Bedding… the bigger picture

With horse ownership seemingly growing more expensive by the day, many people are understandably looking for the most cost effective option; however looking at the price of bedding per bale can often be false economy. With this in mind Nedz have put together some tips for horse owners this winter to help stretch out their pennies…

• Find out how many bales you will need to get your stable started – some bedding requires a lot more product to form the initial base than others. Choosing a product that requires fewer bales will be a less costly investment.
• Absorbency is key – the more absorbent your bedding, the less product you will end up throwing away and wasting, which results in fewer bales to ‘top up’ the bed on a weekly basis. The result, more money to spend on exciting things like riding!
• Will it rot down? Choosing a product that biodegrades quickly will save money on expensive muckheap removal. Think of each bale of un-biodegradable bedding as a proportion of the cost of your muckheap being taken away – it may make the cheap bale price seem less appealing.
• Quality raw material that has been thoroughly dust-extracted will provide a cleaner, healthier environment for your horse, which could result in a healthier respiratory system. Ultimately this reduces the chance of coughs developing which can not only become costly to treat, but also hinder performance levels.
• Save your time. If you are on a busy yard and have many horses to muck out, choosing a product which is simple and easy to use could save you many man-hours and you, or staff, could be doing more beneficial jobs such as riding.

Nedz provides economical chopped straw bedding products for every eventuality; choose between Nedz Original, Nedz Pro and Nedz Advance. Nedz bedding has been made from high quality raw material which has been rigorously dust extracted and treated to offer a superior bed for your horse.

Waste not, want not

Watching your bedding get dumped on the muck heap can feel a little like throwing money down the drain and with cost saving a high priority for all horse owners this winter, choosing a product which results in as little waste as possible is a more economical, and less soul destroying, option.

Absorbency is the key to reducing the quantity of bedding you remove on a daily basis. The more absorbent, the smaller the wet patch – which means less to take out, and more stays in your stable! It is important to consider this when you are choosing products as a bale of bedding which appears to be cheaper in price may not be as absorbent and may not last as long.

In addition to keeping your stable stocked up, less waste will also reduce the size of your muck heap and this in itself can save you hundreds of pounds.

Nedz Pro is made from top quality rape straw that has been chopped to form short, highly absorbent fibres and results in a comfortable, yet stable base, for your horse. As an added benefit the dust extracted straw is treated with an exclusive Natural Nedz formula containing Manuka and Cade Oil, which provides a hygienic and safe environment for you and your horse. 

Leading international riders choose Nedz Pro, including Geoff Billington, Stephanie Croxford and Mary King. “Nedz Pro bedding is my favourite because it offers me and my grooms an easy, fast method of mucking out,” Mary says. “I always ensure my bedding is highly absorbent as this reduces the amount of wasted bedding you have to throw away and also ensures harmful ammonia levels are kept to a minimum.”

Bedded down for the season ahead

Much as we don’t like to admit that summer will soon be over, as the months whizz by and autumn creeps up it is unfortunately time to get organised for the cooler season ahead.

Whatever your equestrian bedding needs, Nedz have it covered. If you like a quick, easy and no frills bedding, our pelleted product Nedz Advance is undoubtedly the way forward. Its exceptional absorbency means that urine stays in one small patch, and the pellets don’t stick to muck and rugs so minimal bedding is removed, reducing the amount of waste and the size of your muck heaps!

If you are a traditional horse owner at heart Nedz Original is the product for you. Made from wheat straw, the soft, fluffy, yet very absorbent product, provides a comfortable, aesthetically pleasing bed for your horse which is quick and easy to muck out as well as rotting down within just two or three months.

If you like a combination of quick and easy, together with a traditional feel, then Nedz Pro is the way to go. The highly absorbent rape straw product works most effectively when deep littered so only requires a quick skip out on a daily basis, yet it still provides a thick and cosy bed for your horse.

All Nedz products are made from top quality chopped straw which is dust extracted to ensure a healthy and hygienic environment for your horse. Both Nedz Original and Nedz Pro are treated with our unique Natural Nedz which contains Manuka and Cade Oil, plus a bitter tasting ingredient to prevent bed eating.

Used and favoured by top international riders, including Mary King, Geoff Billington and Stephanie Croxford, Nedz products can give owners peace of mind that they know exactly what their horse is sleeping on.

Quality not quantity!

With the huge number of pelleted bedding products on the market it is becoming increasingly confusing for consumers to choose the right option for their horse. As the only chopped straw pellet currently available, Nedz Advance offers a huge number of benefits and the rigorous quality control process means it is one of the safest and most hygienic products a horse owner can choose.

