Do you have horses? Whether they are race horses, draft horses or horses for whatever purpose, horse bedding is one of the most vital ingredients in the upkeep of your animals. In this article, we will look at the options for horse bedding and why horse bedding is such an important part of the upkeep of your animals.
One of the largest part of your horses lives is being in the stables. Sleeping and resting in the stables takes up a lot of your horses time and good rest like for humans is essential for good health.
Rest is not the only aspect and when we look deeper into the stable, bedding for your horses becomes a very important part of the comfort your animals enjoy. With good bedding, your animals have better health and overall perform better. The result is cheaper vet bills, and cheaper vet bills makes everyone happy!
Finding the right bedding material for horses is the most important aspect of this. You need to have the right material in the first place.
What are your options?
Common horse bedding materials include:
- Shredded paper
- Wood shavings
- Wood pellets
- Wood fibre pellets
- Oat or wheat straw
- Wheat straw pellets
With so many different options, you may wonder which is the best horse bedding for your horses. The different horse bedding have different advantages and disadvantages.
For example, some bedding can be more expensive than others or require further considerations. Wheat straw for example can become moldy when wet and this could result in having to throw away wheat straw that has become moldy. Rubber matting can be more expensive, but not need ongoing replenishment. Wheat straw pellets may need purchasing instead of using straw from a harvest, but also offer advantages.
All these aspects need to be considered when selecting horse bedding.
Farmers might perceive a cost saving by using farmed crops leftovers as a bedding material, but this can also result in a waste, especially considering the many benefits with the pellet forms of bedding, such as wheat straw pellets.
With so many different horse bedding options, which do you choose?
One option is to look at the overall cost differences. Another is to look at the benefits to your horses health. Wheat straw in itself can cause respiratory problems for horses, so that though it could have a cost advantage, the problems of higher vet bills could be more problem than being a solution.
When you consider cost differences, being sure to look at both initial cost and the long term costs are essential considerations to make. When you factor in the benefits to your horse health, then selecting the best horse bedding options become easier and results in the best experience financially and to your horses health.
