Del Camino Equestrian Enterprises, Inc.
Mailing Address:
3822 E. Sahuaro Drive,
Phoenix,
Arizona,
85028-3442
United States of America
Tel: 480-242-9490
Fax: 602-953-9347

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Bedding for Seniors is Important

Seniors and horses recovering from illness or injury need appropriate bedding in their stalls, pens, or paddocks.  Horses with COPD (stable cough), other respiratory conditions, such as sinusitis, a depressed immune system, or prone to eye infections really need to be kept out of dusty or ammonia-laden conditions.  Horses with crumbly, weak, cracked, dry, or thrush-prone hooves need to stay out of ammonia (from urea) and mud.  Horses with arthritis need to avoid slippery muddy conditions, not just because they can fall, but because they are far less likely to lie down when they need to, since it will be more difficult to get good footing to rise.  Though horses sleep lightly standing up, to get deep sleep they need to lie down.  They will rest on their sternum, with legs tucked, or stretched out.  The deepest sleep occurs stretched out on their sides.  Lying down in cold mud in cool weather, or on sun-baked desert sand in warm weather is not likely to produce a fully stretched out horse for long.

Some natural horsemanship advocates believe bedding is the culprit in many hoof problems, and point to desert dwelling horses standing in dirt paddocks with a nice mud puddle around their waterer as living in "ideal" conditions.  As a desert dweller who has worked with the hooves of horses living both in bedded show barn stalls and dirt paddocks, I have to humbly disagree with them, when it comes to arthritic seniors who have a more difficult time regulating their body temperatures, and whose hooves grow a little slower.  The primary reason bedded stalls or wet paddocks wreck hooves is lack of maintenance, inadequate amounts of bedding, lack of ventilation, the wrong bedding, or other poor horsekeeping factors, such as poor sanitation, not the bedding itself.

NOTE:  One horse generates, on average, over 5 cubic feet (about 350 pounds) of manure per week. Add to that 3 to 6 cubic feet of bedding per week from stalled horses and suddenly the volume and weight of this material becomes too much to move by hand.  Over a year that totals 9 tons of manure, not including any bedding soaked with urine.  Invest in the right type of high quality tools to maintain your horse's living conditions and manage waste responsibly.

Bedding Quantities Per Stall                          (Top of Page)

Adjust these amounts, recommended by veterinarian Michael Lowder, DVM, MS for the size of your horse's stall, the size of your horse, and the amount of time he spends in his stall.  For a 12' x 12' stall (the smallest recommended size for adult horses 14.2 hands up to 16 hands so that they can lie down fully stretched out on their sides for deep sleep.) Initial bedding depends on the material and whether or not you have mats:

• three to four bales of straw - replace at least one bale every 3 days

• four to seven bags of shavings - replace at least one bag every 3 days

• four to five bags of peat moss - replace at least one bag every 5 days

• four to five bags of hemp - replace at least one bag every 5 days

• three to four bags of chopped newspaper - replace one bag every 7 days

• six to seven bags of pine pellets - replace at least one bag every 5 to 7 days

Even run-in sheds should have safe, clean footing that is dry and cleanable for horses of all ages.  Bedding is required for seniors, broodmares, foals and lay-ups.  Hard clay soil free of stones is adequate when a shed houses only a couple of adult healthy horses if they can usually stretch out on grass pasture.  If they only have a dirt paddock, the only comfortable place to lie down for deep sleep may be in the run-in shed.   Make sure the floor slopes away and to the back of the shed, for drainage during very wet weather.  Apply a 6- to 8-inch base of gravel and then add dirt and bedding – wood shavings, straw, or the rubber particles used in arenas. Keep the shed mucked out. How often depends on use, but manure and soiled materials should be picked out at least twice a week

Bedding versus No-Bedding Advantages                         (Top of Page)

Some of the advantages of bedding, compared to hard ground or mud, are:

• Reduces or eliminates hock sores, and hip sores on horses that lie down more due to leg or hoof pain.

• Encourages creating a specific toilet area so that mucking out is easier and faster.

• Keeps dust down, improving respiration.

• Absorbs urea which is extremely damaging to hooves, forms ammonia which is damaging to airways, and attracts flies.

• Reduces erosion so that hollows that require leveling need maintenance less often.

