend a lot of their time (even more than 20 hours per day) not on pastures, but in their stables. The time spent there per day varies depending on the season, their health or purpose. A stall is a place where the horse can rest, fulfil their needs and sleep. In accordance to this place's shape it will have either a negative or a positive effect on your pet. The conditions with which you provide your horse will decide about his humour, general condition and his health.
The most important element of the horse's stall is its bedding, which has three basic functions: it allows to keep it clean by absorbing liquids, protects the horse's hooves from hard ground (e.g. concrete), but it also gives the horse the possibility to rest while lying down. Unfortunately, improperly maintained bedding might contribute to health issues of the horse, causing allergies and respiratory disorders.
Thus there can be no doubts in bedding being the most important thing in the horse's stall. Which is why you should pay particular attention to all bedding available on the market, analysing their advantages, disadvantages and use economy. Which are worth choosing? This decision is up to you :)
Straw
We begin with straw, because it is the most popular bedding in Poland. Why? Because it is available and generally known as a cheap solution. But is it? We will consider that later on, analysing the cost of its use. First we would like to analyse its disadvantages.
First of all: storing. Unfortunately, choosing this bedding means buying a bigger supply for the rest of the year. At the end of summer you should count how much straw you need to buy so it would be enough for a whole year, because buying straw in winter might be very difficult. Bales or cubes of straw take a lot of place and not everybody has enough space to store them. In many stables, straw is being stored outside, usually without any cover that could protect it against weather conditions (rain, storm). It might result in straw perishing - rotting, mildewing, which would definitely disrupt your calculation regarding costs of such bedding, as you would have to throw out some of the supply.
Using straw as a stall bedding also means owing proper machines, e.g. forklift truck, especially when you buy bales which are way heavier than cubes.
Long blade straw is not best at absorbing ammonia, which the horse's urine contains, it gives a characteristic, unpleasant smell that you would definitely feel while entering the stable.
Another disadvantage of this bedding is also the fact that it will not absorb dampness or liquid well, including the horse's urine. In order to prevent wet spots in the stall, you would have to put a thick layer of straw. Unfortunately, a lot of horses like to snack on straw from the ground when they run out of hay. This way, the "thick" layer will be gone in no time. The effect is rather poor, especially if you add some straw in the evening and in the morning it is all gone. You visit the stable and it turns out that your horse stands practically on a bare concrete, himself in a disastrous state, because he spent all night lying in his feces. Do you know this view?
source: bgfons.com
Remember also that not every straw is the same. Its quality is dependant e.g. on the weather while crops or the way it is then stored. In result, the straw's humidity or pollination may vary, depending on a chosen provider. It also happens that the straw you buy is rotten. How to know that? Such straw is more compact, heavier, it lacks its natural looseness and it does not smell nice. It also has a characteristic colour: very dark.
The straw in which rotting processes have already started is full of speck, fungal spores and it becomes an allergen. Unfortunately, such condition is the fastest way to respiratory disorder, such as RAO (Recurrent Airways Obstruction, formerly Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) or other bacterial diseases. Additionally, when your horse eats such straw, he might have a colic - more or less dangerous.
An important issue is always: what to do with used straw? Maintaining the stall clean bedded with straw means changing the straw at least once a week. Thus there is a lot of dung. EU regulations orders storing of used long blade straw in a specially dedicated places, which forbid interaction of the dung with soil. Yet another investment on a stable's owner's shoulder. The dung's quantity will grow with each month. What to do when there is no place left? Formerly, farmers used to take such dung in order to use them as fertiliser, delivering straw to the stables in return. However, nowadays it is the stable's owner who has to pay for the dung disposal, paying a particular rate, according to his or her region.
Usage: complete change of bedding 1x/a week, necessary to add straw each day (at least 1/2 cube a day)
Sawdust and shavings from waste product
Second popular choice in Poland is sawdust and shaving from waste product (woodworking) from sawmills and joinery. Owners of horses who have respiratory issues, are allergic or eat their straw bedding usually choose sawdust.
