How deep do you bed stalls?

[trubandloki]

Your update does make it sound like someone else did the age old - If Luvmyhackney can have all that extra bedding then why can’t I do that too?’ And their horse is probably not as neat as your horse, plus that is more storage area for them to store their shavings, etc.

One of the problems in boarding barns, if one has it, they all want it.

It probably would not hurt to have a conversation with them about how your horse’s blankets are getting gross and is there any compromise that you can come to that will make you both happy.

To answer the question you asked, all three of my horses are bedded differently.
The really piggy mare has almost no bedding. Her stall gets stripped every day because I am sure her goal is to make her stall as messy as possible. (And yes, I tried deep bedding because so many threads here say it is better with a messy one, not with her.) The riding horse manures and pees in one spot in a neat pile so I had a problem with her stall getting dusty so I switched her to straw with pellets underneath in the area where she pees. The older horse has deep sawdust with extra pellets in his pee spot.

[Jersey_Fresh]

I bed lightly because my horses are on mats and they are pigs. I may add 3 bags to a stripped stall (12x12) and maybe add a bag a week? I find that my younger gelding makes a bigger mess when there is more bedding. My older one I will add some as needed, and since he is a bit neater I tend to bed him a bit heavier.

[Arelle]

It’s a fine line. I like deep bedding at shows, or on concrete with no mats. But at home my horse is a pig an can be bedded lightly.

However, I threw a fit this weekend at a horse show when my horse had rubs on every. single. fetlock. from not having enough bedding. With white legs, the raw spots look awful - and why did no one notice this before?! More bedding please.

[furlong47]

Have you tried asking if you can have the full 8 bags used in your stall per month as allotted by the contract, in exchange for no longer bringing/storing/adding your own? As it is, sounds like each stall is only getting about 3 bags per month if it’s 1/10 bag per stall per day.

If they aren’t willing to do that - listed in their own contract - and bedding is already a dealbreaker for you, probably time to move.

[TequilaMockingbird]

I think it really depends on the situation. How much bedding are we talking about, what are the horse’s habits, how often or how long is the horse in the stall etc.

I added a couple bags of shavings to my horse’s stall when she was on stall rest and topped it off as needed. The barn workers were not putting enough in to account for the fact that a lot more was being removed since she was pooping and peeing 24/7 in there.

When I started noticing sores on her hocks from laying down, I added more shavings. If the BM had been mad about it, I would have told her to either put more shavings in herself or I would be doing it. I didn’t bed the stall super deep but enough that my horse would be comfortable. But I also cleaned the stall myself in the evenings so the barn workers were getting some help on that front (and taking out the least amount of shavings possible while doing it).

[Gainer]

I keep my old horses at home now, but I went through issues with boarding barns lightly bedding stalls. I was always very upfront with barns about my older horse and her “special needs”.

I had a very sweet old mare who really liked to nap in her stall. At one barn, she had sores on her fetlocks and hip bones constantly from the stalls not having enough shavings. I offered to pay for more, bring my own shavings and muck myself, etc. I was told no, so I moved.

Warned the next barn about the issue before I moved and they had no problem with it. They gave her more bedding and at one point, even allowed her to be bedded on straw for awhile. I was happy to pay for the extra work/expense she caused. She never had another problem with sores.

I bed much heavier at home than most barns do. All of my old arthritic guys like to sleep in their stalls and I don’t want them developing sores. It’s more work and expenses, yes, but their comfort is the most important thing.

[Partly_cloudy]

The place ive been working at doesn’t bed deeply, the stalls are basically a strip out everyday. Their blankets are gross. Of course thee are mats with no where for the pee to go.

At home, my mare is bedded deeply, the stall floor is crushed rock with good drainage. Like to know she has a soft bed to lie on, not in her own urine.

A lot of times boarding barns have kids who don’t know how to properly muck a stall, so just scraping the whole thing out daily becomes the norm.

I would think her supplying her own bedding should equal out the cost of a couple more minutes to muck, especially since her horse sounds neat.

[red_mares]

@SWatson

In all the years I either worked off board cleaning stalls, done self-care, or worked as an assistant manager at a barn, NEVER has it been policy or ok to have less than 6 inches of bedding in the middle. When did it become normalized to just “sprinkle” some bedding in the middle? Do the horses in these particular barns never pee?

I’ve been without a horse for a while, and I realize things may have changed a bit, but have they really changed THAT much?!

They have, at least in NoVA barns with stall mats that I’ve seen. For some reason, many seem to think stall mats = no bedding needed. The barns w/o mats weren’t extravagant, but at least there was solid bedding across the entire stall.

In the training barns I’ve been at, there is never a shortage of bedding. Those were all SS barns, maybe sport horses don’t need bedding?

[Simkie]

@trubandloki

Your update does make it sound like someone else did the age old - If Luvmyhackney can have all that extra bedding then why can’t I do that too?’ And their horse is probably not as neat as your horse, plus that is more storage area for them to store their shavings, etc.

