Your questions answered…

How is Sorbeo made?

Why is sorbeo better than other bedding?

sorbeo horse bedding

Sorbeo is made from virgin spruce pine soft wood from sustainable Scottish forests. Our wood is slowly roasted over a few days using our own biomass boilers which extracts every milligram of moisture from the finished pellets. This unique process retains the colour of the bedding and improves its overall absorbency. You will find that more moisture is absorbed over a longer period of time making sorbeo the ultimate wood pellet bedding.

What makes sorbeo different to other beds?

Pallet of Sorbeo

Sorbeo saves time, money and muscle power – with or without rubber stable mats. Sorbeo is easily stored and managed in confined spaces – each 1m x 1.2m pallet is stacked with 55 x 18kg bags. And Sorbeo’s special absorbent qualities cuts dust and waste to a minimum and we deliver pallets direct to your stable door for £409 (price includes delivery to mainland UK and VAT) or compact and half pallets. Sorbeo is made from 100% Spruce Pine soft wood which is naturally antiseptic and is great for horses and ponies with any foot problems from mudfever to laminitis. It even smells pine fresh!

How much does Sorbeo cost?

Each 1m x 1.2m pallet is stacked with 55 x 18kg bags. That’s 990kg of bedding. We deliver pallets direct to your stable door for £409 price includes delivery to mainland UK and VAT) – just 41p per kilo. If you’re short of space or need a smaller lorry because you have tight access – try our Compact pallet (40 x 18kg bags) for £339 or Half a pallet (25 x 18kg bags) for £245.

How do I use sorbeo?

People use Sorbeo in many different ways. Water is added to the bag which fluffs up the pellets into a lovely dense, dry bedding. As you begin to use Sorbeo you will quickly work out how much water you prefer to add to each bag. Our Sorbeo fans with very wet horses sometimes top up their beds with dry pellets on top of the wet areas. Some add half the amount of water to begin with and as their horse walks in the stable the bedding mixes with the bedding underneath. Others pre-soak the bedding completely and change it everyday. You can even maintain a deep bed if you prefer, with banks as you would with shavings. Sorbeo is so versatile it will work the way you want it to. If you would like more help or advice please call us on 01466 700367.

How absorbent is sorbeo?

Sorbeo is more absorbent than other pellet bedding due to our unique manufacturing process and by the use of raw spruce pine. We boast an absorbancy ratio of 350ml to 100g of bedding – that’s a whopping 3.5:1 three and a half times its volume! A bed of shavings is 182ml to 100g and normal pellet bedding just 270ml to 100g.

What sort of floor do I need to use sorbeo?

Sorbeo works well on all types of flooring: rubber mats, concrete or natural. And it can be used for shallow or deep beds.

Do I have to add water to start a sorbeo bed?

We recommend that you do. If you use sorbeo straight from the bag you won’t have a fluffy, comfortable bed… and the pellets can be quite slippery if they are not ‘activated’ with water. You will quickly work out how much water suits you and your horse. Once the fresh bed has been made many sorbeo users like to top it up with dry sorbeo especially in very wet areas – it is very good for a particularly wet horse.

Why is sorbeo good for laminitic ponies?

Soft sorbeo moulds itself into the hoof and around the frog to create a supportive ‘cake’. With or without rubber matting sorbeo is ideal for the horse or pony with laminitis. Sorbeo is a great bedding for laminitics – it is supportive, yet soft which is ideal for chronic or acute sufferers.’ Donald McLean BVMS MRCVS, partner, Aberlour Veterinary Centre

Why is sorbeo better than straw?

Straw harbours dangerous micro-sized dust particles that you cannot see. These tiny dust pieces can be inhaled deep into the lungs of your horse and can contribute to respiratory ailments. Sorbeo does not carry these dust particles.

Why is sorbeo so time-saving?

Unlike straw, dry, useable bedding naturally falls through the tines of the fork to the floor – no waste, less effort. Try it. It takes just minutes to muck out a bed of sorbeo. Your muck heap will be tiny compared to a piled-high straw midden.

Do I have to soak my top up bags?

Not always. If you have a really wet horse , you could add dry pellets to the wet area of your stable.

How do I order sorbeo?

You can order your sorbeo here online or by telephoning 01465 716025 using your payment card. If you prefer to pay BACs then we can arrange this too. We will usually get your pallet to you within 5 working days.

How will my sorbeo be delivered?

