What is the best bedding choice for horse respiratory health? We took a look into some popular bedding materials to find the answer, helping to reduce problematic respiratory symptoms and ensure your horse’s respiratory is peak for optimal performance!
Bedding and the dangers to horse respiratory
Common bedding types include straw, shavings, sawdust, straw, pellets, peat moss, and recycled paper, each having major positives and drawbacks.
Many horse owners will make their bedding choice on factors such as cost, sustainability and access, as well as horse preference and comfort. However, should owners be more concerned about their horse’s respiratory health when choosing a bedding type?
Bedding can release and harbour ‘air respirable particles’; particles which are small enough to be inhaled and can possible cause harm to respiratory tissue.
Air respirable particles include dust, fungal spores, bacteria spores and viruses and can also be found in hay. Whilst you can apply procedures to reduce respirable particles released by forages, particles released by bedding are much harder to control! In addition, bedding can also contribute to the build-up of harmful gases such as ammonia, which can cause irritation and damage to the respiratory tract, with prolonged or high levels of exposure. Both ammonia and air-respirable particles can contribute to respiratory health symptoms, too.
Which bedding types are best for horses with respiratory issues?
A recent study compared the air contamination when using straw, dust-extracted peat with shavings, or crushed wood as bedding. The study concluded that straw was the least favourable for respiratory health, producing high fungal and bacteria contamination levels. Similar results were found with the peat with shavings bedding, therefore favouring crushed wood as the most favourable for stable air quality.
Dust-extracted shavings and pellets that dampen down are a good recommendation for horses with respiratory difficulties. Larger shaving pieces are better than those that are small/fine.
Although, it is not just the type of bedding that owner choose which may impact their horse’s respiratory, respiratory health also falls down to other management factors such as mucking out systems, bedding storage and bedding quality.
Mucking Out Systems…
There are three common ways in which horse owners choose to muck out their horse’s stable; full muck-out, part muck-out and deep litter.
The most favourable management reccommended for respiratory health is a full muck-out on a daily basis. This ensures urine, which produces harmful ammonia, is removed from the stable. In addition, the rotation of banked bedding can reduce the build-up of mould and dust.
Storage…
When choosing a bedding type, storage is also fundamental in maintaining the quality of bedding for respiratory health.
Products with robust, plastic packaging are easier to store and reduces the chance of them becoming damp, and consequently forming mould. Best practice would be to store bedding in a cool, dry place, where it is protected from yard pests.
Bedding Quality…
Choosing bedding with quality and trusted production can be a step in the right direction if you don’t want to switch. Poor production of bedding can see the purchase of bedding with unwanted fungal, mould and bacteria already harboured within the packaging. If buying from a local supplier, make sure you trust their production process! Meanwhile, commercial bedding brands usually will have a dust extracted option for better respiratory condition.
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Journalist and News Reporter, Everything Horse
Reporting on equestrian news stories, Abby also produces a variety of engaging content for the magazine.