Category: Tips & Tricks

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Shredded Straw Bedding

Recently we purchased a Wallenstein BXM Chipper Shredder to help with chipping all the trees and scrub brush we took down in our soon to be new orchard area. When considering buying a chipper we thought about going all out and getting the shredder to see if we could make our own livestock bedding.

If you’ve read my past posts about my experiences with different types of bedding you’ll know my distain for straw. I just hate picking through traditional straw bedding.  The waste is just awful, it takes me much longer to muck a stall and once I get it out to the manure pile it takes forever and a day to compost.  The price of straw vs. the wood pellet bedding I’m using now is night and day and right now I need to bring down the cost of doing business.

In comes the shredder.  I’ve read about how shredded straw composts faster and is used at some dairy farms and also by mushroom farmers.  So I decided to give it a try.  I purchased a 500lb bale of straw for $40 and fired up the shredder.  We aimed the shoot into our little red TSC dump trailer, stood up wind from the shredding and let her rip.  3.5 of the big flakes of straw filled the dump trailer really quickly and  it filled one of our 11×11 stalls.  1 trailer full gave a great 4-6” deep bedding and covered the whole stall evenly.  For comparison 4 ($7) bags of wood pellets gave me the same results.  That’s $28 for pellets vs $8 for shredded straw. At this point I have a really big smile on my face.

With pellet bedding I have to add 1-2 bags per week for a stall with a mare and foal.  There’s very little waste and I only have to take out the soiled areas.  I know from past experience that with traditional straw bedding 3 flakes of straw would give me nice bedding but I had to strip the bed every day and add another 3 flakes.  How would the shredded straw do?

Shredding the straw brought down the stalk size to 2-3 inches in length and even broke the stalk open so it no longer was a tube.  The result is a very light fluffy bedding that sifts right through my favorite Dura stall fork just like wood shavings would.  It doesn’t fall though like pellet bedding but with a few shakes of the fork the horse apples remain and the clean bedding falls through.  Pee areas are sucked up nicely and are easy to spot and scoop up with minimal waste.  I managed to pick through 3 stalls using just 1 wheelbarrow! Try that with traditional straw bedding!

Shredded Straw

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Winter Riding Tips – Post Ride Care

 Most of our horses here in WNY are built for the cold.  They are very fuzzy this time of year with thick winter coats to keep them warm in sub zero temperatures.  These winter coats are great for battling the cold but not so great for exercising under saddle.  Often just a light ride with friends out on the trail can work up a sweat for your horse.  Be sure to care for your equine friend the right way after your ride.

–       End you ride with a nice long walk on a road or packed snow if possible.  Just walking through deep snow is quite a workout. Your horse can get pretty warm even with a simple walking ride.

–       A sweaty horse after a ride is a cold horse.  Do your best to dry your horse off and use a fleece cooler to help draw the moisture away from their body while keeping them warm.  Do not turn your horse out until they are dry!  Because of the cold it will take longer than normal for a horse to dry off.  Be prepared to have your horse cooling off in a stall for 1-2 hours after your ride before they are dry enough for turn out.

–       Clipping your horse.  Depending on how much winter riding you do you might find it beneficial to clip your horse.  This will help them regulate their temperatures better during winter work so they aren’t prone to sweating.  Just be sure to follow proper blanket management for the type of clip chose for your horse.

–       Offer warm water.  Hot horse drinking cold water could cause colic.  Wait until your horse cools down and offer them heated water.  Either boil some in a teapot and add to a bucket or better yet use heated buckets! 

–       Dehydrated horse? Believe it or not most horses like Gatorade (mine like orange flavor).  The sweetness of a few scoops of Gatorade in their water bucket entices them to drink up and the added electrolytes help their system rebalance.

Winter riding is a blast and there is nothing more beautiful than enjoying a fresh snow on a crisp winter morning.  Ride Safe.

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Winter Riding Tips – Hoof Care

So you want to enjoy your horse during the winter months but every time you hit the trials your horse’s hooves fill up with hard snow making the bottom of their feet look like a snow cone.  Not the safest of situations.
There are several ways to keep the snow from packing up in your horse’s feet

Cooking or Silicone Spray – This offers a temporary solution and is really easy to apply. Just pick up the foot, brush it clean and spay. Usually this method will prevent the snow from packing up in the hoof for 5-10 minutes.

Full Hoof Snow Pad – Made of hard plastic
Pros – You will never have to worry about snow building up in the hoof, period!
Cons – You can’t see the hoof! What’s going on under there

Silicone Snow Pad – A ring of silicone that fits between the hoof and the shoe.

Pros – you can see the bottom of the hoof and clean under the pad
Cons – This pad still can allow snow to build up if it packs up under the pad and is horrendous to clean during mud season

Horse Hoof Boots – My personal favorite  Choose your style and manufacturer there’s tons of them out there. Your horse can still be turned out barefoot and strap the boots on when you need them. I personally like the Old Mac’s because of the hiking boot type tread that is on the bottom which gives better grip.