🛏️ Vet Guide: How Stall Bedding Affects Horse Behavior | 2025 Welfare, Rest & Enrichment Insights 🐴

By Dr Duncan Houston, BVSc

When it comes to equine health and welfare, **stall management is everything**—especially for horses spending long hours indoors. One factor that’s often overlooked? **The type of bedding in your horse’s stall**. Recent research shows that bedding doesn’t just affect hygiene—it can profoundly impact behavior, rest, and emotional health. 🧠🐎

In this 2025 guide, I’ll break down a fascinating study on stall bedding materials and their effect on horse behavior, and offer tips on creating a more comfortable, calming stable environment. 🩺🌿

📊 The Study: Bedding Materials and Behavior

Researchers in Germany studied horses housed in single stalls—many for up to **23 hours per day**. The aim was to assess how bedding material affected rest, enrichment, and stress-related behaviors. The materials tested included: 🧪

• 🌲 Dust-free wood shavings
• 🌾 Traditional wheat straw
• 🌾 Wheat straw pellets

Each material was used for 2 weeks with each horse.

📈 Key Findings

• 🛏️ **Horses spent significantly more time lying down** on wheat straw than on shavings or straw pellets
• 🌾 Horses interacted more with wheat straw—sniffing, pawing, and exploring it
• 🧠 Increased interaction appeared to **reduce boredom and abnormal behaviors** (e.g. cribbing, weaving)

While all materials served basic hygienic functions, **wheat straw had the strongest effect on comfort and behavior**. 🧠

🧠 Why Bedding Type Matters

Stall bedding isn’t just about absorption and odor control. It also affects:

• 🛏️ Willingness to lie down and rest
• 🦠 Hoof and skin health
• 🧠 Mental stimulation and boredom reduction
• 🌬️ Air quality and dust exposure

Inadequate or uncomfortable bedding can lead to **rest deprivation**, stress, or increased risk of **hoof issues** like thrush. 🚫

🐴 Why Rest Is So Important

Horses in the wild rest lying down for short periods throughout the day and night, but stalled horses often lie down less due to **noise, discomfort, or anxiety**. Chronic sleep deprivation in horses can lead to **dullness, fatigue, poor immunity**, and even injury if they collapse while dozing. 😴

Bedding that encourages lying down supports **physical recovery and emotional wellness**. ✅

🌾 Wheat Straw: The Winner for Engagement

Wheat straw provides a **soft, dry, and familiar surface**. Horses like to investigate and interact with it, which stimulates natural behaviors like:

• 🔍 Sniffing or rooting
• 🥾 Pawing and shifting bedding
• 🌱 Foraging behaviors (when not over-ingested)

This sensory engagement can reduce **boredom and stall vices**, making wheat straw a valuable tool for horses confined indoors. 🧠

⚠️ Caution:

Some horses eat straw bedding, which can lead to **colic or impaction**. Monitor intake closely or avoid use if your horse has a history of this. 🔍

🪵 Wood Shavings & Pellets: Good, But Less Enriching

Dust-free wood shavings are commonly used in the U.S. They’re absorbent and easy to clean, but the study found **less lying behavior and interaction** compared to wheat straw. Pelleted straw had similar results. 🪵📉

These bedding types still offer value—especially when straw isn’t an option—but may lack the **enrichment and comfort** needed for long stall confinement. ⚖️

📲 Use Ask A Vet to Optimize Stall Comfort

The Ask A Vet app helps horse owners design better stall environments for rest and enrichment:

• 📸 Share stall photos for bedding and space analysis
• 📋 Ask about behavioral issues linked to confinement
• 🧠 Get support managing vices like cribbing or weaving
• 💩 Track rest patterns, feces, and hydration over time

Better bedding. Better behavior. 🐴📲

✅ Stall Bedding Behavior Tips for 2025

• 🛏️ Bedding impacts **how much your horse lies down and rests**
• 🌾 Wheat straw promotes the most engagement and relaxation
• 🧠 Horses stalled for long hours need **mental stimulation** to prevent vices
• 🥤 Monitor for straw ingestion and risk of colic
• 📱 Use Ask A Vet to build a stall comfort plan

📲 Final Thoughts from Dr Duncan Houston

Something as simple as stall bedding can have a profound effect on your horse’s **behavior, recovery, and emotional health**. Whether you're managing a performance athlete or a retired companion, comfort matters. Consider switching or rotating bedding materials to match your horse’s needs—and always observe for changes in lying time, rest quality, and interaction. 🧠💙

Download the Ask A Vet app to assess stall environments, track rest patterns, and get expert advice to keep your horse relaxed, rested, and happy indoors. 🐎📱