Horse Bedding: Hemp
Recommendation: High quality but possibly expensive bedding. See Horse Bedding for a comparison to other options.
Summary:
| Attribute | Rating |
| Urine Absorption | Excellent |
| Ammonia & Odour Control | Excellent |
| Coat Feces | Yes |
| Waste | Low (small amount of soiled bedding) |
| Labour | Low (relatively little labour required) |
| Cost | High |
| Physical Health | Average |
| Mental Comfort | Average |
Explanation:
Hemp bedding is very popular with horse owners due to:
- It keeps stables very clean and odour free, due to its excellent urine absorption and its tendency to coat feces
- It allows mucking out to be done quickly and with minimum labour or waste
In general, it performs best with 'clean and quiet' horses and is not expensive with such horses. It performs less well with 'dirty box walkers' and is significantly more expensive with such horses (see general issues for details).
Hemp bedding is made from the stem of the hemp plant, which is grown commercially for animal bedding and a variety of other purposes (e.g. cordage) . Bedding companies purchase the stems and chop them into short pieces (about a centimeter in length) to make bedding.
Hemp bedding is similiar to flax bedding in terms of general appearance and performance.
