Horse bedding is most commonly made from straw, wood shavings, or wood pellets, though hemp, flax, peat, and paper-based products are also widely used. The best material for any given horse depends on respiratory sensitivity, hoof health, how much time you want to spend mucking out, and your budget.
Straw
Straw is the most traditional horse bedding material, made from the dried stalks left over after cereal crops like wheat, barley, or oat are harvested. It’s inexpensive and easy to source in farming regions, and many horse owners prefer it because horses find it comfortable to lie on and it provides good insulation in cold weather.
The trade-off is that straw is one of the least absorbent bedding options. It doesn’t wick moisture away from the stall floor effectively, which can leave the environment damp and promote ammonia buildup between cleanings. Straw also carries higher levels of dust, bacterial endotoxins, and fungal spores compared to most alternatives. Horses housed on straw show higher airborne fungal contamination in their stalls, making it a poor choice for any horse with a history of breathing problems. Straw that’s been stored in damp conditions is particularly risky, as it develops mold quickly. You’ll also spend more time cleaning: straw beds need thorough daily mucking to stay hygienic.
Wet straw trapped against the hoof can contribute to thrush, a bacterial infection of the soft tissue on the underside of the foot. If your horse is prone to hoof problems, a more absorbent material is usually a better fit.
Wood Shavings
Wood shavings are the other go-to choice and are made from softwoods like pine or spruce. They absorb moisture far more efficiently than straw, keeping stalls drier and making daily cleaning faster since wet spots clump together and are easy to pick out. High-quality shavings are dust-extracted during processing, which makes them significantly better for respiratory health than straw.
Not all wood species are safe. Black walnut shavings are toxic to horses and can cause a severe inflammatory reaction in the hooves called laminitis, even from brief contact. Always confirm the wood species before purchasing, especially when buying from a local sawmill rather than a packaged equine product.
Absorbency varies by wood type. Research from Oregon State University found that western red cedar shavings absorbed about 328% of their weight in horse urine, compared to roughly 215% for Douglas fir and 214% for western juniper. Finer particles absorb more: Douglas fir shavings ground to less than 3 mm absorbed 358% of their weight, nearly double the rate of larger pieces. In practical terms, this means finer shavings keep a stall drier but may also produce more dust, so there’s a balance to strike.
Shavings generally cost more than straw, particularly if you’re buying bagged products rather than bulk loads. Availability can be inconsistent in areas without nearby lumber operations.
Wood Pellets
Wood pellet bedding is made from compressed sawdust, typically kiln-dried softwood. The pellets arrive in dense, compact bags and need to be activated with water before use. A standard 12-by-12-foot stall takes about six to eight 40-pound bags to start, moistened with roughly four gallons of water sprayed in a fan pattern. The pellets break apart into a soft, fluffy layer that looks and feels similar to fine sawdust.
The main advantage of pellets is their absorbency, which is significantly higher than loose shavings per unit of volume. They also store more compactly, which matters if you have limited barn space. Once broken down, the bedding clumps tightly around wet spots, so you remove less clean material during mucking and go through bedding more slowly over time. The kiln-drying process removes most of the natural oils and resins in the wood, reducing the chance of skin irritation or respiratory reactions.
Hemp
Hemp bedding is made from the chopped inner core of the hemp stalk, called the hurd. It’s extremely absorbent, capable of soaking up roughly four times its own weight in liquid. That high capacity means you need less material to manage the same amount of moisture, and the stall stays drier between cleanings.
Hemp is naturally low in dust and does a good job suppressing airborne ammonia odors. These qualities make it a strong option for horses with respiratory conditions like inflammatory airway disease. It composts faster than wood shavings, which is a practical consideration if you manage your own manure pile. The main downside is price: hemp bedding typically costs more upfront than straw or shavings, though the higher absorbency can offset that over time since you replace less material at each cleaning.
Flax
Flax bedding, sometimes sold under the name “linen bedding,” comes from the chopped stems of the flax plant. It shares many of hemp’s best properties: high absorbency, very low dust, and naturally pest-free. Studies comparing flax directly to pine shavings found that flax had a superior binding capacity, meaning wet material clumps together more tightly and is easier to separate from the clean bedding during stall cleaning. It also produced lower dust levels than pine.
Flax is a good choice for horses with allergies or chronic coughing, and for owners who want a low-maintenance stall. Like hemp, it tends to be more expensive than conventional options and may not be stocked at every feed store.
Peat Moss
Peat bedding stands out for one specific quality: ammonia control. In a study comparing peat to wood shavings over 84 days, ammonia levels in peat-bedded stalls stayed below 0.25 parts per million for the entire period. Stalls bedded with wood shavings climbed to 4.0 to 7.0 ppm by the same point, approaching levels considered harmful. Workers in the shavings-bedded stalls were exposed to an average of 5.9 ppm of ammonia over an eight-hour shift, while those working in peat-bedded stalls had no measurable exposure at all.
Peat is dark in color, which makes it harder to spot wet patches visually, and it can be messy to handle. It’s also not available everywhere and raises environmental concerns since peat bogs take thousands of years to form. Still, for horses with serious respiratory issues or barns with limited ventilation, its ammonia-trapping ability is unmatched.
Paper and Cardboard
Shredded paper and cardboard bedding are made from recycled materials, typically printed newspaper or corrugated cardboard cut into strips or small pieces. They produce virtually no dust, making them useful for horses recovering from respiratory illness or surgery. Paper bedding is also a practical choice when a horse has an open wound, since it won’t stick to damaged tissue the way fine shavings or straw can.
The downsides are real, though. Paper bedding becomes heavy and soggy when wet, and it doesn’t clump cleanly the way shavings or hemp do. It can blow around in open-sided barns and tends to look untidy faster. Availability is inconsistent, and it’s rarely the most economical option.
Choosing the Right Material
Your horse’s health is the most important factor. If your horse coughs, has nasal discharge, or has been diagnosed with any breathing condition, avoiding straw and choosing a dust-extracted or naturally dust-free option like hemp, flax, or quality wood shavings will make a measurable difference in the air they breathe. For hoof-prone horses, absorbency matters most: wood shavings, pellets, and hemp all outperform straw at keeping hooves dry and reducing thrush risk.
Budget and labor time matter too. Straw is cheapest to buy but most expensive in time, requiring more frequent and more thorough mucking. Hemp and flax cost more per bag but last longer between full bedding changes. Wood pellets offer a middle ground, with compact storage and strong absorbency, though the initial setup takes more effort than tossing shavings into a stall.
If you compost your manure on-site, bedding material affects how quickly the pile breaks down. Sawdust composts more readily than straw or shredded paper, which can take significantly longer to decompose. Hemp also breaks down relatively quickly compared to wood-based products.