• Like a roof and a windbreak, bedding helps a horse keep warm in severe weather, providing an insulating layer between the horse and frozen ground, snow, or wet mud.  By insulating the body better, the horse conserves calories otherwise burned to maintain body temperature.  While it is difficult to measure precisely, bedding helps reduce the amount of feed a horse needs to maintain weight and energy during cold weather.

• Encourages lying down stretched out for deep, restful sleep.  A study by Katharine Houpt, DVM at Cornell University with Dr. Hunter in 1989 confirmed that horses prefer bedding to a bare surface. When lying down, both joints and soft tissues are in contact with the substrate.

"What you don't spend on bedding, you are probably spending on feed, stable maintenance labor and supplies, thrush treatments, wound ointments, and veterinary bills."

Bedding Types Usable for Horse Stalls   (Top of Page)

The types of bedding offered here, with ideas for sources, use, and cost, are those available in the United States of America..   Due to the increased cost of shipping and delivery fuel prices, the cost of virtually all bedding has increased significantly since 2005.  Many smart horse owners and stable managers are taking a fresh look at their bedding systems.  Is it time for you to make a change?

Types of bedding suitable for senior horses, and those in rehabilitation include:

Straw                                                                                (Top of Page)

While straw is inexpensive and readily available from hay suppliers and feed stores in bales, it is best used in foaling stalls with broodmares during foaling and for the first days or weeks that a foal will spend many hours of its day sleeping.  Long straw is not as dusty as shavings, but it does contain some dust.  Still, it is less likely that a foal will inhale small particles or get irritated eyes with long straw than with shavings.  In America usually wheat or oat straw is available.

• Straw is the least absorbent of the bedding materials. With 10 grams of straw, you can absorb 25 milliliters of water. Fully wet straw will weigh 225% more than dry straw.

• Chopped straw is considerably more absorbent than long straw.

• Chopped straw mixed with peat moss (see Peat below) can reduce the ammonia emission by 57% compared with long straw. [Source:  "Volatilization of ammonia in deep-litter systems with different bedding materials for young cattle" Jeppsson, K.-H., Department of Agricultural Biosystems and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research ISSN 0021-8634 CODEN JAERA2, Academic Press, London, 1999, vol 73, pp. 49-57]

• Dried weeds and debris can be baled with the straw.  Watch for toxic weeds, broken glass, crushed soda cans, and dead bugs, toads, and rodents.

• Straw can contain straw mites.

• Probably the biggest health drawback to both the horses and the humans who clean and bed their stalls with straw is mold.  Check for a musty smell, but even straw that looks bright and clean can be full of mold spores.  Studies by Equine Research Centre in Guelph, Ontario, Canada's respiratory health research team show that when it comes to mold, straw comes out the loser, harboring hundreds of times more mold spores than other beddings even when it appears clean and bright.
  
  Mold is incorporated into straw at baling time, originating from the natural environment and the grass itself. Moisture present at baling time increases mold growth. Straw baled very dry will harbor much less mold than straw that was baled damp. You can't smell or even see the microscopic spores (dormant stage of the mold). The significance of mold of course is that it can be breathed in, causing inflammation in the airways, leading to cough, exercise intolerance, and worse, heaves.
   

• Straw is a severe fire hazard.  Store straw where it is protected from weather, unlikely to become a nesting place for pests, and well away from structures that can burn, such as the barn that houses your horses.

• Some horses eat the straw, another reason to check it carefully for mold.

• Some people believe more air is trapped in straw than shavings, so it has a better insulating and cushioning effect, but scientific studies confirm the opposite.

• Some people believe horses lie stretched out on their sides as much as three times longer in straw than in shavings.  If they do, that is good for getting plenty of deep sleep.  The scientific studies don't agree.  Horses prefer straw to wood shavings in some studies (Mills, et al., 2000), but not others (Hunter and Houpt, 1989.)  .So you may have to rely on your own personal observations of your own horses.  Get up early if you want to watch, most horses do the majority of their "stretched out" sleep in the early morning hours when it is still dark.

Shavings                                           (Top of Page)

Shavings are the most popular material for horse bedding in the U.S.A.  They can be delivered in bulk by the semi-trailer load, or bagged on pallets.  You can purchase individual bags from feed stores.  Shavings are larger than grindings, which are larger particles than sawdust.  Do not accept grindings as shavings.

• Shavings are the next least absorbent bedding material.  You will absorb about 30 milliliters of water with 10 grams of shavings.