Formerly, sourcing sawdust was not a problem since woodworking plants were keen on getting rid of unnecessary waste, giving them for free of symbolic price. The stable's owner just had to take care of loading and transport. Today it is not so easy anymore. There are a lot of plants producing briquettes from sawdust and shaving (mostly for fuel) and they buy all sawmills' and joineries' wastes for a lot of money.
Their main advantage as bedding is their excellent moisture absorption. Thus, it is easy to maintain a desired cleanness of the horse's stall while using them. What is more, your horse will not constantly snack on them, so you would not have to add them so often.
source: 123rf.com
When it comes to sawdust and shaving disadvantages: their transport is not quite simple, as it is a loose material which requires special conditions during transport. Another disadvantage might be a necessity of storing it in a clean and dry place.
However, the biggest problem might be a high level of pollination. Thus they might exacerbate disease at a horse who is allergic or has respiratory disorders. Sawdust and shaving that have not be de-pollinated might also contribute to bronchi irritation or cause conjunctivitis. It is caused by mites, microbes and fungal spores contained in them. Do not expect a horse with RAO to get better while standing on this type of bedding. His health problems can only get worse.
You also have to consider the fact that wood in sawmills and carpentries is usually preserved with chemical impregnating and antimycotic compounds, which are extremely harmful to the horse and human. Remember also to always check for any unpleasant "surprises" in the purchased sawdust, such as sharp wooden elements, or nails that may harm your horse.
So, is it worth investing in sawdust/shavings from waste? Yes, but only if you are able to further process them in your stable - select, filter and de-pollinate the whole bedding. Of course, it means additional costs...
Commercial sawdust and shavings
A comfortable alternative for bedding made from production waste are ready mixtures based on sawdust and wood shavings as a final or semi-finished product. They do not contain any chemical or biological contaminations, nor harmful dust. Such ready sawdust or shavings are usually soaked with preparations that hinder the process of ammonia emission from the horse's urine, which will prevent the unpleasant smell in the horse's stall. You horse's airway will also be safe due to that, which is why this type of bedding is especially recommended for horses with RAO issues or allergies. Also devourers will not have chance to eat that bedding. Especially if they have to be on a diet for some reason or they tend to have recurring colic.
source: tigerpet.en.alibaba.com
Commercial sawdust and shavings have a high moisture absorption rate (300%), also of the horse's urine, which makes it easy to keep the stall clean. Their other bis plus is that is is easy to store and use them. Usually you can buy them in compact bales, which are tightly wrapped in foil, which protects them against weather conditions. Thus, you can keep them outside or in a slightly humid place.
While using this bedding in an empty stall, you do not need to make a thick protection layer. If you will clean your horse's feces each day, you should not use more than one bale of sawdust a week. However, be careful not to use bedding of a low grammage (very little, powdery pieces), because you will get an unpleasant effect of "mud" in the stall. You will also need to completely change the bedding more often.
All in all, using commercial sawdust or shavings you will get a little of dung. It is said that a dung from this bedding will be good as a fertiliser only after a year of composting. So you can find it difficult to keep a compost for that long. However, if you have any mushroom farm that would take such dung from you, your problem is solved. In any other case, you should consider whether that solution would be proper for you.
Usage: necessary to add 1 bale/week
Chaff from flax straw and other processed straw
A quite recent solution on Polish market is a bedding from prepared straw from linen. This plant, grown without chemicals, is unrooted, repeatedly depollinated and cut. Linen naturally blocks discharge of ammonia from the horse's urine, due to biochemical substances it contains. What is more, straw from linen can absorb five times more liquid than its initial weight. Thus its moisture absorption is impressive. All thanks to its cellular structure, which bind with water drops in a permanent way. This will guarantee that even after absorbing a lot of moisture, the bedding's upper layers will still be dry.
Horses should not be interested in eating this straw because of its characteristic taste. However, it is important to provide the horse with even access to hay, because it is possible that due to lack of other food, he will decide to eat some of the linen straw and that may cause colic.