We recommend that your yard has good access. Our delivery lorries have a tail-lift and a pallet trolley so that your pallet can be moved into position. The delivery spot will need to be flat and free from gravel. A full pallet is 1m x 1.2m x 1.6m high. If you have any concerns regarding delivery, please see our delivery pdf. If you need a small lorry please specify this on ordering. You will be able to add any specific delivery instructions on the ‘buy me‘ page.

Important delivery information...

Access to your yard should suitable for a 18t lorry – if access is tricky, and you need a 7.5t lorry please purchase a Compact Pallet as this can be delivered on a smaller vehicle. Tail lifts on 7.5t lorries can only carry 750kg.

The delivery spot should be flat and free from gravel. Full pallet size: 1000mm x 1200mm (footprint) x 1600mm (high)

Remember to let us know if your delivery address is different from your invoice address. There will be a delivery instructions box for this when you place your order.

Please double-check that your delivery address is correct when you receive confirmation of your order.

Our prices include delivery to mainland UK – we will contact you if any surcharge is payable for offshore deliveries.

Please read our delivery pdf to see full delivery details.

PLEASE NOTE: Sorbeo prices are stable! (‘scuse the pun!)  Read what’s happening here

How much VAT do I pay?

Sorbeo is a horse bedding therefore our price includes 20 per cent VAT. Companies who offer you 5 per cent VAT option on their pellets for use as horse bedding are breaking the law.

How do I recycle my used Sorbeo bags?

You can use one of our FREE recycle schemes. Our Sorbeo bags are made from LDPE04 plastic which is recyclable. Your council should take your empty, used bags along with your kerbside collection but if they don’t, click on this link to find out how to get them back to us.

How do I store Sorbeo?

pallet sorbeo
Sorbeo with its waterproof hoodie

Your pallet of Sorbeo will arrive with a waterproof hoodie – like the one pictured here. If the hood is intact your pallet can be safely stored outside… Once you begin to use your bags, cut open the hood so that you can re-cover your bags to keep the pallet water tight. Your Sorbeo bags are waterproof until they are cut open (each bag does have tiny perforation holes to allow air to escape – the bags would burst when stacked otherwise). Your bags can be stored safely in a barn uncovered.

There are lots of wood pellet companies around - why is sorbeo the best?

Like flour, sugar and milk, wood pellets are a commodity and, to some people, a wood pellet is a wood pellet no matter where it comes from or whatever it is made out of.
Cheap European wood pellet imports have been flooding the UK market. These are mainly used for biomass energy so will be subject to just 5 per cent VAT. Knowing the source of a wood pellet bed is increasingly important. Cheap imports are usually made from compressed sawdust, old pallets and sawmill by-products or MDF waste which makes the pellet bedding highly dusty once it’s broken down – even carcinogenic. These pellets are manufactured using extremely high temperatures making the finished pellet brittle which breaks down too easily to nothing. As all the natural properties of the wood have been destroyed, there is no natural lignin left to bind the pellets together naturally. So an additive/glue is added in order to keep the pellet ‘in tact’ to stop disintegration during transportation. This gives a chalky finish to the pellet – and we don’t know whether this is dangerous to horses.
Sorbeo Horse Bedding says:
‘What the wood pellet is made from is highly important. Some wood is a lot harder than others and as a result are far less absorbent. Sorbeo uses sustainable spruce pine from Scottish forests all sourced within 60 miles of its factory – which is the best for horse bedding… it is soft, highly absorbent and very pale in colour – spruce also has naturally antiseptic qualities which is ideal for horses with foot problems.’

What makes sorbeo so cost effective?

Sorbeo creates very little waste and saves time. It takes 3-5 minutes to muck out a Sorbeo stable leaving you time to get to work or do one of the other million jobs you have to juggle on a day-to-day basis. And you don’t even have to pick it up – we deliver to your stable door.

How do I buy sorbeo?

We deliver Sorbeo in manageable 18kg bags – 55 bags to a pallet – giving you 990kg of sorbeo which should be enough for one horse for a whole year. Just go to our shop, call 01465 716025 or email [email protected]. We will arrange delivery direct to your yard within a few days.

How does sorbeo reduce my carbon hoofprint? ...and is it sustainable?

