Straw has been used as bedding horses and farm animals for many years as it is warm, allows urine and other liquids to drain away providing a comfortable bed, and is almost always cheaper than wood shavings and other beddings. Interestingly, modern studies have also shown that there are tangible behavioural benefits for horses bedded on straw as opposed to other types of bedding, but there has been an increasing focus on the effect of dust in straw and hay on the respiratory health of horses exposed to it day after day.
A study carried out in 2014 showed that horses bedded on straw and fed non-steamed hay were exposed to 17 times the dust levels of horses bedded on shavings and fed steamed hay. The results of a separate study showed that 84% of horses suffered from Inflammatory Airway Disease (IAD), which is mainly caused by the respirable dust found in hay and straw.
Maintaining respiratory health is a stable management priority, particularly for performance horse enterprises, so it isn’t difficult to see why training yards have avoided straw for many years for bedding their horses and started steaming hay to eliminate the majority of respirable particles. The 2014 study did find that if straw was steamed in a Haygain steamer, just like hay, the respirable particle content was greatly reduced, making it far safer for a stabled horse to sleep and rest in a straw bed without risking respiratory disorders.
A separate study in 2014 examined the prevalence of respiratory disorders in people working in the equine industry, considering the time they spent at the yard, the use of hay and straw and the stable environment they were working in. Prior to this study there had been very little published information on the prevalence of respiratory disorders within the UK horse owning population, or on any relationships that might exist between stable management activities and the incidence of respiratory disease.
Nearly half of those who responded to the study (46%) had suffered a respiratory disorder, and 52% suffered from asthma, a condition which can be life-threatening if not managed and treated properly. The incidence of respiratory diseases in stable staff increased among those who filled hay nets with forage that had not been steamed, swept an enclosed stable complex twice a day or worked with horses in enclosed stables bedded with straw – certainly nothing unusual or rare in the present day.
It is estimated that there are 3.5 million people working in the equine industry in the United Kingdom, meaning that if that figures above are extrapolated, 1.7 million stable staff could be suffering from a respiratory disease. Stable management that manages dust levels to help reduce the incidence of respiratory disorders in not only the horses, but also the staff who care for them, will be crucial to ensure yards are considered safe places for people to carry out their day-to-day work.
Companies such as Haygain are shining a spotlight the effect of dusty forage and bedding on the respiratory health of both equines and their grooms and owners, and ways to combat the effect of respirable particles. Products such as the Haygain Steamer have enabled yards to feed hay safe in the knowledge it will not harm horses’ respiratory systems, and it seems they can do the same for straw too.
