New product from Bedmax takes the gruel out of mucking out.
Following a six-week trial near the Northern Yorkshire town of Harrogate, Lucy Vicente of Swindon Hill stables in Yorkshire shares her impressions of Strawmax. Seeking to bridge the gap between bespoke dust-extracted shavings and straw, this new straw pellet bedding from Bedmax gives the best of both worlds.
Lucy said: “What I really like about the bedding is that it is very absorbent, and that when I compare it to mucking out my straw stable, straw pellets make it far less work and there is just far less waste because the pellets are far more absorbent.”
“It’s been easy to mix, easy to muck out, and the pellets really have kept the odour down to a minimum. Most importantly, the horses have been happy and comfortable on it. We’ve also found that with Strawmax there has been no problem with the horses eating their bed.”
Ruby, one of Lucy’s hunt horses, has been trialling the straw pellets in her larger than usual stable. Lucy said that she could make a nice thick bed with nine bags to start off with, topping up with two bags per week, although Lucy is keen to reiterate that it would be a perfectly adequate bed with one bag a week.
“Strawmax has made mucking out much more time efficient, this for us is a great plus, as we are a very very busy yard. Because the liquid soaks in so well and doesn’t give it time to spread, there is also much less wastage. This has meant it is kept all in one patch and we only have to remove a small amount of bedding which reduces the amount of muck you have to dispose of.
Lucy moves herself and her horses around a lot for competitions and has found it’s been great for bedding horses when travelling long distances.
“It’s been really good for bedding down the lorry. With competition horses we spend a lot of time travelling, and as the horses must spend a lot of time on the lorry, the bedding has been brilliant. The high absorbency means odour in the lorry is much improved which keeps it nicer for the horses.”
This trial proved that with straw pellets the waste is minimal, so the bedding lasts longer and doesn’t need replacing so much. Lucy also mentioned the dust-extracted element being a bonus as the product gives your horse the health benefits but without the higher price tag.
