How often should a stall with mats be completely stripped? Do they even need to be fully stripped if I’m already doing almost a daily partial strip? I use fine flake shavings. I try to be really thorough about taking out all the pee spots I can down to the mats every day. I know some people who do weekly stall strips and some who do monthly and others who do yearly, and then some who really don’t. Is it really necessary to every so often completely take out all the shavings, both soiled and clean? Also, does using a stall refresher like sweet PDZ really extend the life of your shavings? I feel like they kind of make my stalls a little dusty, not sure if that’s bad for horses to be breathing in unless you’re stripping stalls more frequently or if it’s completely fine and safe?
If it’s picked well, frequently, never.
Agree. If you’re cleaning thoroughly you’re sort of naturally stripping and can just add back shavings as needed
Agree with others, if you clean often enough it’s unnecessary and frankly a huge waste and disservice throwing it out. It cost money, time, labor, fuel, and a (once living) tree to produce those shavings. Use them until they’re gone.
If you haven’t already, a good trick to extend the life of your shavings is to load the old/“dirtier” shavings where you know the horse will go. The more civilized/polite horses have a designated spot to pee/poop. Put your older shavings up there, and spread new shavings in the back where they don’t often go.
If you have a stall-churner, may want to consider keeping them out as long as possible.
I use strawboss chopped straw in my stalls. My horses are out 24/7 in spring, fall and winter unless bad weather. But in the summer they are in every afternoon for 5-8 hours.
I find my strawboss will tend to break down becuase it’s not refreshed super often and will start to get dusty. So I strip my stalls every fall, and use that time to clean under mats if needed. I like to limit any dust I can before winter hits and everything is a bit more closed up.
The stuff I’ve taken out is then repurposed into the shelter for bedding there. So nothing goes to waste.
If picked frequently, maybe once per year.
Really I only strip if mats gets moved for whatever reason or I’m power washing the barn.
I don’t think I’ve ever stripped any of my stalls at home and I’ve been at my farm for 14 years now. My guys are in for about 8hr in the summer and 10hr in the winter and I muck them every day but I’m fairly generous with removing soiled bedding. I probably take a bit more than the norm, but my barn never smells and my stalls are clean (even with my pig pen boys). I tend to bed fairly deeply as well as I find they stay cleaner with more bedding. I prefer smaller flaked shavings as well. They absorb better than the bigger flakes and stay put. The larger flakes I find tend to move around and get pushed to the sides and then the middle of the stalls are bare and dirty. We buy in bulk and purchase their “sawdust” though its not dusty. Just very, very fine flaked. Easier to pick as well. I even bag it in garbage bags to take to shows as I prefer it over bagged flaked shavings. People think I’m being cheap this way, but I love to muck and clean stalls with my “dense” sawdust.
I was just at a back to back horse show and I did strip my stall right out after the first week (I was able to bring my guy home for a few days in between). The stall was clean but smelled “uriney” so I decided to totally strip it and start fresh for the following week. He of course is a pig and is pretty much stalled 24hr and I mucked his stall about 3-4 times with many pickings in between. Still needed to be stripped.
I love my corn cob bedding on stall mats. So easy to clean, composts faster than wood chips (IME, YMMV) and I like the scent of corn cob breaking down too. I get it from TSC.
I have used them for the wet spot in a stall and liked them. But then they got so expensive, and I can buy two 10 cubic feet “broken bag” bales of shavings for what one corn cob bag cost. At that price point they did not make sense. I have a good deal here where the mill (bagging shavings sold all over the place) is located close to me and I can buy discounted bales that are ripped, under or overfilled that they cannot sell retail. So I carefully compare prices on shavings since I don’t like to skimp. But aside from that the corn cob pellets are great for wet spots.
@MorganSercu, do you find the cob bedding is more absorbent than say the pine pellets?
At my local Tractor Supply the 40lb corn cob bedding is $11.99 (tractor supply pine pellet bedding is $6.29), so the price difference would add up quickly, that is why I ask.
I found them to work quite well and as my horses are out a LOT more than inside, it works for me economically. Yes, they do seem to be more absorbent but i haven’t actually weighed out samples of each and tested with equal volumes of water, so it may be wishful thinking.
I do stand by how beautifully they compost and how quickly!
