I’ve been a horse owner for about ten years and riding since my preteens. Over the years I have been to many different barns each with their own preferences and routine, but it wasn’t until this past year that I ever found a barn that used hay for bedding stalls.

From my experience in the northeast United States, wood shavings are the most common type of bedding. I’ve also used a wood pellets as a shaving, and most recently hay. My current barn beds with hay and when I first went to visit I had a few concerns. Was it dusty? Would the hay absorb urine? Would the stalls have a stronger odor because hay isn’t as absorbent as shavings?

Shavings and wood chips are popular bedding type in this area, you can buy them in bulk or in bags from your local feed store. Not only are they easy to obtain, but they are highly absorbent, provide consistent footing, and produce less dust then some other bedding options, such as straw. I personally find shavings to be easiest bedding to work with as it is so very easy to pick out the wet spots and even strip the entire stall is.

Wood pellets are similar to shavings, but not as easy to obtain in bulk. They come in large pellets that almost look like horse feed. When you add a small amount of water, the pellets break apart into a fluffy light material, heavier than most powders, but not as dense as shavings. The end result is a super comfy stall for your horse to rest in. I personally loved bedding with wood pellets. Because they are wet down, they produce very little dust, yet they are still very absorbent. I personally found cleaning a stall bedded with wood pellets to be a bit more work than shavings, but still manageable.

Hay is quite different from traditional shavings or wood pellets and until I moved to my new barn, not something I had ever experienced. A properly bedded stall using hay will provide a soft bedding that is comfortable for your horse. I saw this immediately on a tour of the barn and so far my Thoroughbred, Samurai, seems to love his stall when he comes in at night. I’ve caught him napping on the hay on several occasions.

While comfort is great, I still had concerns. My biggest concern was dust; while my horse has no respiratory issues I didn’t want to create them by exposing him to irritants. My barn manager told me not to worry. Our barn is well ventilated with the doors almost always open and the barn goes out of their way to choose “less” dusty hay. The hay can also be lightly wet down when the stall is made in order to cut down on dust.

Hay is not as absorbent as shavings and after an eight hour night in a stall, most (if not all) of the hay has to be removed the next day. Hay, like straw, should have a dry “mat” layer at the top and, from my experience, the wet spots tend to settle to the bottom of the stall. I haven’t found Sam laying or standing directly in anything wet. We can also add a small amount of shavings under the hay for extra absorbency if we know the horses will be inside for an extended period of time, such as during bad weather.

My last concern was that Sam would eat the hay that was meant to be bedding. My barn has two types of hay: “bedding hay” and “eating hay.” The hay we bed with is not moldy or “bad” hay, but the hay we feed with is a nicer quality. Unfortunately Sam does nibble at his bedding, but as long as he has the “eating,” or “good,” hay in front of him, he tends to prefer his “good” hay for dinner. Keeping his “good” hay separated from his bedding by putting into a hay net or a feeder above the ground also helps to discourage him from eating is bedding.

The only downside I have found to bedding with hay is that it is bit more labor intensive to clean the stall, but it is also a new bedding choice for me. Hay is a less common bedding choice, but I’m glad I gave it a chance. Samurai is happy with it and so am I!