• Shavings are a fire hazard.

• Shavings contain almost as much fine dust as sawdust, which is damaging to the horse's respiratory system. Wood dust also frequently causes eye irritation resulting in rubbing and tearing, and small particles can get stuck in the eye, causing infection.  Constant rubbing can result in a scratch on or near the eye.  Avoid bedding stalls when horses are in their stalls or the stable.  Ensure stable workers wear protective face masks for both breathing and eye protection when bedding or mucking stalls containing shavings.

• Not all wood shavings are safe for horses.  For example, black walnut (Juglans nigra) is noxious to horses and has been blamed for causing laminitis.  Shavings from a lumber yard that trims a variety of hard woods is risky, because black walnut could be included.  The preferred lumber is pine or cedar. Some horses do react to even these softwood shavings, with hives and coughing.   Shavings from a lumber mill that processes many different products can contain blocks of wood, nails, big slivers, and toxic species.  Be very careful when purchasing cheap shavings from an unknown source.

Sometimes it helps to see what Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)  says about a substance for people to work with or be around.  It may or may not apply to horses.   Here's what OSHA says about shavings (which, remember, are much bigger than grindings which are much bigger than sawdust.):

Peat Moss                                                              (Top of Page)

Where peat is plentiful, most horse people like using it for bedding.  It is slightly more absorbent than shavings, with about a 300% weight gain when fully loaded, absorbing about 30 mililiters of water in 10 grams of peat.  With less dust than either straw or shavings, no nails, and a natural look and feel, peat has good insulating qualities.  It is hygienic, with a very low pH value which deters flies and other insects.  Its most positive feature is that it binds ammonia better than other traditional types of bedding.

The trick in the U.S.A. is buying it in large quantities.  Who wants to go to Home Depot, Lowe's or the nursery to buy a pallet of bags of peat moss at retail prices?  A single horse owner might do so, but for a stable manager it isn't too practical, any more than buying hay by the bale.  You might have to locate the distributor who supplies the nursery, to get delivery at a good price.

Peat moss is comfortable, absorbent, and the horses don't generally try to eat it.  It is free of debris and weeds.

One disadvantage of the dark color, especially when first training stable hands to muck, is that wet spots are easily missed, especially in poor lighting conditions.

Our Own Experience with Peat Moss                                    (Top of Page)

In the desert regions of Arizona most nurseries do not carry peat moss, and many Home Depot and Lowe's stores do not carry it either.  However, almost any store will order it for you.  Needless to say, no feed stores that carry hay and shavings carry it.

Retailers commonly carry peat moss in 2.2 cubic foot bales, but 3.8 cubic foot bales are available from some suppliers.  Larger bales are awkward to work with, because the bales are square, and very heavy.

Peat moss bales will fall into clumps when the bale is opened.  You must break the clumps up with a strong rake or by stomping them with your feet to spread it in the stall.

Your horse will smell it and snuffle in it, but will not try to eat it.

Your grey or palomino horse will stay much cleaner - no more pee or manure stains on his/her coat!

Your horse's stall smells better immediately, and permanently.  Peat really does neutralize the odor of urine and manure, as well as the harsh fumes that harm airways.  You will enjoy being in your horse's stall as much as he/she does.  You can stop adding Sweet PDZ or other stall "fresheners" and ammonia neutralizers/absorbers.

Your horse's stall will have fewer flies, if any, no matter how many his/her neighbors may have in theirs. 

You and your horse will immediately notice the cushioning effect of a layer half as thick as the nice curly pine or cedar shavings you formerly used.  It is more comfortable for my recuperating horse to stand on most of his day and to lie down on.

You will have a smaller manure pile, because it is not as bulky as shavings or straw and breaks down quickly.

Your horse's hooves will be thrush free, unless he spends considerable time standing someplace other than the nice peat bedding.

Your barn manager or stable hands will not mind mucking your horse's stall, because they don't breathe ammonia, shavings dust, etc. or get pestered by flies, and the job is quick to pick up manure and a clump of peat that has been peed in.

Though purchasing peat moss myself and hauling it to our trainer's barn is not our ideal (we wish the trainer could provide it as an option) it is less expensive per month, than buying shavings in Arizona right now, even though the per bag price is higher by a few dollars than the price of shavings.  This is because we use fewer bags per stall per week.  There is no doubt peat provides a far superior bedding.  Due to the large fall off in construction, both shavings and grindings have skyrocketed in price, irrespective of the fuel cost to deliver them.  Peat moss is our solution to the situation, and we are extremely happy with it.

