Thursday, January 5, 2012

Equine Pellet Bedding Revisited

I wrote a post about how we had decided to give Equine Pine a try as our bedding. After a few weeks of using it we were quite happy, and I promised to write again after a few months to let you know if I was still a fan.

After using it now since Mid November, I can tell you that we are still VERY happy with this type of bedding. VERY happy!! I was concerned about what it would be like when temperatures went below freezing, but it still works great. We did strip the stall after about 6-7 weeks, which is half the time of the 3 months stated on the website. But with Pippi in her stall quite a bit, and her stall being quite smallish, I still think that is fantastic!!

Kevin and Donna, who owns the barn and the 11 mini horses that live there with Pippi were also quite impressed with the conditions in Pippi's stall. They were still not hearing from the sawdust guy (they bought a load for double price at a benefit for "Make a Wish" only to get cheated out of the load), and real tired to spending big bucks on shavings (what a yucky mess) and decided to give Equine Pine a try. So about a month or so after we tried it, Kevin ordered a skid of "Equine Pine", only to come home with "Equine Fresh." I was a bit concerned after hearing that this was a inferior product, but we gave it a shot.


Well I was wrong, Equine Fresh
  is just a great as Equine Pine.
A local "know it all" told us that:

 "This kind of bedding is fine until they pee or poop in it." Well actually that is when it is as its best. Soaks up, and sifts like a dream. You end up taking out a lot less than with sawdust, and you strip and start over a whole lot less. Take out soaked, real soaked stuff, but wet stays and fluffs right up when mixed in with dry again. It's MAGIC!!!
"It's fine until they ingest it." Neither Pippi, a 15hh Paint mare, with a huge appetite, or any of the minis have ingested any of it. (and if they have we have not seen any effects of that)  Let's face it, mini horses live to eat. As a matter of fact, Pippi seems a lot less interested in this than she was in sawdust, as she used to snort and sniff that a lot when it was laid fresh.

"It's dusty as hell." Nope - sure isn't. The pellets break down into a sawdust state, but is far less dusty than sawdust. The ammonia smell is also less prevalent with the Pine bedding. Neither Pippi nor the mini's have tried to eat the pellets (sometimes we mix in dry pellets without watering to increase absorption is pee spots).

"Your horses are gonna look the mess with that stuck in their fur." Now, I am getting sick of this guys attitude, Mr.Pessimist, STEP OFF!!! Pippi is as easy to clean as ever, it's winter and muddy outside, so that means not easy at all. But that sure as heck is not the pellets fault. Not sticking to leg fur at all. Not packing hard into hooves, just fine!!

So there you go; we have saved money, gone green and we love the results. Any questions?

ps. I forgot to mention when I first posted this; it is fantastic not to have to deal with keeping the sawdust dry. The bedding comes in sealed bags, much like feed, and so takes up less room, and is less vulnerable to damp conditions. (I would not leave them outside though, as there may be a hole or something) Kevin plans on removing the sawdust pen all together which leaves us more trailer and parking area. No more pulling heavy wet tarps off of sawdust, or chipping at frozen sawdust all winter. Yay again!
In UR FACE, Negative Fella!!

1 comment:

Thank you for your Feedback! I learn so much from hearing from readers, it is the real value of writing a blog.