A huge advantage of this bedding is its fast decay and more natural pH factor (in comparison to long blade straw).
source: kehoefarming.com
On Polish market it is also possible to find granules produced from stems and leaves of grain. Usually they are mixtures of linen straw, field bean and rape. It is free from any germs, fungal spores and dust, due to thermal processing and depollination. Also, in production its moisture and resin content are decreased which makes its moisture absorption much better.
Its time of composting is two times shorter than long blade straw, so you should have no problem with excessive dung, which is much lesser with this bedding.
Peat and peaty-shavings mixtures
Peat has an excellent ability to absorb moisture (45%), which is why it always seem a bit wet. However, before you can make the bedding for your horse, the product has to undergo a long processing. First, it undergoes a thermal working process in a temperature of more than 200 degrees in order to get rid of all bacteria and fungal spores. Eventually it will also be completely depollinated.
Peat ready for bedding perfectly binds ammonia from the horse's urine, due to which you will avoid bad smell in your stable. It is also possible to buy peak with added ready herbal mixture, which constitute a perfect solution for horses with RAO, as it will constantly inhale and clean the respiratory tract. The same applies to allergics - peat is free from allergens, so it should be perfect for your pets. Additionally, this type of bedding is recommended for horses who have been through a laminitis and with rotting frogs.
A huge advantage of peat is the fact that the amount of produced dung is remotely small (three times less than from long blade straw). It also does not require a long period of composting (3 weeks), before you can use it as fertiliser.
source: wisgeek.com
However, its disadvantage is the price. Filling up an empty box will be a bit costly. Some of you might also find the peat's lack of aesthetic assets a disadvantage. Unfortunately, especially in dark stables this bedding due to its dark colour might seem a little contaminated. But producers found a way to solve this problem by adding sawdust to peat, which noticeably improves its appearance. However, adding sawdust to it slightly prolongs the period of composting (1-2 months).
Unfortunately, it is not a proper bedding for open stables (e.g. English stable) - in summer, mosquitos may multiply in the bedding, and in winter the peat will simply freeze. .
If you are looking for some savings, it is not worth investing in garden or mine peak - they will be no good as bedding in your horse's stall due to lack of processing (temperature working, depollution). We recommend buying only those mixtures, which are specially made for it.
Pellet from straw and wood
Pellet is usually produced from natural materials such as straw or compressed conifer needles. It does not contain any chemical admixtures, glue substances or binders. During production, this bedding is subjected to thermal working, due to which it lacks any bacteria, fungus, mould and its spores. Its moisture absorption is between 6-10%. This bedding excellently binds ammonia, preventing hooves, lungs diseases and bad smell.
Pellet is usually smooth on its shiny surface, which prevents pollution. When it comes to composting - the dung created on pellet is quickly biodegradable and can be used asorganic fertiliser.
Wood pellet, source: uuni.net
Unfortunately, its biggest disadvantage is the price. For 1 m square of a stall, you need approximately 10-12 kg of pellet, which means that with a standard 3 x 4 m stall you will need 120-150 kg of pellet to fill an empty stall. It is enough to fill the pellet once a week, adding ca. 2-3 bags of 15 kg. Of course, it is good to clean the horse's feces each day in order to be able to use the bedding longer.
It would be the cheapest to buy a whole pallet of pellet bags, however then you need a place to store them. Fortunately, they do not need any special storing conditions, because producers offer them in a tightly packed bags.
Usage: necessary to add 2-3 bags of 15kg/week
What to choose?
There is no good answer to that question. It depends on the money you are willing to spend on bedding, what your horse needs (allergic horses, horses with RAO and respiratory disorders, rotting frogs, after laminitis need special conditions in their stalls). It is important whether your horse has dietary issues (snacking on bedding) and how much space you have in a stable (storing new and old bedding - compost) and what is around your stable (is there a place to dispose of your dung? Have you someone willing to "take care of it" after the period of composting?). First you have to consider all those things, and only then can you find the right bedding.
In Poland the most common bedding is still the long blade straw. We hope it will soon change, because it is certainly not the best choice - neither when it comes to our horses' health (pollution, ammonia, fungal spores...), nor environment (long period of composting).
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