Bedding for Health and Performance

Evaluation of factors known to impact on the performance potential of all horses and ponies has historically included only superficial consideration of bedding, but even recently, as the damaging effects of dusty bedding become increasingly widely accepted and understood, further developments in the bedding market have confirmed that dust is far from the whole bedding story.

Most horseowners and livery yards will have experience of horses with ongoing respiratory problems, perhaps a constant low-grade cough, allergic reactions, bacterial infection secondary to a virus, episodes of Exercise Induced Pulmonary Haemorrhage (EIPH) or infections following hobday or tie-back surgery in competition horses, all of which compromise performance and can sometimes end a career.

The less-challenged a horse’s respiratory system, the more chance there is for any rider or trainer to achieve that individual’s full performance potential and recent work to evaluate the role of bedding in that context has produced renewed evidence of the importance of environmental disease challenge to all horses and ponies, not just those in training and competition.

James Given qualified as a vet before he became a racehorse trainer and since 1999 has been based in Lincolnshire where he currently has between 70 and 80 horses. He knows only too well that cardio-respiratory health is “critical” to performance and that on-going inflammation reducing lung function even marginally, can be the difference between winning and not.

“We all understand the importance of physical dust removal from the stable environment”, says James, “but I’ll admit that I’ve never previously thought about bedding in terms of its contribution to the control of disease.”

Respiratory problems in horses and ponies generally fit into one of several well-known scenarios and involve a degree of environmental challenge from one or more factors - dust, moulds, fungi (including aspergillus) and bacteria (including salmonella, pseudomonas and E coli). But where does this environmental challenge originate and can it be reduced?

That was the question James was asking when he agreed to trial a new bedding product containing a completely natural additive. He says, “We’ve seen a significant reduction in the incidence of coughing since we changed to a premium quality wood-based bedding product and I was happy that it was the result of a lower background physical challenge due to much-reduced dust levels. What we’re now talking about is a product that can reduce this biological challenge much further – and although further in-depth research is needed, the early results I’ve seen are very encouraging.”

Back to the stable environment and what if the source of much of the biological respiratory challenge is indeed the bedding? What if this challenge can be reliably reduced to almost negligible levels by the choice of bedding? What impact will that have on the health and performance potential of the horse in such a stable?

“If we know that by using a particular bedding we are massively reducing the known pathogens and allergens in the stable environment, we can probably safely assume that we’re also reducing those we perhaps haven’t yet identified as problematic”, says James, continuing, “This must have very significant implications for health and performance by very dramatically reducing the respiratory challenge, which would be especially important for horses susceptible to respiratory problems.”

James also raises the issue of temporary stabling such as that found on showgrounds and at events, in particular the potential for cross contamination. “A horse maintains its own home stable environment, which even with diligent mucking out still presents some respiratory challenge, but in temporary stabling, it is potentially exposed to a whole array of other challenges and I strongly support requests for a more ‘belt and braces’ approach to disease prevention. In this context, I now know that the new bedding is very effective at minimising viable pathogens and show and event organisers would do well to look at this new product, as we’ve shown, even from the early work, that anything left in this bedding by a previous occupant of a stable is likely to be dead!”

James concludes by admitting that bedding has taken up a new position in his league of management issues, ranking alongside factors like forage quality and soundness as vital to health and the potential for competition success. “Bedding can play a significantly larger role than I had ever considered”, he says, “and I am absolutely convinced that by reducing to negligible levels all the potential biological and environmental challenges to the respiratory system that originate from the bedding, we will make measurable improvements to the performance of the horses, in particular those individuals in the ‘at risk’ category for compromised respiratory function.”

The new bedding on trial at James Given’s yard is easibed plus, manufactured in the UK by G.I Hadfield & Son Ltd. Independent laboratory analysis of the bedding samples was carried out by a DEFRA-approved laboratory. Further studies to be completed include tracheal washes of a number of horses maintained on easibed plus, statistical analysis of racing performance and on-going comparative analysis of a control wood-based product.

James Given Bedding Trial

Location: James Given’s racing stables at Willoughton near Gainsborough, Lincolnshire.

Timescale: A 5-week period.

Protocol: 240 bales of easibed plus were used in the trial to lay six new beds. Another wood-based product was used as the control in six existing beds on the yard and also to lay six new beds. The 18 stables were occupied by 18 horses, divided into 3 categories - 6 from each of James Given’s yards, with three 2-year olds and three older horses from each yard. One sample was taken from each stable when it was established, or in the case of the existing beds at the start of the trial. 1 sample was taken each Wednesday of the trial from each bed, marked with each horse’s name and sent for analysis on the day of sampling. The samples were taken wearing latex gloves and placed in individual grip seal bags (approximately 250g was taken per sample).

Results
The table shows the averages over the 5 week trial. The results show a negligible level of challenge in easibed plus (Blue columns), compared to obvious levels in the other wood-based bedding product (Purple columns).

For further information:
To find out more about easibed, contact 0161 370 2360 or visit www.easibed.co.uk