Favorite bedding for run-in sheds

[Kirikou]

I need some wisdom COTHers:

I have 2 run-in sheds (a 40x12 one with 3 horses and a 12x28 one with 4 medium ponies). I am located in the Upper Midwest and after 2 winters on the farm, I still have to find the “best option” when it comes to bedding the sheds. I muck them out every day - but my main problem in the winter is the wet spots freezing (being impossible to remove) and then thawing on the odd day in the low 30s. The large horses walk a fair bit around their shed and on those days, the whole shed becomes a churned out wet smelly mess in a couple of hours. I end up having to strip the sheds out every day at those temperatures - and it’s not the most time and money saving strategy. And either way, if the temps stay hovering around 30, it’s again a wet mess in under 4 hours.

So far I have tried:

1. shavings: it got messy pretty quickly and it isn’t cost effective in my area to bed run-ins (it works fine for stalls in the barn but not so much for the sheds - unless I win the lottery!)
2. sawdust: works ok in the Summer/Fall. I buy it by the dumptruck and it’s more cost-effective to bed deeply than shavings - and they don’t seem to churn it as much. But the wet spots freeze in large chunks in the winter and I end up having to remove the whole thing every second day.
3. straw: This is what I grew up with and I do so love a straw bed but it doesn’t seem to drain very well - and my OTTB gelding LOVES to snack on it (despite is 24/7 access to good quality hay) and I am worried about impaction colics.

I’m thinking I probably also need to review my technique. Would a deep litter system “help” with my frozen/thawing wet spot problem? (I have access to a bobcat to remove the bed in the Spring when the ground thaws).
And what would you deep litter with? Straw? Corn stalks (a neighbor does that down the road)? Sawdust?

Any recommendations appreciated! Thanks!

[dps]

I have rubber mats with no bedding makes it super easy to clean and they don’t pee in there

[Simkie]

No bedding, rubber mats with the base properly done so it’s even. Give it a grade toward the front of the run in so pee runs out.

[Sweetums_Mom]

Listen to Simkie and read this thread: https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/around-the-farm/10007185-surfacing-inside-run-in

I followed Simkie’s instructions and now I have two run in sheds that I LOVE and cleaning is so much easier and faster! I do not use any other bedding. Unfortunately, the horses do pee in it and it does get a bit slippery but overall, it’s been great.

[Kirikou]

That run-in shed in the photos is a wondrous thing Simkie!

Doesn’t the pee freeze on the mats? I’d be worried about the slipping factor you mention Sweetums Mom…

And do you find they lie down as much as with, say, straw?

[ASB_Stars]

I use pellets, and they work great for soaking up the pee, and yet they fall through the fork when I am getting the manure out of there. VERY little waste. I think that Simkie’s idea is great, but I just cannot leave anything a horse lives in without bedding.

[Simkie]

Thanks very much for linking that, @Sweetums Mom! I’m so glad it’s worked for you, yay!

If the grading is appropriate pee will run off the mats and not freeze. Very few horses will pee on bare mats, anyway–they dislike the splash. I DO have one who pees on the mats :rolleyes: and wish I’d built in an extra inch of slope back to front. Hell, maybe two.

My horses come into the barn overnight, into stalls that are traditionally bedded (with pellets) and STILL rarely sleep inside on the bedding. In either place, they’d probably be happier with a big sand pile in a sunny spot. I keep toying with the idea of getting a load for the paddock, but haven’t gotten there yet…maybe this summer.

But there’s just no way, no how, I’d ever bed a run in. What a chore!! :eek:

[wildlifer]

I just use bare mats as well - I sure don’t miss cleaning stalls. I guess I am cruel & make my horses sleep on the ground… like animals. :lol: I do have one that pees on mats - a pox upon racehorse people who train horses to pee for food - but I never make any surface perfectly flat, so it has already run off into drainage areas before it cools.

In general, tho, they very rarely use the shed as a bathroom since I also feed them in there. They pretty quickly housetrain themselves when it’s kept clean, most folks don’t like to poop on the dinner table.

[Marla_100]

what Simkie said " In either place, they’d probably be happier with a big sand pile in a sunny spot. I keep toying with the idea of getting a load for the paddock, ".

Interesting that here in Florida with 24/7 turnout and a choice of stalls, paddock shelters, or totally outdoors, my horses
choose to dig large sleeping holes in the sand- probably 3-4 ft. deep and 10-12 Ft. wide and plunk down and sleep in them.
If the weather tuns cold (20’s-30’s) they just dig the holes a little deeper and fluff the sand.
Don’t know if this is what they’d do in wild horse bands but for them it works and is what they choose to do.