Hemp                                                                         (Top of Page)

This bedding material isn't as well known as straw or shavings in the U.S.A., partly because hemp cannot be grown here. But is worth a look if available to you from Canada, and you aren't convinced about modern chopped newspaper.  Hemp is twice as absorbent as straw or shavings, with about 45 milliliters of water to 10 grams of peat, and about a 400% increase in weight at maximum absorption.  It is clean, dust free, will compost, and provides cushioning and insulation.  The only North American manufacturer we know of is Hempline in Ontario, Canada. http://www.hempline.com

Paper                                                                          (Top of Page)

The most efficient bedding is chopped newspaper.  Notice this is not shredded paper, like you get from an office document shredder, but strips of newsprint about  6" x 6". 

Ohio State researchers say the preferred size for chopped paper is between 1" square and 3" x 5".  In practice, the 1" square newsprint or 2" or 3" square chopped paper works fine for dog kennels, or catteries, etc. but does not work for horses!  It blows all over the place, except when it has been peed on.  Then it forms a gooey ball that sticks to your horse (if he lays on it) like a wad of chewing gum. 

Shredded paper should be in strips either 6" x 6" or between 8"-10" x 1/4"-3/4". Finer particle sizes have been used for poultry, but fine particles are not appropriate for large animals.

Long strips of shredded paper pose a litter problem. They do not absorb the liquid waste as well as smaller sizes, so they are more easily windblown around the barn and after the manure is applied to the fields. Long strips also become entangled in livestock feet and are moved around or out of the bedding area.  So most folks who make their own bedding with a chipper or other farm equipment from baled paper use a 3" screen to make strips that are the recommended size.

Animal laboratories and domestic animal veterinary clinics have used paper since the 1960s.  Perhaps in sympathy with dairy and poultry farmers and other livestock ranchers, horsepeople have been slow to adopt this healthy, cost saving bedding.  Studies with livestock in the 1960's, and again in 1980 and 1992 when traditional bedding costs jumped, disproved most of the myths common among horsepeople about paper.  Since then, many dairy farmers, especially in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, have switched to chopped newspaper, even using chippers and other farm equipment to make their own from bundled papers.  Nevertheless, the best buy in bedding remains a mystery to most stables.  Let's debunk some myths, in case you would like to consider paper:

• The horses will get sick and dirty from eating and lying on newsprint, because of all the black ink.

  Today's newspaper is mostly made of recycled paper.  It is about as environmentally friendly as paper gets.  Today's newspaper inks are mostly soy based, which is a safe organic oil.  Most of the pigments for colors, including black, are organic.  These are the same pigments used in tattoos, lipstick, hair coloring and other cosmetics.  The University of Pennsylvania fed dairy cows a diet of up to 20% pelletized newspaper with no ill effects.  If your horse eats his morning paper instead of reading it, it is just extra fiber, something he needs anyway!

  Studies of cleanliness compared to sawdust (shavings or grindings) rated the animal with a score of 5 for very dirty and 1 for very clean.  Cows kept on sawdust for two months and scored daily averaged a 2.7, while cows kept on newspaper scored 3.1.  Your horse will stay almost as clean on newspaper, blanketed or not.  As for the blanket, newspaper inks, now they are mostly organic, and are water soluble and thus wash out simply by hosing.

• Newspaper is less absorbent than other beddings.

  Incorrect.  Newspaper is the MOST absorbent, two to three times more absorbent than all the other materials, at 100 milliliters of water per 10 grams of paper, and a weight gain of 900% when fully wet.  It is also the MOST insulating, just ask any hobo or street person who has spent the night wrapped in newspaper.   The functional drawback of paper being so absorbent is that the wet paper is so heavy when you are mucking out.

• Newspaper is more expensive.

  False.  Chopped newspaper is consistently less expensive than other bedding materials.  When the much higher absorbency is taken into account, and the less wasted bedding and labor to add and remove it and dispose of it, paper is an extremely economical choice.

  "In New York and Pennsylvania, shredded and baled newspaper commonly sells for $10 to $75 per ton. Farmers use paper bedding both from a centralized processing center and on-farm processing." - Ohio State University Extension Service Fact Sheet #CDFS-136

• Newspaper cannot be composted, it can't be spread, like manure mixed with shavings.

