When we brought our horses home (Zackary the Haflinger & Seth the Chincoteague Pony), we had already decided to use 'sustainable bedding. The book, 'The Perfect Stall' is written by Dr Karen Hayes. It's a mixture of top soil and peat, bedded about 8-inches deep. The recommended stall size is 20-24' x 10+.
The advantages - almost no smell, the boys are very comfortable & lay down every night, waste goes to rich compost, and no mounds of used straw, shavings or pellets to annoy the neighbors. After picking, the bedding is rototilled. The soil/peat mixture absorbs the urine and breaks it down. Another perk - we have almost no flies here.
Although sustainable does take more time to start (mixing a ton of 'dirt' to the right ratio vs opening bags or bales), the first time you clean the stall you 'win back' about a half hour. The lack of piles of waste is outstanding - particularly as a country club bought the diary land which once belonged to our old farm house... and they & their lawyers were ready to sue to get rid of our horses. That was 18 months ago. Two of our 5 bordering neighbors have asked about the compost - and were given all they needed for their gardens. They're actually talking to our horses, giving them scratches and have been heard to say very nice things about them.
I strongly urge reading Dr Hayes' book - or visiting her website.
As Always,
Beth Peterson
Dover DE - USA
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
------------------------------------
Community email addresses:
Post message: haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: haflingerfriends-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Unsubscribe: haflingerfriends-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
List owner: haflingerfriends-owner@yahoogroups.com
Shortcut URL to this page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriendsYahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriends/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/haflingerfriends/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
haflingerfriends-digest@yahoogroups.com
haflingerfriends-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
haflingerfriends-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
