We
Make Their Beds...
but they have to lie in them
by Amy West
republished with
permission of Horse Sport
Traditionally,
stabled horses have been bedded down on wood shavings or straw. But
as horse owners become more educated about the effects of bedding
on their horse’s well-being, efforts are being made to develop
new products that offer both health and economic benefits.
Many horse owners
in North America are also feeling the effects of a decrease in the
availability of shavings and sawdust. There are a few reasons for
this. Sawdust and shavings (wood residue) left over from the processing
of trees for lumber, has been the traditional source for bedding products
but now that residue is being captured at source and pelleted to replace
natural gas and fossil fuels. The pulp and paper industry is increasingly
using sawdust in the manufacturing process and the introduction of
computerized sawmill operations are reducing waste.
One of the biggest
concerns related to stabled horses is respiratory health. Traditional
shavings can be dusty, causing adverse effects for horses already
suffering from breathing problems. Straw contains mold spores that
can irritate your horse’s airways and cause coughing. You may
not necessarily be able to see or smell the mold but it is present
and its severity depends on the bailing process. If the straw is damp
when baled, mold will flourish thus the drier the better.
According to Dr.
Remlinger DVM, horse owners should weigh the pros and cons of each
type of bedding before making their decision.
“There is
no clear cut ideal bedding out there,” he said. “It’s
usually a trade off – one bedding may be less dusty but harder
to keep clean.”
The most important
things to look for, he recommends, is that bedding is free of dust
and minimizes the odour from urine.
Peat Moss
Some veterinarians recommend peat moss, which is virtually dust-free,
as a viable alternative. Although quite costly, you do not use as
much of the product if the stalls are mucked correctly. But there
are some drawbacks to peat moss – it makes the stall look very
dark and mucking takes longer as wet patches are harder to spot.
Peat can be purchased at your local garden supply centre like Home
Depot, Canadian Tire, White Rose. They carry smaller bags that hold
2.5 cubic feet for about $5 a bag. Your local farm supply store will
carry larger bags (3.8 c.f.) for $7 to $10 each and might even offer
a discount for a bulk order. A less expensive method (if you have
the space spare!) would be to get a truck load shipped in (one truck
carries about 480, six c.f bags) for about $3,500. However, proper
storage facilities are required to ensure the quality of the peat
moss is maintained. Check your local papers to see if anyone in your
area offers this service.
Wood Pellets
Wood pellets were first massed produced in Oregon in the 1970s as
fuel for commercial and industrial purposes. In the process, it was
discovered that these pellets were also tremendously absorbent. Further
research found that for the best and safest results as a horse bedding,
the whole wood pellet had to be remanufactured into much faster absorption,
more comfort for the animals and much less time and labour when setting
up the stall. But most important, the smaller crumbles are not dangerous
to walk on if they are not wetted down so there is no chance of horses
or humans slipping on the pellets.
Health Benefits
The extreme processing eliminates the hydro carbons which cause hives
and coughing for some horses that have been bedded on pine and cedar
shavings. Following the new user instructions eliminates both wet
and dry hoof problems. Ammonia odours are eliminated in most barns
with the proper management of the bedding. Eliminating odours also
reduces flies. The bedding is sterile, which reduces the growth of
bacteria and is ideal for foaling stalls.
Economic Benefits
One bag will cost you from $6 to $10 and you will need five to ten
bags initially. This will last for about two weeks. After this you
will be adding one bag per week per stall.
On average, on pallet of 65 bags will last one horse for one year
in one stall. Because you use so much less of the product that other
types of bedding, the cost is usually less. Mucking time and the amount
of the disposal is also greatly reduced, which calculates to thousands
of dollars in savings annually, especially in medium to larger sized
equine operations. Less wood content in relation to manure gives the
lower carbon: nitrogen ratio important in composting, offering the
possibility of compost revenues when there are nearby horticultural
markets of population centres.
Drawbacks
“Other than the fact that it lasts too damn long for those us
that sell it there are none that we know of,” said Woody Pet
founder David Ringland Sr. “The impatience of new users who do
not follow our new user instructions and therefore mismanage the product,
may lead to dust and odour problems. If our user instructions are
followed, there are no drawbacks.”