Each 18kg bag of sorbeo is crammed with perfect little Sorbeo pellets… They were once a mighty Spruce Pine – felled in a sustainable Scottish Forest. Trees that come into our plant are sourced locally and every tree we take away is replaced with many seedlings that replenish the forest. The trees are chopped into logs and taken to our nearby factory in Ayrshire. Within hours, our logs are ground through a mill, powered by our biomass boilers using energy pellets that we produce. This is a highly efficient combined heat and power system. (By the way, our electricity is made from the bark that we peel away from the logs before the whole process begins.) The super soft wood is milled to a fine grain to make it mega absorbent. The wood is then dried using the same biomass boilers. While the wood is hot, it is squashed tightly and the original resin binds it together to make the marvellous sorbeo pellets which fluff up into a lovely, rich bedding. This way the natural antiseptic quality of the pine is retained. The finished little 6mm diameter pellets are 100% wood – no dust, nothing added and nothing taken away – and their high density means, ultimately, more pellets to your bag without a milligram of moisture – let your horse produce that!

FSC logo

…and you should know that Sorbeo is a Proud Supporter of UNESCO’s newest and only Scottish Biosphere. Read more…

 

Why are there so many wood pellet beddings around at the moment?

There is currently an abundance of wood pellets in the UK. This is because of the increase in demand for energy pellets with new biomass projects coming online across Europe. There are very few producers of pellet bedding in the UK and most supplies come in from Europe flooding the market. (NB Sorbeo is made at our own plant in Scotland!) This has not always been the case. Flooding in forests in Russia in 2017 prevented wood harvesting. While in Iberia, forest fires disrupted supply chains. The industrial wood pellet index price has increased £28/t since May 2017 and there is expected to be a tight market through 2018 into 2019. The demand for European pellets for biomass heating is set to increase by 3M tonnes. And of course the Euro exchange rate and Brexit are affecting the markets too.

Why has sorbeo increased in price?

Actually – Sorbeo prices have dropped this year. Manufacturing, packaging, fuel, energy, harvesting and haulage fees have increased and we have to reflect this in our prices. The situation is being exasperated by the current Ukraine crisis as volumes of European imported wood pellets into the UK are being impacted. We are doing all we can to bring you Sorbeo at the best price possible. Our pallets are bigger and full up to weight at 990kg – that’s Sorbeo to you for 40p a kilo! Read more about Sorbeo price increases…

Sorbeo and the growth of wood pellet bedding

Sorbeo is at the centre of a new revolution of bedding for horses. Gone are the days of mounds of straw and shavings which are time-consuming and, these days, pretty expensive. Wood pellet bedding for horses now accounts for 20 per cent of the total bedding market in the UK and continues to grow. Since 2011, growth has increased significantly from 8 per cent. In 2006 there were no recorded horse-owners using wood pellet bedding at all. Straw usage continues to decline as has the use of shavings. Wood pellet bedding for horses has gained from their losses. The new and popular bedding for horses on the market is Sorbeo – a wood pellet-based horse bedding which is highly absorbent, dust free, naturally antiseptic, 100% natural, extremely cost effective and environmentally sound. But Sorbeo is no ordinary wood pellet bedding. Made from spruce pine sourced within a 100-mile radius of our own factory in Ayrshire, Scotland, we pride ourselves on quality. We have discerning customers who choose Sorbeo for its consistency and reliability. Sorbeo gives them assurance and is a 5* bedding for horses. Each 18kg bag puffs up to three times its volume. And each pallet is stacked with 55 bags. Simply add a small bucket of water to each bag of Sorbeo and let your horse do the rest!

Still unsure? Have a read of our summary of different types of horse bedding

Most horse owners take great pride in providing their horses with clean, nice-looking stables; some of us might even throw in that extra bit of bedding for added comfort. But could we be unknowingly harming our horses more than helping them?

Let’s look at some facts on the different types of horse bedding and how they can affect the health of our horses. Read more…

Will my Sorbeo dry out in summer?

Sorbeo works best when there’s moisture around – in the air, on the ground or from your horse.

During the summer months or exceptionally dry periods, your Sorbeo bed might become over dry.

Don’t lose heart! Follow our few simple tips and your bed will be as manageable as before.

NOTE – not all wood pellets are equal.
Many wood pellets for sale in the UK today are meant for the fuel market and are made from compressed sawdust and by-products from sawmills. These are not to be used for horse bedding. They can be very powdery when they break down and are made from dust – some even contain MDF dust which is carcinogenic when inhaled. They are also only subject to 5% VAT – which makes them cheaper but it is illegal to use them as horse bedding.