Do you use shavings in your trailer?

[BCGirl]

I know this topic has been discussed on other boards, but I was curious what most people on here do.

I have seen trailers both with and without shavings with my hunt. In the past I haven’t used them and have never had an issue. But today I got home, mucked the manure before unloading and horsie still managed to slip on the urine spot and nearly went over (backwards too)…it was pretty frightening. He is fine but it did give me pause. That being said, this is the only time I have ever had an issue, but…I would rather be safe than sorry.

So far I have figured out that those who do use them use the large flake and wet them down a little if they are dusty.

Also, if you do use them, do you remove them with each use?

Thanks in advance!!! Looking forward to hearing what others do!

[Hunterkid]

I always use them! Especially having a mare that likes to pee in the trailer. I don’t remove all the shavings every time, just the dirty ones. I also like to sweep them forward and leave the doors open so any pee will dry. I think it keeps the trailer a lot nicer to have shavings to soak up the pee and keep the poop off the floor.

[Hunterkid]

Also, I tend to use small flake or sawdust type shavings and always have the ponies wear fly masks.

[AKB]

I always use top quality, large flake, low mold and dust shavings in the trailer. I put most of them towards the middle and back of the trailer.

[cayuse]

Lots and lots of shavings. I have a pony with four high socks and it helps to keep them clean.

[Equibrit]

No - my guys travel with windows and back doors wide open. Flying flakes are not good.

Non slip floor ?? http://polylastsurfaces.com/

[Winding_Down]

I typically do use shavings and prefer the bigger flakes for the trailer. However, one of mine is a habitual trailer-pee-er, and I am thinking about going sans shavings as a way to deter his love of defiling the trailer. He is not big on peeing in the stall so I am not quite sure why he sees a trailer and drops it down on sight.

[Hunter_s_Rest]

I use sand under a little shavings. Shavings are just as slippery, I’ve found, as plain mats. (And yes both are crazy slick when wet/poop-y). But I find if I get a tractor bucket full of river sand and spread it on the floor first, then just a little shavings on top, to soak up whatever – it works nicely.

[Foxglove]

Yep, shavings for almost all trailer trips, removing what’s been soiled after each trip. BUT I only put the shavings along the “booty half”. My horse’s front legs are not on shavings, his back legs are. That way I (kind of) hope that the window in front of his face doesn’t stir up too much dust (I use large pine shavings) and I can easily put the hay on the floor back in his manger. Occasionally if I’m just hauling a short distance, I don’t use shavings. My decision is based on what I see “other” haulers doing at big shows in commercial rigs, and my own feeling that I wouldn’t want to stand in my own soggy poop. The only time I had a horse go down in the trailer was when I was (young and dumb) and hauled on wood floor with no mats and thought my horse was “happier” untied in the back of a stock trailer.

Foxglove

[Chouteau]

I use paper shavings in the trailer - even less dust, but he always travels with a fly mask. It helps absorb and keep the floor cleaner & I do think less slick, I only remove the dirty shavings after trips.

[kcmel]

No, but my guys don’t usually pee on the trailer, and my trips are short.

[BCGirl]

Thanks for all of the responses! I should have mentioned that I do have mats and they are pretty grippy in the trailer itself. The ramp actually gets more slippery than the trailer.

Equibrit- do you have any experience with the polylast? I looked it up and it looks like really cool stuff! I wonder if that would be better than mats, especially on the ramp.

[x]

I don’t use shavings at all, but I also haul in a stock trailer (with mats) I’ve never had a horse slip. My current trailer has a different sort of mat in it that has a tough fiber almost like conveyor belt coating on the top, and gives superb traction.

[high_hat]

I only use shavings on long hauls. Like for days not hours. When I use them I remove them when we return home and go back to a naked trailer.

I find on the long hauls, they pee and poop a great deal more and it helps to keep them cleaner and I think more comfortable.

[visorvet]

I have a Hawk trailer with rumber flooring. At first I always used it without bedding to keep the dust levels down, but after having a few horses slip and go down I went back to shavings and haven’t had any falls since. There are loads of people with that flooring who say their horses never slip, but I got a bit paranoid about it.

[SidesaddleRider]

In both our 2+1 and stock trailers, we always use large flake shavings, and have not had any issues. They wear fly masks in the stock trailers for non-local hauls, and nothing in the 2+1. For whatever reason, most of our horses immediately pee or poop when they get in the trailer, so it keeps everything cleaner and slip free.

Also, we lay down a cocoa mat on the ramp, to prevent them from slipping when loading or unloading.

[SonnysMom]

I use shavings all the time. I just pick out the pee/poop each time and sweep it away from the back ramp for storage. I only put shavings in the back 2/3rds of the trailer when hauling. One of my friends that I haul a lot uses a fly mask in the trailer. I do not. I mostly use the large flake or the bulk shavings. The bulk shavings are more chips than curls or flakes.
I trailer with the windows open and the back top doors open. I have never felt like it got dusty in there.

[BCGirl]

I really appreciate all of the responses! I think I am going to try a shavings experiment and see how it goes…it seems like everyone poops as soon as they get on the trailer and may pee after a little bit- so I love the idea of things being cleaner! Splatter is pretty gross.

Sidesaddlerider- where did you get the cocoa mat? I have seen them used before but had forgotten about them as an idea, it seems really smart though!

Thanks again everyone!

[Foxtrot_s]

I don’t use them for daily short trips, but after a hunt when we all troop off to breakfast and the horses are in the trailers, they must be busting after a hunt, so shavings show consideration to them. I used to put them in, but not nowdays for casual trips.

[pluvinel]

I use shavings (not sawdust) because one of my horses urinates in the trailer…copious amounts of urine. Shavings absorb and contain the urine.

Before I hauled the horse with shavings, I rode in the trailer (Featherlike) to see if the shavings flew around. There is good ventilation at head height, but no shavings flying around at ground level.