It starts with the straw! Only the best quality straw is chosen and chopped to form very short fibres. This is then passed through a rigorous dust extraction process before being treated with steam to sterilise the raw material and make it totally unpalatable for horses.

The raw material is then compressed in to small pellets which will only break down once they are laid in your stable and your horse walks on them. Each pellet is capable of absorbing up to five times its own weight in liquid due making Nedz Advance one of the most absorbent bedding products money can buy.

A little goes a long way with Nedz Advance and the pellets increase in volume to create a soft, yet sturdy base for your horse that will not slip, move or stick to rugs and droppings. Taking just a few minutes to clean out, Nedz Advance can be fully mucked out daily, or just skipped out with the wet taken out once or twice a week. What little bedding is removed will rot down within 4 – 6 weeks removing the need for costly muck heap removal.

Nedz Advance will reduce ammonia levels, save you time and money and provide a safe, virtually dust-free environment for your horse, making it ideal for horses that suffer from respiratory disorders and horse owners that get irritated by dust. The high standard of raw material, and the manufacturing process, ensures horse owners are not compromising their own, or their horses health by using inferior, poor quality bedding products.

The easy-to-handle 15kg bags cost around £6 - £7 a bag and can be purchased from your local Nedz stockist. For more information tel: (01254) 677 762 or visit www.nedz.co.uk

Mind your muck heap

After recent press coverage surrounding horse manure, muck heaps and the potential legal issues that could be implemented, many horse owners are blissfully unaware of the implications their mucking out could have! As a manufacturer of equestrian bedding, Nedz feel it is their duty to help ensure customers understand the rules and regulations surrounding their horses waste!

Biodegradability of your bedding has always been a point to consider, however with recent legislation changes and the government clamping down on rules and regulations of muck heaps, now is the time to ensure your bedding is as quick rotting as possible!

Did you know...

• If you use manure as a fertiliser to benefit the land it is no longer treated as waste and as such, is not subject to the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007. You also do not need a waste transfer note or waste carrier registration if you are moving manure that is to be used as fertiliser. If you ‘discard’ your waste, i.e. burn, tip or bury it, it is still classified as controlled waste and that is subject to the EP Regulations 2007.
• Your muck heap should be at least 10 metres away from any watercourse and should not be situated in an area prone to flooding. In addition you should bear in mind the prevailing wind to avoid any odour pollution. 
• Your muck heap should not be in a single position for more than 12 successive months and you should leave a two year gap before returning to the same site.
• Choosing the correct bedding material will have a significant impact on the quantity of waste and the speed it rots down. Using straw based bedding will maximise the nutrient value of the compost – as wood based products use up far more of the nitrogen in the manure during decomposition and results in a poorer nutrient level in the fertiliser. Straw also decomposes within several months rather than wood based products which can take 1 – 2 years.

Following some simple guidelines can avoid you a costly fine, and a huge upset. When choosing your bedding product, consider your options carefully and look at the whole picture rather than simply the cost per bale. You may find that a cheaper product could cost you more in the long run.

Nedz products are all made from chopped straw which rots down within several months and can be safely spread on fields meaning you should be exempt from the EP Regulations 2007.

To find out more about Nedz tel: (01254) 677 762 or visit www.nedz.co.uk

Make your Advance in to summer...

For the majority of riders, mucking out is not at the top of their list of things they ‘love’ to do, and particularly during the summer months, after a long day in the office, the last thing you want to do is spend precious time in a stuffy, smelly stable!

Unfortunately mucking out is part and parcel of horse management, however with the right bedding, mucking out can take just a few minutes and leave you with lots more time to ‘play horses’. With this in mind Nedz Advance was launched in to the UK to provide an effective, time efficient and simple method of bedding horses.

The chopped straw pellets really do have to be used to be believed! Capable of absorbing up to five times their own weight in liquid they make the perfect bedding choice for all horses and ponies, in particular wet or really dirty equines. The pellets break down as the horse is stabled on them providing a sturdy, yet soft base which supports the feet and keeps wet patches to a minimum.

Droppings are no longer buried under mounds of bedding, or mashed up in to the floor, and ammonia levels are virtually eliminated because of the exceptional absorbency. In addition, for those worried about dust levels, Nedz Advance has been dust extracted and sterilised making it hygienic and safe for all horses and ponies.

Nedz Advance does not stick to bedding or rugs, droppings are ‘skipped out’ with a shavings fork, the small wet patch can be scooped out on a shovel and the rest of the bed remains undisturbed. Less wasted bedding means less work for you, better value for money and smaller muck heaps. In addition this innovative method of using straw rots down within a month.

