Horse bedding is not an easy decision. Factors including cost, transport, storage, and disposal need to be considered. The most common types of bedding used are straw, shavings and wood pellets.
A natural wood fibre product that has been heat treated and compressed. When water is added to the pellets they expand in size and can absorb nine times more liquid than regular shavings with no clumping. Please Click Here for full usage instructions for wood pellet horse bedding.
Eco-Friendly, dust free bedding that is highly absorbent. In addition, wood pellet bedding composts much quicker than shavings or straw which often do not fully compost or take a long time to decompose.
Can be slippery whilst still in pellet form. Need to add water to bedding when initially put down to make if fluff up.
Wheat Straw is cheap, easily available, absorbent, warm and easy to muck out. It rots down well, and is easy to dispose of in a muck heap or can be sold or given away as it makes a good garden fertiliser.
Wheat Straw is not suitable for horses with dust allergies or respiratory problems. It can be very dusty and poorer quality straw can be mouldy too. Storage can be a problem - bales need a lot of space in a dry area.
Wood Shavings are a popular horse bedding material as they are very absorbent and easy to muck out. Buy wood shavings specially produced for use as animal bedding. If you use alternative wood shavings such as saw mill waste, you may find the shavings are sharp and contain rubbish.
Wood Shavings are easy to muck out, easily stored and easily disposed of (they will burn). They are absorbent and for allergic horses, dust-free (or dust-extracted) shavings are available.
If you are unable or concerned about burning the shavings to dispose of the waste, wood shavings can be hard to get rid of. They take a long time to rot down and are generally unwelcome on muck heaps.