Save Money and Ease Your Workload

Reducing bedding, part 2

by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Using less bedding saves you time and money in three ways:

1) in ease of stall cleaning

2) in having less stall waste to deal with

3) in helping you end up with a nicer compost product with less carbon (from the bedding) in the compost.

This month we wind up the series on bedding reduction by discussing alternative beddings.

Alternative Options

Research shows that alternative beddings such as wood pellets, peat moss or shredded newspaper are more absorbent and contain less dust, mold and foreign objects than traditional shavings, which may be a concern if either you or your horse have respiratory issues. These beddings also compost faster and more completely, so if you plan to compost you’ll wind up with a nicer finished product. Reducing bedding use also lessens your impact on the environment by cutting down on the amount of wood (or other) products consumed.

Be very careful to choose a product that is healthy for your horses – you may need to consult your veterinarian if it is a non-traditional product. There are many interesting non-traditional products on the market including shredded newspaper (which has proven to be an excellent bedding), shredded cardboard, shredded phone books, rice hulls and wheat byproducts. Woodstove pellets can work in place of horse bedding pellets and are essentially the same product, just be sure to use pellets that contain only 100% wood products with no chemicals, glue or additives. Look for readily available sources of bedding that are cost-effective, absorbent and compost well.

Space Savings

An additional benefit to some bagged beddings may be in space savings. Pelleted beddings come bagged, and with the addition of a waterproof tarp or cover you may be able to store them outside in a very small area. If you only need a few bags, such as for a single horse, they might even be stored in an aisleway or under the hayloft steps.

The advantage to you as a horse owner is huge; reducing bedding means less stall waste by volume, less hassle for dealing with the stall waste, less cost for you on bedding, less storage area needed, improved horse health and less time spent on stall cleaning chores. That means more time to spend enjoying your horses.

Good horsekeeping to you!.

~Alayne