RICE STRAW as bedding

Question
hello ma'am, we lay RICE STRAW at the bedding for our racehorses. may i know how quantity of the bedding should be laid for every horse. do i need to change the bedding 2 to 3 times a day and lay the new dry bedding? can you please answer this in detail??

Answer
Hi Rohit,

Thank you for your question.  I've never used rice straw for bedding, but when laying any bedding the objective is to provide enough depth to keep your horse from scraping himself on the flooring if he lies down and enough to absorb the urine in the stall.  The more often you clean the stall, the better the air quality and cleanliness of the stall.  Regionally, owners tend to bed the stalls once a day and pick out the manure and wet spots at that time.  Those who have enough time will pick out the manure and wet spots periodically throughout the day and refresh bedding on an as-needed basis.  Normally, the more you clean the stall, the less bedding you end up using.  This is because the manure and urine-drenched bedding is removed before it mixes with (and ruins) clean/dry bedding. If your horses are inside all day and you have enough time, pick out your stalls 2-3 times a day to keep them clean and air quality good.

Thanks, Corlena