[Foxglove]

Um, nothing? My run-in sheds are designed to be moved. Start of every summer we hook the tractor to the tongue of the shed and slide it to a new location. True, there are times when it is wet/muddy inside —but nothing more than somewhat —my horses don’t sleep in their sheds, they just stand inside when the weather is poor --and for some reason they stand in there on the nicest days of the year --but that’s horses. My one shed is actually built on a trailer chassis and has a tongue as well as sockets for wheels —this is common in my area (mobile home capital of the world) --but we just slide it on the ground. The other, newer, is framed on skids just for the purpose of moving it. But having said all that, I also have a 5 stall barn that if necessary, I can put horses inside —generally do when it is beastly hot out --with fans —the rest of the time they are out 24/7 although my ancient guy does wear a blanket. FYI my friend who has an 80,000 acre ranch in Wyoming turns out her 180 horses in the winter --then only feeds hay during the winter Mid Oct to Mid May --the horses have no man-made shelter but seem to come through winter just fine. Three of my geldings are from far west of the Mississippi and were likely born/raised in a similar situation. Oh, my Wyo friend occasionally finds a wild horse in her herd in the spring --they come for the hay and stick around.

[3horses1]

My horses live in small paddocks that are open to a two acre field most of the time. That’s all they have is a run-in shed , 10" by 12" each. I staked a 6" x6"rail across the front, and then dumped sand in them. The rail keeps them from dragging so much out, but I do replenish them with sand every year or so. I rake them probably weekly to keep them somewhat even, but if I’m busy I don’t bother. . Works great, and they definitely enjoy the sand bed!
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[NancyM]

My run in sheds are not bedded. To bed them just encourages them to come in to pee, turning it all into a sewer. My pasture that the sheds open up onto are huge, and we get no mud here. There are lots of trees, and deep litter built up under trees, which is great for sleeping in. Shelter is for horses to get out of the rain, when it occasionally rains, and the shelters keep the salt blocks dry. No feed in there to fight over, and no bedding. Sleeping happens outdoors.

[NaturalSelection]

Same as everyone else (mats and no bedding) and I love it! I have seen two curl up together on the bare mats but most sleeping happens outdoors. I bought a truckload of sand last summer and the horses thought it was the best present ever!

[Libby2563]

I can’t imagine bedding/mucking a run-in. Half the point of the horses living outside is to make my life easier!

My shed has a stonedust floor, no mats or bedding. I planned to level and compact it, but the load of stonedust I got was “dustier” than usual and didn’t compact well at all. However, over 3+ years of horses walking on it’s gotten pretty firm. Someday I might add more stonedust and try to make it level but it works fine as is. They do pee in there occasionally but not often. It dries and airs out fine.

I quite like the bare stonedust. I would worry about mats becoming slippery.

I did put a sand pile in my dry lot and about half of my horses have loved napping in it, with the other half being indifferent. My current herd prefers to nap in the grass. The sand is no longer in a pile and has mixed into the stonedust footing, affecting drainage somewhat.

[tabula_rashah]

No way I’d bed my run-in. A) it’s huge B) putting bedding in turns it into a bathroom
The bottom of mine is dirt/stone dust and I very rarely have to muck it out

[Sweetums_Mom]

My experience is that the pee is not slippery and it rarely freezes but the stepped on poop can make it slippery. My horses have stalls to eat their breakfast/dinner but then they are out. They lay down outside and only occasionally have I seen someone lay down in the sheds. My sheds are not that big and the horses are basically just standing there so slippery is something I can live with.

[EquineJunky]

Just mats in my run-in (on top of stone dust/screenings) but I do have one horse that still insists on peeing in there. They both poop in there too. I have sliding doors on the left and right 1/3 with the middle 1/3 being open. I have a gate inside the shed which blocks off the left 1/3 as my hay storage. When the weather is nice I pull the gate forward to close off the middle 1/3 so they can’t get in and I don’t have to clean it.

[carman_liz]

@EquineJunky

Just mats in my run-in (on top of stone dust/screenings) but I do have one horse that still insists on peeing in there. They both poop in there too. I have sliding doors on the left and right 1/3 with the middle 1/3 being open. I have a gate inside the shed which blocks off the left 1/3 as my hay storage. When the weather is nice I pull the gate forward to close off the middle 1/3 so they can’t get in and I don’t have to clean it.

Can you post pics? That kind of sounds how I want to fix my carport barn up with in the summer!

[carman_liz]

@EquineJunky

Here are a few and an obligatory pic of the tenants that promptly moved in.

That looks great! Mine is a 3 bay though, trying to figure out how to have dutch doors on each side and still be able to open a split sliding door in the middle lol. And your tenants are adorable!!!

[Kyrabee]

At my boarding barn, for my horse’s run-in, the shed is matted with no bedding. However, the shed is downhill and if I don’t do something, water can run in if we get a lot of rain or have a rapid snow melt (neither is very common in the high desert). I put pellets in front of the mats. I do not water them, letting Mother Nature do that job. As they fluff up, they form a good dam to mitigate any run-off. She will lay down in the pellets in front of the shed in the morning sun and the mats stay nice and clean and dry.

Of course, that is one single 12 x 12 shed. It would take a lot of pellets for your sized sheds.