ECOBALE Limited

When my friend Daniella Toomey suggested that I look at Ecobale cardboard bedding, I was a little sceptical to say the least. However, Daniella had been impressed with it when she worked at a vet's, and anyway, Daniella's opinion is always to be respected. I learnt that years ago!

Now I have to admit, Daniella, I will be eternally in your debt! This is truly brilliant stuff!

I don't know where to start, so I will start with the most important -

My horses' health and comfort -

1, Comfort. I must admit that I love the white fluffy look of a newly made bed of shavings. However, when the horse rolls or lies down the shavings tend to lose their shape and can separate, so unless you have rubber matting (which I have not yet picked up yet), or use a vast amount of shavings the horses can easily catch themselves on the cold concrete floor.

None of that with Ecobale. The bedding makes a lovely plumped up bed, soft but firm that retains its depth brilliantly. Ok, I don't get the visual satisfaction of white shavings, but the horses really love it. Since we have started using it they have been lying down much more - in fact one day I found all four of them lying down, which has never happened before!

2, Dry feet. All the wetness drains to the bottom which is highly absorbant. I have never ever managed to keep my horses' feet so dry. In fact we have always treated the horses' feet weekly with peroxide to keep any bugs away. We don't need to now.

3, Dust free. The shavings I have used before claimed to be dust-free and they appeared so in the stable. However, when we swept the yard there were always a certain amount of dust, to the extent that before our horses flew to Hong Kong we made sure each was hand-grazed while we swept up. Our vet wanted us to make sure they had no dust in their lungs.

We have just moved from shavings to Ecobale on the same yard so have a direct comparison. It is indeed 100% dust-free. Perfect for my horses. I now understand why it is so popular with vets.

My (and Mark)'s health and comfort -

4, Easy. It is brilliantly easy to muck out. Those who know me know I can take the best part of the day mucking out. It is really not high on my skill base - not for lack of practice, I can assure you! Since all the wet is absorbed into the Ecobale lower layer, you just separate off the clean top layer with a shavings fork and the shovel up the wet layer. The soft but firm consistency makes skipping out, maybe not a pleasure, but a lot easier than with shavings, paper or straw.

5. Convenient. Since everything compacts so well it means we are only taking out one wheelbarrow where we would have taken out two. Great for us, but also pleases Sorrel whose muckheap we use.

6. Less smell. I don't understand the science, but the yard is significantly less pungent in the morning before and during mucking out.

Saving the Environment

7. It is wonderful to be able to be Green so easily. The bedding is 100% recycled and from a renewable source. It is fully biodegradable and breaks down a lot faster than other bedding. Another plus for the muck-heap. Even the packaging can be reused by the factory.

For further information Please go to http://www.ecobale.co.uk/