One of the problems in boarding barns, if one has it, they all want it.

I think this is why offering some $$ for the inconvenience might work? Barn owner can respond that Luv PAYS for that privilege, and hey…if you wanna pony up the cash for the (AND also supply the shavings) we’ll let you do that, too. Should shut down most, and at least the BO would be getting compensated for the others.

Moolah talks! :yes:

[ASB_Stars]

First off- I like my stalls nice comfy- I do NOT want to feel floor when I walk into one. I have rubber mats, and shavings, with pellets under the really wet spots.

I have one older horse, who I have had since he was 3. He’ll be 21 this month. He LOVES to come in and nap- and he always has. He is out about 20 hours a day, but he comes in, has his nap, and then gets turned back out. I can’t imagine having some skimpy amount of bedding in there for him.

Barns that bed a s little as the OP states generally also smell. I hate that. The horses aren’t comfortable laying down, and it is just nasty.

It would be a deal breaker for me, too, OP.

[trubandloki]

@ASB Stars

The horses aren’t comfortable laying down, and it is just nasty.

Tell my horses who seem to like to nap on the hard ground outside that it is not comfy laying down unless it is extra soft bedding. :lol:

[horsenut_8700]

We bed with sawdust and occasionally supplement with pellets bedding if necessary. It’s written right into my contract that there will be additional fee if the owner feels the need to add shavings- it takes significantly longer to clean stalls bedded that way.

[Scribbler]

I have a stall with a runout and maresy poops and pees outside unless it is a downpour. I have those extra soft green mats in the stall and she gets one half of the stall made up into a very deep bed with 3 bags of shavings. These last forever because they stay clean. She loves napping there.

That said she is away at full board this month with thinner bedding and a closed stall/ paddock turnout routine and she seems to be sleeping fine.

[ASB_Stars]

@trubandloki

Tell my horses who seem to like to nap on the hard ground outside that it is not comfy laying down unless it is extra soft bedding. :lol:

I have a couple that do that, too! :lol: However, I am just anthropomorphic enough to want those soft beds for them. :yes:

[TMares]

Neat horse that pees in the middle, poops in the back: Get a pretty decent amount of shavings but not crazy, and ample for the pee spot.

Neat horse that pees in the back AND poops in the back ( I love that horse): Gets a little more than the one above overall, and just enough across the back as he’s super tidy so I waste very little.

The complete pig of a much smaller horse who turns all pee and poop into a chopped salad? Not much at all. He’s a pig.

I do provide them all with a shared sand pile in their pasture, that’s their nap spot. My horses don’t stay up overnight very often.

[Ladylexie]

The barn I’m at now beds deeply. They aren’t banked but the stalls look great. I don’t know if it is different at this barn all horses are in full show training. I did keep my horse at a boarding barn once and they barely bedded and so charged me an extra $200 a month for bedding.

[ASB_Stars]

@Ladylexie

The barn I’m at now beds deeply. They aren’t banked but the stalls look great. I don’t know if it is different at this barn all horses are in full show training. I did keep my horse at a boarding barn once and they barely bedded and so charged me an extra $200 a month for bedding.

If you are at an ASB show barn, it is just de rigeur to bed deeply, and to bank the stalls. They bed once a week, usually, and bank them so that they can pull bedding down into the middle the rest of the week. This is the way I was taught, and brought along in the horse world.

Now, probably due to costs of labor and materials, most barns just don’t do this. I hate it, but it is where things are. Now, my guys live out, for the most part. However, the horse I mentioned earlier, who happens to be a spoiled stallion, is up when the weather is yucky, and in at least long enough for his nap, daily.

I wish that boarders would understand what it REALLY costs to do things right, and that owners of boarding barns could make all of this work.

[Ladylexie]

@ASB Stars

If you are at an ASB show barn, it is just de rigeur to bed deeply, and to bank the stalls. They bed once a week, usually, and bank them so that they can pull bedding down into the middle the rest of the week. This is the way I was taught, and brought along in the horse world.

Now, probably due to costs of labor and materials, most barns just don’t do this. I hate it, but it is where things are. Now, my guys live out, for the most part. However, the horse I mentioned earlier, who happens to be a spoiled stallion, is up when the weather is yucky, and in at least long enough for his nap, daily.

I wish that boarders would understand what it REALLY costs to do things right, and that owners of boarding barns could make all of this work.

email

Saddlebred bath in New Hampshire but I think they add bedding daily.

[Scribbler]

First time around as a teen we ordered sawdust by the ton from a sawmill and it was very cheap. Riding now with bagged bedding is insanely expensive. If I had a messy horse I’d be spending more on bedding than feed. That is just all wrong IMHO.

[Magicboy]

If it’s a deal breaker for you, it’s probably time to move. I bed lightly at home and really deep at shows