Using less bedding can save you time and money. Less bedding use means cleaning stalls will be easier and quicker (since you won’t have to hunt around for manure hidden in mounds of shavings). It also means you end up with less stall waste to deal with. If you compost, it means that you’ll have less carbon in your compost so it will compost better and faster–and you’ll end up with a nicer finished compost product that will be more useful for your pastures. So reducing bedding use is a smart management technique for any sized horse property.

I’m not suggesting reducing bedding use at the expense of horse health, but most of us horse owners like to bed our stalls the way we like our own beds: Nice and deep and fluffy. Horses by nature don’t need a soft, fluffy bed and your horse management situation may not require this