Glen Morrison,
founder of Magnum horse bedding finds that “the main drawback
has been the need to educate barn managers on using a new product.
This takes time and patience.”
Contacts
Woddy Pet – www.woddypet.com or call 604-535-9816 to contact
a dealer close to you.
Magnum Horse Bedding – www.magnumbedding.com or call 1-866-624-6869
to locate a store that carries Magnum bedding near you.
Hemp
Hemp has been cultivated in North America since the 17th century.
Having survived a scandalous history, it is once again legal to grow
hemp commercially in Canada . The outside of the hemp stalks are harvested
for use in the textile, composite and paper industries. The core of
the stalk is used for animal bedding, garden mulch and building materials.
Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, has even appointed the European company
Hempcore, producers of hemp bedding, as her equine product supplier.
HempChips, an Ontario based company, researched the wide spread use
of hemp bedding in Europe and did stall trials and test marketing
of the product in Ontario prior to launching HempChips at the Royal
Winter Fair in 1998.
Health Benefits
HempChips are dust extracted and cleaned of any impurities to ensure
a clean stable environment and to reduce conditions that lead to respiratory
problems in horses. The product is all natural – there few chemicals
used to grow the hemp stalk and no chemicals used during processing.
They are also unpalatable to horses.
Economic Benefits
HempChips are double the absorbency of wood shavings, so much less
bedding is needed each month. The particle size easily falls through
pitch fork tines, ensuring very little extra bedding is removed during
removal of manure. Due to the fact that very little bedding is added
to the manure pile, the bedding that is removed decomposes quickly
into high quality mulch. The initial outlay to set up a stall on HempChips
would be up to $35 with monthly material maintenance cost of approximately
$40.
Drawbacks
“We have demand for the HempChips coming throughout North America
a for a wide range of animals due to the many product features,”
said Geofrey G. Kime, president of Hempline Inc. As a result of the
widespread popularity of HempChips, the current supply is limited.
However, we are expanding our processing capacity so we can meet the
demand.”
Stall Mats
We all want our horses to sleep in a clean, comfortable bed at night
and the beddings mentioned previously certainly help achieve that
goal. The addition of rubber matting on the floor can also assist
you to save time, money and energy while increasing cleanliness.
Health Benefits
The great benefit of rubber mats is the cushioning they provide the
horse. As with mattresses used in the home, different brands provide
different cushioning. A plain rubber mat does add some extra padding
but a mat that has been engineered based on studies of the horse is
more likely to be beneficial and provide a better resting surface.
The advantages
of this extra cushioning are threefold: pressure and stress are alleviated,
hock and knee sores incurred from getting up and down are reduced
and less bedding is required. Less bedding means less dust in the
air for your hose to breathe.
It has also been
found that almost half of the cold in a stall derives from the floor.
The rubber provides a barrier which helps to insulate resting horses
from any cold or dampness that can come up from the ground during
a cold Canadian winter.
Depending on the style of mat chosen, there is the added benefit of
extra traction. Concrete and asphalt floors are very slippery and
horses can easily slip and injure themselves.
Economic Benefits
Since less bedding is used in the stall, less time is spent cleaning
the stall. “Time is money,” said John Aditjas of Stable
Marketing Inc., the makers of SoftStall. “SoftStall allows you
to properly clean a regular 12x12 stall in less than half the time
of conventional stall bedding systems. Depending on the horse, you
can save up to 60 per cent of the amount of shavings you use to bed
now.” Prices start at $595 CDN for a regular 12x12 stall. Installation
and custom stalls are extra. Prices for generic rubber mats start
at $300 per stall.
Drawbacks
The installation of rubber mats has been a time consuming process
in the past. The weight and size of mats have made them difficult
to handle but with client feed-back manufacturers have created lighter
weight mats that are smaller and easier to install.
The SoftStall
system is portable so if you move you can take it with you, if your
new stalls are the same size. If they are larger, you would have to
order a new top cover as they are custom fit. The cost for this is
approximately one third of the original retail of the system.
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