Bedding Down for Winter
Dangerous Bedding Materials
The horses were nestled all snug in their stalls...
But what type of bedding is best for them to snuggle into?
Here are some of the best and worst choices.
Shavings made from Black Walnut trees is a very dangerous bedding
material. These trees and the
shavings made from them contain toxins which will seep through the sole of the
foot and cause laminitis, or founder. For
more information on founder, go to this
link from the American
Association of Equine Practioners.
It is a good idea to check your pastures for Black Walnut
trees as well. While some horses
have been pastured around these trees without incident, the hulls of the shells
can contain low levels of the toxins. Some
horses can also have an allergic reaction to the pollen.
Sawdust is another bedding option that is often used, but can have a
negative affect on your horse’s health. Sawdust
particles are much smaller and finer than shavings.
This makes them very dusty and can cause respiratory problems.
It is especially dangerous for a mare to give birth in sawdust.
Most foals are born in stalls bedded down in straw.
Straw is my personal favorite for two reasons.
The first is I simply love the smell.
The second is that I'm used to cleaning it after mucking 12 stalls a day
for two years on the race track where they used straw exclusively.
Shavings are probably the most common type of bedding.
As long as you know they are not made from Back Walnut trees or wood that
has been chemically treated in any way, they are usually easy to get and
relatively inexpensive.
Peat moss is a wonderful alternative bedding also.
It is said to be much more absorbent, less dusty, and softer than
shavings. It may be especially
suited for the older horse for these reasons.
You need to bed six to twelve inches deep with it and keep it slightly
moist. You only clean out the manure and spots that are obviously wet.
Some people also add in some topsoil and use a rototiller to keep it
fresh.
There are several new types of bedding that have come onto the market
recently. Here are some of them.
Pellets made from natural wood fibers are sold by Magnum
Horse Bedding . They are
advertised as environmentally friendly, cost effective, cleaner, easier to use,
and less dusty than traditional shavings.
Another new bedding material offered by Hunt
Club Horse Bedding is made of corrugated kraft.
I always thought Kraft(TM) made macaroni and cheese!
Actually, kraft is a strong paper processed from wood pulp.
The Hunt Club advertisement claims that the shape of the kraft flows like
shavings, but outperforms it with lower dust level, better odor control, higher
comfort level, and is easier to clean. The
kraft is also treated with “Sweet PDZ (R), an all-natural, non-hazardous,
non-toxic material that removes ammonia odor from the air by absorption.”
Sweet
PDZ is another bedding material made from a natural material named zeolite
that has superior absorbing properties for wetness and gas (ammonia). It
is used more like lime in that it is used with another bedding material on
top. Along with keeping your barn smelling good and promoting better
hooves by controlling moisture, it can also help in fly control because it is a
desiccant that flies will not land on or deposit their larva in it. This would
be ideal to use alone for stalls where horses are just brought in to feed and
then turned back out for the night.
Hope this helps you and your horse have sweet
dreams!
Stable Eyes