  False.  Newsprint tends to decompose rapidly when it is saturated with livestock manure and applied to farmland at normal rates.  Remember, today's newspapers are not printed on the same paper as 50 years ago.  Don't forget that you will use about 1/3 as much newspaper as you were using straw or shavings.  So your composting pile will actually be more manure-rich, than before, and need to have leaves, hay leavings, and other "brown" material added to get the mix you like.  The only buyers of horse compost who prefer shavings or straw bedded manure are mushroom growers.  If you sell to gardeners, landscapers, and golf courses, they will be quite happy with the product.

If you spread your manure, tests on field soil in Potter County by Penn State showed lower levels of heavy metals from newsprint bedding than from conventional straw bedding.  Studies over several years in various soils showed no ill effects on crops, either.  The paper in the manure mixture decomposes rapidly when spread on fields. When mixed with watery substances, paper disintegrates into pulp fibers, so newsprint bedding readily mixes into manure slurry to be spread by a honey wagon. Used bedding is easily transported in conventional waste handling systems, if you have your manure hauled away.

• Newspaper is more flammable than straw or shavings.
  No, it is about the same.  Store in a cool, dry place away from an ignition source. Heat required to ignite is 400-500 degrees.

• Horses can slip on newsprint.
  Horses can slip on straw and shavings if they are wet and the underlying surface is unstable.  There is no evidence that horses slip on chopped newsprint more than other bedding.

Other advantages:

• No respiratory problems for human handlers or horses from dust, due to no fine particles.

• Can work with local recyclers to obtain a regular supply, instead of being "last on the delivery list" for a far away shavings or straw supplier.

• Client relations and sales advantage of an eco-friendly barn.

• No weeds, no nails.

• No more bacteria (such as E. coli, pneumonia, strep) than in other organic bedding materials like straw or shavings.

Other Possible Bedding Materials                              (Top of Page)

Peanut Shells

Peanut shells are used in areas of the south where they are readily available from peanut processing plants.  We have no experience with them here in Arizona.  Anyone who does have experience is invited to let us know how they work, what they cost, how easy they are to get, etc.  Contact Us

Shredded Corn Cobs

Shredded corn cobs are used in areas of the Midwest, again, due to availability.  We have no experience with them here in Arizona.  Anyone who does have experience is invited to let us know how they work, what they cost, how easy they are to get, etc.  Contact Us

Sand or Crushed Granite

Sand, or better yet, crushed granite, is sometimes used to soften hard ground.  If you use sand, as often happens in the Southwest, you really must cover it near feeding areas with another bedding.  Without an overlay of straw, shavings, peat or paper, horses vacuuming up their fallen hay whisps, or that like to spread their hay on the ground, will eat sand, causing sand impaction colic or enteroliths (stones).  Even then, horses eating off sandy ground or pasture grown in sandy soil need a monthly seven day psyllium and mineral oil treatment.

Flax Shives (straw)                                                                  (Top of Page)

Flax straw is an excellent bedding if you can get it.  Widely used in Europe, it decomposes well (faster than shavings), is more absorbent than shavings, has a low pH so it absorbs ammonia well like peat, is safe for the horses to eat, though not particularly palatable (so they are less likely to eat it than wheat or oat straw).  Flax has a nice low dust content as well.

Pine Pellets 

Many users of pine pellets, formed from pine sawdust, find it has many benefits over straw or shavings.  Several different manufacturers are now offering pellets, in different size bags at different prices.  One of the benefits they note is that horses that must lie down a lot, such as recovering from illness, injury, or surgery, do not develop the hot spots, or bed sores, that horses bedded on straw or shavings do.

Recycled Shredded Rubber or Rubber Pellets                       (Top of Page)

The rubber pieces used to provide dust-free footing for many arenas may be best for a run-in shed in some situations.  There is no absorption, but it does provide cushioning, some insulation, and keeps the horse off the wet ground.  Especially where cost and labor may be overriding concerns, such as at a non-profit retirement farm, this may be the only option.

