My stall bedding problems are gone

[Marty]

If anyone reads my posts I have complained about the cost of bedding killing me for quite some time. Not all my stalls are matted and they needed to be refurbished something awful. We had put many layers of gravel and sand down when we built the barn but it is long gone now sunk into the bowels of the earth someplace and something had to give. The bedding prices have really put a hurting on my horse budget and this had to stop. So last month I went to the local quarry and purchased 3 tons of sand in my truck bed. It was $8.00 a ton. Took me a couple of days but I finally got it unloaded all by myself and shoved it in three stalls. The following week after I recovered, back to the quarry again for another 3 tons. Broke my back really bad by now but I got this load divided in two stalls and built them up nice and proper. I really thought I was going to die but I am so happy about it now. I never added shavings till they had time to pack it for about 3 weeks. Honestly the horses really didn't even need shavings because they have been so comfortable with it as is. They lay down now a lot because I guess it feels nice and cool to them. And the best part is you can't even tell where their pee spot is because it soaks right on up. No more paying through the nose for pellet bedding or shavings for that matter. I plan to get another load or two again before winter and build them up even more.

Before you say anything, nope, no body is eating the sand. I put mats down under their feeders where I dump their hay and if anyone drops their feed it lands on the mats.

The down side is that its ridiculous to try and brush sand out of their hair coats but being from Florida, that is a normal thing so it doesn't make a bit of difference to me while i can easily hose them off. For winter I will be adding shavings but they no longer need nearly as much. I have cut my cost of bedding my 1/4.

I did end up wrecking what is left of my poor old body but IBprofen became my new best friend and it still was all worth it. However next time around I just might ask my wonderful son if he still works for food.

 

[amysue]

I gave up on shavings a long time ago. When my cost of bedding surpassed my feed bill I had to figure something out. My husband said "all my cows do just fine on sand so your horses will survive" and they have. I just add sawdust once a week to keep things fresh. It packs so nicely and as long as they're not ingesting too much sand I plan on sticking with it. After breaking my back shoveling sand, I told my husband that the next row of stalls we build will have removable fronts so the tractor can bucket the sand in.

 

[wingnut]

Interesting Marty! How big are your stalls again? And how much sand per stall do you used out of a truckload (3 tons per load right?)

I have mats down with dirt under that. Like you, there was gave and stone dust initially but that's long gone down into the earth. Because my horses are stalled normally, I've come to not use any bedding most of the year. I clean up as needed each day. They pretty much don't urinate in the stalls anymore and when they do get a good puddle going, I dump a bucket full of PDZ to soak it up, then scoop it up a day or so later when it's all been absorbed.

My favorite bedding is sawdust direct from the mill, but that's no longer an option as they aren't open on the weekends when I have a truck available. During show season, I will put in a thin layer of fine shavings, topped with a deep bed of straw for the horses going to the show the next day in an effort to keep them clean (I bath, clip, prep on Saturday, travel to the show on Sunday, do any last minute cleanup at the show).

 

[whitney]

I found a really neat way of getting a 6 month supply of sawdust in a moveable container......a gravity wagon picked up one for 100.00 it has a shoot on the side that the sawdust comes out I bed 4 biggies and 9 minis for 12.00 a month.

 

[poniesrule]

The barn my guys are in is an old house that was converted for thoroughbred (claimer) racehorses. From the condition of the stalls, I would say the horses were a bunch of basket cases. There are huge drops (1-2') into the stalls, gouges chewed out of the wood, and holes dug along the neighboring walls. All walls in the stalls are solid except for the door, and it's super dark. I feel terrible for whatever horse was ever kept in there.

That being said, I keep the gates open to 2 stalls and let my geldings have free run in & out and in the aisle. Which makes for a MESS to clean up daily as they both love peeing in there for some reason. The lady who owns the place has been saying she wants to bring in dirt for the stalls. I was thinking of having her bring in gravel for a base, then sand for the top. Or would that not work too well? (Seriously, it would be amazing if we could just knock it down & build a new one, sigh... someday!) We want to bring pea gravel in for the pens a little at a time starting with around the water & hay feeders. So I thought maybe the pea gravel in the barn would help too? I love the sand idea though, can't beat the price!

 

[Marty]

WE originally had a french drain with very deep gravel that we ran over for days with the tractor and kept adding more. Then we were very generous with sand and allowed the horses to pack it. Worked very well for a few years. I highly recommend it.

Then we got OLD and the stalls were not done again until now.; but no gravel, just the sand.

Some of the stalls have 1 ton in them and others have more. After they pack it down, its only a little bit so I plan to do it again before winter just so I won't have to do it again for a few years.