Cross Breeds

Which type of bedding would you use for: A) a sick horse, B) a mare and foal, C) a thoroughbred race horse in?

Public Comments

1. hi shelby, good non-dusty bright straw is excellent bedding. shake it loose and deep for B and C. for a sick horse, depending on it's ailment a little less straw in it's stall, or cedar shavings. the most important thing is to pick the stall regularly to keep it clean as possible.
2. Most vet hospitals in the States ( where I live) generally use shavings as bedding, unless the stall is being used by a foaling mare. The shavings are generally white pine. Cedar shavings are hard to get here, and are very expensive when they can be found, because the US has a limited amount of cedar forrest. Foaling stalls are ALWAYS BEDDED with straw, regardless of location. It's NOT SAFE to bed a foaling stall with shavings- they present a dangerous health hazard to both mare and foal. Most racehorses are typically bedded on straw too, simply because that's what's available at most tracks. In most cases, Thoroughbred youngsters spend their entire lives bedded on straw- they are born in stalls bedded that way, and they continue to live in them throughout the rest of their lives.
3. A. Depends on what the horse has! If it's got heaves, then I might use shavings (not sawdust) and wet them down, or if it's bad I might just use the mats. If it's got diarhea, I'd use sawdust, as that's more absorbent, the cheapest, and the easiest to clean. If it's got a major infection and needs warmth, I might use clean bright straw. After surgery, I'd use straw (don't want little bits of pine in any surgical wounds!!). B. I'd use a base of sawdust/shavings with a thick bedding of straw over it for the first week or two - you need a really thick, padded stall, but you do not want the foal burying his nose in it (from the birthing process, or from falling while learning to walk, etc.), breathing in sawdust/shavings. After that, whatever I'm using for the mare will be fine. C. TBs at race tracks often have to use whatever the track requires. Because it is easier to compost straw bedding than shavings/sawdust, some require you use that. Left to myself, I'd use sawdust. There are other considerations as well. Some years/places straw's a lot cheaper than sawdust; other years the opposite. Some places you can sell used bedding with straw in it to composters, some not. Some places you have to have used bedding hauled away and disposed of in dumps; in that case sawdust has the least volume and will cost the least.
4. Try asking this in the Pet's Category > Horses. A) Non-Dusty, Shavings B) Non-Dusty, Thick Shavings C) Non-Dusty, Saw Dust
5. A) For a sick horse, I would absolutely use paper shreds... they are 100% dust free, absorbant, and warm. While, yes, you do have to pick them (a lot) more, it terms of sterility, they are by far the best for preventing any further un-wanted irritants into an already-sick horse's system. B) Mares and foals really should be bedded on straw (or as above, paper shreds). The problem with shavings is that foals can easily have small particles sucked into their systems... definitely don't want that! C) Racehorses can be bedded on any type of bedding that is comfortable, thick, absorbant, and as dust-free as possible. Most racing barns/tracks use straw bedding. Others only allow shavings. As long as it is dust-free as possible, and comfortable, it's a fine bedding for a healthy horse. Contrary to what another poster above said... one should NEVER bed ANY horse on cedar shavings. Sure, they smell nice, but they can be toxic to horses if they should happen to ingest them.
6. for all a non dusty shavings bed, clean dry straw, wood pellets of shredded newspaper are all perfectly good!!