Archive for the ‘SuperStall’ Category

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How to Create a Safe Foaling Stall

April 26, 2012

With foaling season upon us, you may have already started preparing your mares’ stalls for the upcoming birth. Here are some important tips to consider when it comes to creating a proper foaling environment.

  1. Choose the Stall:  You will need to choose a large enough stall that can comfortably house your mare and foal, ideally 12 ft. by 12 ft.  Pick a stall secluded from neighboring horses, but with adequate ventilation and light.
  1. Prep the Stall: Thoroughly inspect the stall for any potential hazards, including large splinters, protruding nails and hooks, abrasive rough spots on walls or floors, or hoof-sized traps in the floor or corners.  Finally, remove any strings, cords, or dangling ropes that could entangle wobbly newborns.
  1. Clean the Stall: Take everything out of the stall and thoroughly clean and disinfect the walls and floors. This includes sweeping and scrubbing the walls with a detergent followed by an approved disinfectant diluted in water. Don’t forget feeding equipment, as those items may harbor bacteria harmful to a newborn foal.  Be sure to rinse well and let the stall air dry completely.
  1. Bed your Stall: After making sure the floor is level, now it is time to properly bed the stall for comfort and safety of both the mare and foal.  A foam mattress like SuperStall provides a safe, cushioned and hygienic surface ideal for the foaling environment. SuperStall comes with a waterproof top cover that allows all waste and bacteria to be remain on the surface and be removed with bedding for easier cleaning.  You should also provide a layer of foal-safe bedding materials, such as straw, wood pellets, or shredded paper, on top of the SuperStall to provide additional comfort and security for the foal.
  1. Maintain your Stall: Finally, be sure to frequently clean and muck out your stall after the birth. Maintain a safe living environment free of sharp edges and hazards and provide adequate light in the stall throughout the night in order to keep a watchful eye over mare and foal.

Have you already started preparing your stall for foaling season?  What other tips would you recommend?

Posted in Bedding, Foal, Foaling season, Horse Comfort, IGK Equestrian, North Brook Farms, SuperStall | 1 Comment »

Fuming over stall odor?

February 23, 2012

Stinky StallThe average horse generates more than two gallons of urine and 30 pounds of manure a day. All that waste has to go somewhere, and in a stall environment, that “somewhere” is usually into a pile of pine shavings on top of a rubber floor mat. Now, no one expects a boarding stable to smell like a lilac grove, but it shouldn’t bring tears to your eyes, either. When drainage is poor, or stalls aren’t mucked out regularly, the resulting ammonia fumes and bacteria build-up can be irritating at best and harmful at worst – for horses and humans.

Bedding material is obviously important, and you’ll want the most absorbent you can afford – sawdust or pine shavings are ideal. And while you certainly don’t want to skimp on all that waste-absorbing bedding, it’s worth noting that the thicker the floor mat, the less bedding you’ll need.

One major cause of stall odor is urine pooling under the mat. Foam and rubber mats provide dual benefits of cushioning tired joints and reducing the amount of bedding needed, so don’t get rid of them. But if pooling is a problem, the mats will need to be lifted, cleaned and allowed to dry completely. This will help reduce odor and disease-causing bacteria in waste trapped under the mats, but it’s also time and labor-intensive.

To give your horses all the cushioning benefits of a mat without the potential pooling problems, consider a waterproof top cover. This is a single piece of tough, woven fabric made to fit wall-to-wall on top of a foam or rubber mat within the stall. The top cover creates a “moisture tray” that allows urine and feces to be captured on top and easily removed with the bedding. In addition to getting rid of all that odor and bacteria-producing waste before it has a chance to run under the mat, you’ll also reduce the amount of shavings needed for bedding, labor to muck out the stalls, and disposal costs.

Foam mats like SuperStall®, and rubber mats like EquiSoft® by IGK Equestrian, come with top covers that can be custom-sized for any surface, from a standard 16’ x16’ box stall to a 12’x24’ foaling stall. They do a great job of keeping “stall stench” to a minimum.

How do you manage stall odor?

Carolyn

Posted in Bedding, Horse Comfort, IGK Equestrian, North Brook Farms, Shavings, Stall mats, Stall odor, SuperStall, Top Cover | 4 Comments »

My name’s Carolyn. I’m an arena footing freak.

January 18, 2012

Carolyn KyleA few years ago, my husband Peter and I were at the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament watching Margie Engle navigate the World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix. While everyone was watching Margie, we were watching the footing. You see, we made it and installed it. So while Margie delivered yet another breathless performance, Peter and I scanned the arena floor, silently assessing its traction, stability and response.

That’s what we do, Peter and I. We travel to shows and stare at floors. I guess you could say we’re arena footing freaks. We have to be. As owners of IGK Equestrian, we manufacture and install arena surfaces in coliseums, equine hospitals and lesson barns (we’ve even helped make footing for Thoroughbred tracks in Dubai and Hong Kong). We also make equine comfort systems – mattresses made of foam or rubber — designed specifically for performance horses. So you could say we know quite a lot about the equine footing and bedding business.

Over the years, we’ve heard a lot of the same comments about footing and bedding. Too dusty. Too slippery. Freezes too quickly. Too abrasive. We’ve heard about footing that shifts suddenly under the horse, leading to a loss of confidence at best and an injury at worst. We’ve heard from owners of sand arenas who are using up to 3,500 gallons of water per day just to keep dust under control. We’ve heard from trainers who hate to rake and horse owners who hate to muck (sound familiar?). We can’t completely eliminate raking in the ring or mucking in the stable, of course, but there are ways to make these things less of a pain — for you, your crew, your riders and boarders.

I started this blog to address some of the main challenges associated with footing and bedding, share success stories and provide a discussion forum for trainers, arena owners, veterinarians, stable managers, and riders of all disciplines. Please feel free to chime in. Because when you get right down to it, it’s all about supporting your horse.

Carolyn

Posted in Arena footing, Bedding, Carolyn, Horse Comfort, IGK Equestrian, North Brook Farms, Sand arena, SuperStall | 1 Comment »

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