bedding

we'llallhavetea

hi all,
I am currently paying full Livery for my daughters pony and I was wondering how often should the bedding be changed? I have no clue about anything equine but they bedding in her stable is all wet, could this be right? it's just that I helped a girl muck out her stable and realised that her bedding was a lot drier and any saturated bedding was lifted out.
I'll feel like a bad mother if my daughters pony has been standing in misery all this time and we didn't do anything

mariannewims

The poo and wet bedding should be removed during a full muck out at least once a day and then additional poo skipped out later in the day. The bed should never be wet, you tend to get wet patches where they pee (most horses have a main spot they do this in) but the rest of the bed should be dry and certainly all dry after being mucked out.
It varies from yard to yard, and what sort of livery plan you're on, how often new shavings are added then. In my old yard it was daily, in others it's 2-4 times a week depending on how much has to be removed during mucking out and if the pony is stabled all the time or only for the night.

Basically they should have a dry bed with adequate depth for them to be comfortable if lying down and they should have nice high banks around the sides to reduce the risk of them getting cast (not able to get back up easily from lying down)

Hope this helps!

we'llallhavetea

thank you so much, I feel sick now, sure it's soaking
it's definitely all going to have to be removed from the stable, there is not one dry piece in it. god I think I'm going to flip I went full livery because I have no knowledge of taking care of a pony and they know this, I trusted they would take care of her properly.

bnagrrl

I'm on DIY livery. I remove any droppings and urine soaked bedding daily. Whatever clean bedding is left I bank on the sides of the stable and top up the floor with clean shavings where my horse lies. I have a mare and when she's in season her stable can get very dirty in less than 24 hours. Once a week I strip the stable entirely and give it a wash out with Jeyes fluid.

Some yards use a deep litter bedding method where only obvious dirty bits are removed then the rest is topped up with clean bedding. The stable is only stripped out a couple times a year. Some people swear by this method but I personally don't like it.

As an aside a horse standing in dirty, wet bedding for a long time can cause hoof problems.

we'llallhavetea

thank you, I spoke to the stable manager today and expressed my concerns. they use saw dust opposed to the shavings the other girl is using in her DIY. they are topping my ladies bedding up tomorrow but I think I'm just going to go ahead and buy the shavings for her instead of the dust.
after inspecting the banking (?) around the edges, they were actually soft and dry, just quite dark looking, probably because it is dust and very fine.
can't wait to get the shavings now, it will be much comfier for her and if it hasn't been mucked out adequately it will be fairly obvious due to the brighter colour of the bedding.
thanks for all your help, feel much better now

Rips

aya startin wha wrote: »

thank you, I spoke to the stable manager today and expressed my concerns. they use saw dust opposed to the shavings the other girl is using in her DIY. they are topping my ladies bedding up tomorrow but I think I'm just going to go ahead and buy the shavings for her instead of the dust.
after inspecting the banking (?) around the edges, they were actually soft and dry, just quite dark looking, probably because it is dust and very fine.
can't wait to get the shavings now, it will be much comfier for her and if it hasn't been mucked out adequately it will be fairly obvious due to the brighter colour of the bedding.
thanks for all your help, feel much better now

Glad you sorted it out, shavings are expensive unless you buy in bulk, make sure you work this out if you are paying a lot for livery. Shavings will be better anyway, as dust is very dusty ;-) and this can be damaging to their health in the long run.

For horses who are stabled for long periods of time, some yards will 'deep litter', basically means there is a lot more bedding then usual, they take out the dung daily but not the wet patches, and there are layers, the bottom can be quite wet as the urine soaks down, but in a well kept bed the top must be dry. Shavings dust is quite suitable for this type of management, because its so dry, so you can freshen up the bed easily while the damper bottom layers are compacted and stay in place.

This type of management is not suitable for some horses though, who move about a lot or churn up their beds, as they will mix it all up and the whole bed will be dirty or wet. It has to be all taken out eventually periodically and this is labour intensive. I've found straw chip bedding very good for deep littering, its similar to shavings but slightly cheaper.

bnagrrl

Yeah bagged shavings can be quite expensive, €8.50 a 25kg bale in my place and it takes at least 3 to make a decent bed. I also found sometimes the bags will have rips in them and rain will have gotten in or there are air pockets so you're not actually getting a full bale! :eek:

My yard gets a dump truck of loose shavings/sawdust mix and I can buy it by the wheelbarrow load for a tenner for two barrows and this works out at more bedding than 2 or 3 bagged bales. I find the dust good for soaking up the wet and I can easily remove them without losing too much clean bedding.

Another option is something like Comfi Bed. My friend's yard uses this and she loves it. It's completely dust free. I think the bales are quite small though and again it's dearer than basic shavings.

If buying individual bags is too dear maybe you could club together with other DIYers and buy pallet loads at a time? Providing you've a place to store it mind...

isaos

Rubber mats are quite efficient, I have reduced the wet a lot since using them as it drains most of it. I use straw, far cheaper - the horse accommodation being quite big. Take dung and wet daily and whole cleaning once a week (at least) including underneath the mats of course. Thankfully he is out most of the time!

It is essential that the horse / pony is comfortable and dry. If your livery is not able to provide, go elsewhere!

aonb

Maybe Im missing something here OP, but you are on FULL LIVERY - what does the yard provide as a default for bedding - dust only? Yards will often give an option - what happens if your horse is allergic to dust - will they provide a straw or paper bed? If you are paying for full livery, and are not happy with the level of bedding, but happy with everything else about the yard its a difficult call. Is the horse turned out all day? Is there another yard nearby that you could move to if you are not happy? You could visit another yard(s) and just peep into their boxes to see how their beds are.
Oh, and if you are on FULL LIVERY are you going to have to buy the shavings?!? Will they give you a reduction in your livery bill if you are going to now provide the bedding? Sounds like a total nuisance to me - maybe you should move over to DIY and just do it yourself - and get a reduction in the cost (PLUS a reduction if you are buying your own shavings)