Disagreement Acknowledged

A 2006 study by an undergraduate student at Iowa State University produced results markedly different from the dozens of academic and commercial study results published over the last several decades.  In A.S. Leaflet R2153 Reggie Voyles, undergraduate research intern, and Mark Honeyman, professor of animal science report on animal bedding.  Their study claims that Cornstalks and Oat Straw absorb 3 times their weight, Newspaper twice its weight, and wood particles 1 times their weight.  The method used copied a method used at a Canadian school.  Does it matter that these schools cater to grain producers, as opposed to the schools that cater to livestock and dairy producers?  It probably wouldn't do in Iowa at an Agricultural school to say anything is better than corn.  Citation: http://www.ans.iastate.edu/report/air/2006pdf/R2153.pdf

In our report we have stuck to the findings of academics catering to livestock husbandry, commercial patent seekers at agri-research firms, and those used to obtain "perfect" healthy, sanitary conditions for laboratory animals, veterinary teaching hospitals, veterinary clinics.   We have also relied on the actual practical experiences of livestock owners, particularly horse people, who have tried or are sold on the different options.

Bedding Management                        (Top of Page)

Whatever bedding you use, once it is fully wet, it is no longer useful, and has turned the corner into becoming harmful - a breeding ground of large and small parasites and an irritant to eyes, nose, mouth, skin, hooves.

Replace soaked bedding every 24 hours.  This is usually about one third of the bedding in the stall.  It doesn't matter whether you have rubber mats or not.  Rubber mats can reduce the total amount of bedding used to bed the stall.  But all the wet bedding must come out, along with all the manure and soiled feed.  If your stable mucking procedures mucks daily without replacing bedding daily, then you should add fresh bedding at least twice a week.  Any less and there will be days when an inadequate amount in absorbing urine and protecting the horse from hock sores, hip sores, and providing insulation.  If a horse drinks at least 10 gallons of water per day, and will only urinate in his stall, bedding that has absorbed at least 10 gallons of waste water must be removed.

Instead of a dip in the middle of the stall, you want the middle slightly domed, so that moisture will flow away from the horse toward the walls.  This will spread moisture into the ground if you have a dirt floor, or underlayer shavings, instead of pooling and making a wet spot for the horse to try to lie next to, rather than in.

Making Changes                                                (Top of Page)

If you decide to switch bedding, do so gradually, and watch for any horse that may have an allergic reaction in the form of swollen eyelids, nostrils, lips, or an outbreak of hives on the neck, shoulders, barrel, abdomen or flanks.

Extending The Life of Your Bedding               (Top of Page)

Diatomaceous Earth 

Available in 20 pound bags or boxes wherever pool supplies are sold.  Some people feed it to their horses as a feed-through fly control and deworming product.  This white power is actually teeny, tiny shells of microorganisms that slice the larvae of flies.  Highly absorbent, it gets rather gummy when wet and sticks (like mud) to your horse if he rolls or lies in it.  However, a good dusting of diatomaceous earth on the wet spots before you put the bedding back can make a big difference over the course of a warm season.

Sweet PDZ 

This specialized clay with a very low pH and high absorbency soaks up urea and neutralizes ammonia quickly.  A mere scoop, dusted onto the wet spots of a stall when the mat or ground is exposed, before the bedding is relaid, quickly does its job.  It is particularly helpful in poorly ventilated barns.  Whether horses are inside more in the winter, as in cold climates, or the summer, as in hot ones, there is a season where they urinate more in their stalls.  That's when you can really benefit from Sweet PDZ or a similar safe, effective, inexpensive stall freshener to extend the life of your bedding.  Sweet PDZ will not delay or affect your composting program, either.

Rubber Mats                                                                                    (Top of Page)

The main advantage of rubber mats specifically made for horse stalls is the cushioning, taking pressure off joints, and reducing the need to bed so deeply.  If you have concrete stall floors, after a horse rolls you may wonder if it is even possible to bed deeply enough to make a horse comfortable lying down.

However, since most of the cold in a winter stall permeates the dirt or cement floor, mats help form an insulating barrier, relieving bedding of some of that job.

Also, mats can provide better traction, and help prevent, or slow, the formation of dug-out bowls, caused by hind feet and wet shavings removal constantly in the same place.  If the ground remains level, you won't be wasting shavings filling in the hole, or using labor and stall repair dirt and granite to level it.

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Tips, Forums and Blog                    (Top of Page)
Additional resources were added in Fall 2007 for horse professionals seeking to run a safe, attractive, functional boarding facility that is profitable.  There are also resources for owners of senior and rehabilitated horses.

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