This photo is a great example of "banking" your bedding. Banking means piling up fresh bedding in banks around the walls of a stable box, while having plenty of bedding in the middle for the horse to stand and lay down on. Depending on how your horse acts in a box it can be a great way to make mucking out faster, as well as giving your horse a nice headreast to elevate their airway while lying down.
Can you bank EquinePure Pellets Bedding? Sure you can! You just need to bank a bit differently than you do with regular bedding.
- When filling your box, use an extra 2-3 bags of pellets to use as banks. Expand it the same way and at the same time as the bedding you will use on the central floor.
- When all the bedding is expanded, push the extra bedding up against the wall/walls.
- Next time you muck out, or when you need to refill low areas, bring the banked bedding into the areas you want to replenish.
- As your banks go down, push what's left into an existing banks and create a new bank with the fresh pellets.
- Always use the bedding from the banks you made earlier before using the new bedding.
- If your banks seem to be drying out, just mist lightly with a hose and mix lightly with your rake to dampen it again.
Which horse suits banking bedding?
Ahorse that is stabled daily, because you don't want the banks to sit there in piles for weeks in an empty box to deteriorate and dry out, especially if you live in a low-humidity environment.
Use with horses that aren't box walkers. Box walkers can walk the banked bedding though the whole box in a matter of hours. So keep watch on how your horse acts when confined to the box before banking.
Use banking with a box occupied by one single horse. Always fully remove and the bedding, disinfect the box and re-bed before changing horse occupants.
Wet horses that use the same place in the box as a toilet can be a challenge or a blessing. It is best to avoid the place where they toilet, and bank on the opposite side.
Active foals will try to play in the piled up bedding, so you may want to give them a regular non-banked box.
Bottom line is, you know your horse better than anyone else. So you can deicde if banking is for you. If you think it could work for you, give it a go!
