money and the muck heap
Verdo European, Pellets for Horse Bedding
Verdo customers asked for a more cost effective bedding solution for their horses and so they followed the success of original VERDO wood pellet horse bedding by introducing VERDO European. By searching in Europe where softwood grows in abundance and manufacturing costs are lower they introduced wood pellets of a quality comparable to VERDO Original. VERDO European, is a heat-treated wood pellet made from 100% virgin sustainable soft-wood. Activated in the same way, VERDO European has low dust content and is highly absorbent too improving overall dryness and air quality essential in avoiding respiratory problems.
Verdo UK, Pellets for Horse Bedding
Verdo Horse Bedding is a heat-treated wood pellet made from 100% virgin soft wood timber. Verdo once activated has a low dust content, making our bedding the ideal choice for horses with compromised respiratory issues. Verdo is equally a very absorbent bedding choice, when a horse urinates Verdo Horse Bedding absorbs the liquid quickly and efficiently, because of the high absorbency rate any urine or damp remains in a localised patch. The horse’s urine will not run or spread to affect a large area of the bedding. Removal of the saturated wet patches is as simple as scraping away the good clean bedding and lifting away the wet bedding with a fork or shovel; any clean Verdo will not be affected and you will not need to rotate or disturb visibly good bedding to find any underlying wet areas. You will find that you do not loose any good bedding by removing the droppings by a simple sieving action, as the clean and dry Verdo will fall through the bedding fork.
Ecoshiv Horse
Bedding
Harrison Spinks grow and harvest hemp to provide a unique natural filling for their mattresses. Hemp is a highly absorbent material and is naturally resistant to mildew, helping to keep beds fresh and hygienic. All the hemp is processed on site at the Harrison Spinks Farm. Only the soft stringy fibres are used in mattresses – they wouldn’t be so comfortable if the woody core was left in – this is where EcoShiv comes in.
Nothing goes to waste, and the by-product of the hemp is now a 100% natural, very absorbent, dust free animal bedding – hemp shiv called EcoShiv.
EcoShiv has many qualities which make it an excellent horse and animal bedding:
Highly Absorbent: EcoShiv has natural absorbent qualities, similar to that of a sponge. It is said to be capable of absorbing 12 times more water than straw and 4 times more than wood shavings.
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- Ultra Compostable: There is no problem with disposing of shiv bedding (unlike shavings) as it decomposes quickly into a highly fertile organic fertiliser.
- Odour Absorbing: EcoShiv bedding traps smells and ammonia, you can keep a deep litter bed and still have a pleasant smelling stable for your horse.
- Ultra Low Dust Content: EcoShiv raw material is thoroughly dust extracted – making it suitable bedding for horses or ponies with respiratory problems.
- Grown and Processed in the UK: From start to finish EcoShiv is grown and processed in Yorkshire.
- Easy to Maintain: All that is needed is to rake the bed daily and take out the wet bedding once a week, you can add fresh EcoShiv as necessary.
- Cost Effective: Many horse owners have reported saving up to a third on the cost of bedding when they have switched to using EcoShiv.
- Grown Pesticide Free: Rich Yorkshire soil, rain and sunshine create the perfect growing condition to grow our hemp crop from seed using absolutely zero pesticides or herbicides.
- Environmentally Friendly: Hemp takes just 4 months to grow and is a carbon-negative raw material.
Snowflake Premium equine wood pellets
Snowflake Premium equine wood pellets are made from UK sourced 100% virgin softwood. The wood is compressed to form a pellet using only lignin which is naturally found in the wood to bind them.
Wood pellets make a lovely, warm fluffy bed that is very absorbent, being able to soak up to 3 times their volume in water, locking in odours too. The pellets are fully biodegradable and rot down quickly on the muck heap into a rich compost.
The clean, green, economical and easy to use alternative to traditional wood based equestrian bedding.
The 30 litre bags (approx. 20kg) are easy to handle and can be stored outside on pallets.
How to use Snowflake Equine Pellets
A clean, green, economical and easy to use alternative to traditional wood based equestrian bedding.
Directions for use:
For a new bed, lay flat between 6 – 10 bags onto the stable floor. Additional bags will be required if your stable does not have rubber matting.