We recommend using around 3 – 4 bags of Nedz Advance for the initial start up of a 12 x 12 stable using rubber matting, or 5 – 6 bags on a concrete base. For horses stabled overnight we would expect one extra bag per week to be used to top up, however during the summer months when horses are stabled less it is not uncommon to only add one bag of Nedz Advance every fortnight.

Good foundations

Every aspect of mare and foal management is imperative to the future wellbeing of both animals, and whilst feeding and handling is often top priority, it is also vital that the stable environment is as safe and hygienic as it can be.

With years of experience in the bedding industry, Nedz provide all horses and ponies, including mares and youngstock, with comfortable, hygienic, biodegradable and cost effective bedding.

The bedding of choice from breeders and stud farms is Nedz Original; a chopped wheat straw bedding product which provides all the benefits of traditional straw - comfortable, warm, quick-rotting and supportive – whilst also offering an extremely absorbent, easy to muck out and hygienic alternative to traditional straw beds.

The raw material used in Nedz Original is handpicked for its quality before being chopped and put through a rigorous dust extraction process. The chopped straw is then treated with our exclusive Natural Nedz formulation, made from totally organic ingredients that offer anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-insecticidal properties creating a hygienic environment for your breeding stock. The formula contains no citronella or eucalyptus, which means there are no strong odours and no risk of delicate skin reacting.

Once set down, Nedz Original provides a sturdy, comfortable and supportive base which is perfect for mares and foals when lying down or spending long periods in the stable. The exceptional absorbency means no sodden wet patches and virtually no ammonia levels, leading to a healthier environment for your valuable breeding stock.

Olympia, hot headed Mr P and Annabel takes a few dunkings! Steph Croxford keeps us posted...

Since I last updated you we have battled on with the snow and competed a very keen Mr P at Olympia! It started brilliantly with me opening up the Olympia programme and seeing a big picture of Totilas opposite a big picture of Mr P - I think that will be the first and last time we are on the same page as Totilas!

The preparation was certainly not ideal for Olympia - the snow caused havoc and I didn't actually canter him until the sunday at Olympia - so to say that we were a little excited is an understatement! I would say that the Grand Prix was a bit 'fly by the seat of our pants' and can only describe it as a little rough round the edges - however we performed all of the movements so were a little disappointed with our 66.7% mark - especially when other competitors (mentioning no names) had horses that totally blew up and failed to perform movements and scored higher than us! But as we all know - that is dressage!

I felt slightly panicky in the warm up as he was so hot headed that I could barely put my right spur on his side - I forgot how buzzy the atmosphere was and it can turn the most relaxed horses upside down - at one point Mr P bolted off with me and we were within an inch of a head on collision with Judy Harvey! He was slightly explosive and all the way down the centre line I could feel him daring me to touch him! Once we were doing the test though he settled and got on with his job and I was pleased with him. You forget how hot the horses get in there - when you are warming up during set up all you can hear is staple guns which are like guns going off and the horses totally freak out at them! Also the temporary stables back on to the warm up so every now and then you get a nose poking out of the top - doesn't help concentration!


I was slightly disappointed to read on the BD forum that spectators were saying that horses at this level should be prepared for the atmosphere so I was quick to respond! You have no idea how buzzy the atmosphere is until you are riding in it - it blows their minds and even at competitions like the World Games and Olympics it is not so intense because it is outside. At Olympia as soon as you go through the curtains you are hit with an immense heat from the hall and it is like a humming sound of people talking, eating, and moving around. You simply cannot criticise until you have been in that situation!

We finished 9th overall and considering our preparation I was pleased as we certainly didn't disgrace ourselves. The main thing is that at the age of 17 he still absolutley loved it and catapulted me down the centre line! You can't ask for more than thaty can you?!

We are having a quieter time now, Clyde is gearing up for the Regionals and we are also playing with him at home, teaching him changes and piaffe from the ground - it is a bit confusing for him though as he can't quite understand why he then has to go back to doing Medium tests after doing all the fancy stuff! Captain Mac has begun his education as he is now rising three so has been bitted and lunged over Christmas, watch this space for his progress!

Annabel is continuing her quest to stardom - but has suffered from a few dunkings over Christmas - four to be precise! Her pony has learnt that if he puts his head down Annabel shoots over his head - so a Daisy rein has now been purchased and despite landing in a puddle on one occasion and being soaking wet, Annabel has got back on each time - mainly due to me saying that you are only a good rider when you have fallen off 10 times - we are up to 6 so not long to go now!