Carefully cut open each bag and pour over approximately half a bucket of water onto the pellets.
Wait 10 minutes for the pellets to absorb the water and expand.
Empty the bedding from each bag onto the floor and rake through with a fork.
Spread the bedding evenly along the stable floor to create the bed. Additional bedding may be used to make banks if required.
To muck out, simply remove the solids and any wet patches each day.
Add additional bedding as required. The pellets can be activated with water before adding to the bed or if your horse is particularly wet, add straight from the bag. An average bed needs an additional bag of pellets to top up each week.
Snowflake Standard
Standard only by name, Snowflake Standard bales are made from premium mixed virgin wood shavings and softwood Snowflake Softchip.
Snowflake Standard offers the benefits of woodshavings – a naturally warm, soft and comfortable bed with with a fresh, pleasant odour and the durability of Softchip – a greater support under hoof which minimises bedding movement.
The high absorbency rate of the bedding provides ease of use, generating little waste and works out to be cost effective with minimal bedding top up required.
As with all our Snowflake products, Standard are manufactured through our advanced dust extracted process which minimises dust levels in the stable, supporting a healthy respiratory system for you and your horse.
The bales are 120 litres and approximately 20kg in weight.
How to use Snowflake Standard
Start with a clean empty stable.
Initially five to six bales are required to bed down a 12ft x 12ft stable depending on the depth of bed required. Additional bales will be needed if rubber stable mats are not used.
Snowflake Standard bales are super compressed and spring apart when opened.
Open one bale at a time and with a shavings fork toss the shavings and chip into the air so as to loosen and fluff up. Spread the shavings and chip evenly on the stable floor to the required depth.
Use additional bales to build banks against the stable walls if required. These not only help prevent horses from becoming cast when rolling but also guard against draughts.
One to two bales per week on average will be needed to maintain your horses’ bed.
Managing a Snowflake Standard bed is really easy.
Remove droppings either with a shaving fork or by hand using gloves.
Scrape the clean bedding to the sides with a shavings fork to locate wet patches at the bottom of the bed and remove with the shavings fork or a shovel. Scrape the shavings back from the sides to re-lay the bed and level the banks. Top up the bed with new shavings as required.
If time allows, the bed may be completely taken up by scraping all of the shavings to the sides. The floor can then be swept and allowed to dry. Once dry, re-lay the bed by pulling the shavings back from the sides and tidy the banks. Add new shavings to maintain the depth of the bed as required.
Snowflake Supreme – a leading brand in equestrian bedding
Supreme bales are made entirely from kiln dried softwood timber, this guarantees a naturally warm, soft and comfortable bed with a superb fresh odour. Snowflake’s rigorous quality control checks ensure consistent quality flake sizes to ensure that only the best woodshavings find there way into a Supreme bale.
Snowflake Supreme woodshavings are highly absorbent but remain dry on top as any wet drains away from the surface which keeps your horse nice and dry. Our advanced dust extraction process minimises dust levels in the stable which helps maintain peak health and fitness.
How to use Snowflake Supreme
Start with a clean empty stable.
Initially five to six bales are required to bed down a 12ft x 12ft stable depending on the depth of bed required. Additional bales will be needed if rubber stable mats are not used.
Snowflake Supreme bales are super compressed and spring apart when opened.
Open one bale at a time and with a shavings fork toss the shavings into the air so as to loosen and fluff up. Spread the shavings evenly on the stable floor to the required depth.
Use additional bales to build banks against the stable walls if required. These not only help prevent horses from becoming cast when rolling but also guard against draughts.
One to two bales per week on average will be needed to maintain your horses’ bed.
Managing a Snowflake Supreme bed is really easy.
Remove droppings either with a shaving fork or by hand using gloves.
Scrape the clean bedding to the sides with a shavings fork to locate wet patches at the bottom of the bed and remove with the shavings fork or a shovel. Scrape the shavings back from the sides to re-lay the bed and level the banks. Top up the bed with new shavings as required.
If time allows, the bed may be completely taken up by scraping all of the shavings to the sides. The floor can then be swept and allowed to dry. Once dry, re-lay the bed by pulling the shavings back from the sides and tidy the banks. Add new shavings to maintain the depth of the bed as required.