Anyone have half rubber matting and half bed?

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Dirty_D

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Just wondered if anyone has this for their bed. I currently have a huge straw bed in my 12x12 stable, mucking out every other day fully (please dont judge me for this, its the most time/petrol saving way ive found) but was thinking of having the front 6ft rubber matted and the back half bedded. My reason for thinking this is he only has the bed so large as he's shod and obviously wouldnt want him scraping on concrete but i feel as if i waste alot of straw this way and make life harder.

I cant afford the whole lot rubber matting at the minute so wondered if this would work or if im better just waiting and doing the whole thing. I'd still have a minimum half bed even if i matted the whole thing but it kind of makes me think why spend and extra £120 on matting which will be covered in bedding anyway (maybe this is wrong and is why i need everyones thoughts!)

Also not sure if i'd be better with shavings/ pellets or similar if i do the half bed thing and also whether if i did use shavings/pellets if id be better deep littering the bed bit?!? (i mean fully deep littering just removing poo/serious wet and then taking all out after a few months, just to clarify as i know some people think deep littering is once a week!)

I'm confused with so many options and the more i read the more confused i become! Currently with my straw bed i'm paying £18 for a large round bale which lasts about 2.5 weeks, i dont want/think i will save any cost bedding wise but my thought is for time.

Any thoughts welcome even if its to tell me its the most ridiculous thing you've heard!
 
I have my stable completely rubber matted, and half straw it. I would really recommend saving a bit more and doing the whole stable, that way you can start just putting down a thin straw bed which is what I do now - I go through much less straw than I used to on a concrete base :)
 
I'd spend the extra and have the lot done. I had half mats for a while and they don't stay in place very well. Also you still need a thick bed to protect from the concrete.

I've just moved to a box with full mats and won't need so much bed. My horse had previously had full mats with just a light bed of shavings, with a half bed we deep littered only taking it out after a couple of months. The good thing about this is you get a good firm base that stays put.
 
I have a large stable and only have a couple of mats at the moment. I have put them at the back where the straw is as I feel it stops my horse scraping his legs on the concrete even though I have a deepish bed plus it must be warmer. However, a fellow yard member who is much more knowledgable than me does it the other way round with shavings! She does have her bed very deep though.
 
my stable is 12x12 and i have it 3/4 matted. they do move sometimes but only slightly. I use a very light/ thin bedthat covers about a third of wood pellets (like cat litter ) it was the best thing i did to save time and it doesnt cost me anymore than straw either. the bedding takes a bit of getting used to as it needs to be dampened down before but ive got on well with it. hardly any thrown away. just the poo and the really really wet stuff rest gets forled through and dries in no time :-)
 
I would do what you can now and save a bit of time and when you can afford it, to do the rest. My mare was such a drty cow on shavings that I now have only an inch thick bed of shavings in one corner where she wee's. Her stable is 18 x 18 and only 3 x 10 is shavings. It used to take me 45 mins to muck her out and now its about 5 minutes Please dont think i'm a mean mummy...... her COPD has improved dramatically.
 
Both of my stables have matting just on the front half, and bed at the back. Works brilliantly as I give a thick bed even on matting and I was still having wee seeping through under the mats and having to lift them all the time, now I don't. They are nice heavy duty ones and don't shift at all and I'm very very pleased with the system. One of mine is on Aubiose and the other on Wood Pellets.
 
Thanks everyone for your replies, just mulling it over again in my head!

Do you all have heavy rubber mats or the soft EVA ones? some of the EVA ones look like they would be hard to sweep but it may just be the pics some show on their websites.

The other thing that is making me want mats is currently we have a muck bay at floor level but this will be changing soon were we will have to push up onto a trailer so the less i have to move the better!
 
I have the heavy rubber ones... Think they're called 'croc top's or something like that! Pain in the ass to move around but they don't shift in the stable!
 
I tried my mare with straw on rubber matting and would never do it again, yuck!
If i was to use straw again it would be without mats.

My stable if fully matted and i have been using shavings but have a decent amount of bed down as she is rather wet, though i am going to give wood pellets a try this winter.

I went for cow matting in my stable as i have back problems and want to be able to life them when needed: original mayo mat http://www.cowcomfort.co.uk/
 
I have the front half or so of my stable with matting which protects the concrete (and my mare's feet!). The back half I have as a shavings bed (which I think personally is the better bed to use on concrete as it doesn't move as much) which is semi deep littered in the week and then I have a proper clearout at the weekend. Its not massively deep (probably about 8 inches at most) but with banks and I never find any exposed floor. Mucking out only takes a few minutes and I use a bag of shavings a week. So in answer, half rubber matting works a treat for me!

Also, it means I dont get loads of pee underneath the mat which is a personal hate of mine - shavings are easier to move so the floor can get an airing too
 
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Are stables are fully rubber mattered with a small bed, and then one yard I work at is also like this, one yard has rubber all over still with a fairly decent bed, and others have had rubber at the front and the bedding just on the concrete, all works well! At the yard I was at my horses used to have massive stables (think two stables in one) so had rubber matting in front half then bedding for rest l, as they were such big stables I still used a fair amount off bedding but it worked very well, would just prefer horses standing on rubber if poss. One of the stables was on shavings and other on straw, both worked well, I prefer straw and didn't have to pay for it, but my older pony had to be on shavings.
 
I have rubber matting at the front and straw at the back - my mats dont shift either - they are the thick heavy ones. I also did the same with deep litter at the back which worked very well - just removed poo daily and worst of wet once a week and topped up with one back of chopped rape a week. The stable was quite big though and didnt work in my smaller stable I have now but think that is mainly down to where the haynet is and her turning point.
 
Just a bit of advice from a person who hates scrubbing when sweeping... The mats that are anti slip.... the ones with the bobbles.... are a bugger to sweep up on! If there is a bit of poo, feed or anything damp it doesnt sweep clean. I have never hear of a horse slipping on a normal heavy duty mat that is perfectly flat.
 
All my ponies stand and poo along the back wall, so I have a bed in the middle third of the stable where they wee and lie down. So I just have to shovel up the poo and without disturbing the bedding, and semi deep litter the middle bit. Every time I look at my small muck heap, which in my back garden I realise the mats were worth the investment.
I also use hemp of flax so that makes the muck heap even smaller. Someone came last weekend came and took it all away for his allotment.
 
I use the light weight mats , one where he stands at the front and one where he lies. he is messy, in that he has to poo in a clean bit every time, also buries stuff!
They do shift a bit but are light so easy to push in to place, and easy to wash.
He pees for England but there is no pattern, otherwise I would put pellets down! I have a problem with ammonia in this stable, when I am mucking out, which I never had before, but I don't know why,might be due to lusher grass and a different haylage [soaked].
There is no smell by the time he is back in stable at night, and I have pulled clean shavings down from the walls.
 
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thanks everyone, its good to see what everyone else does.

Do any of you with straw find your bed moves much (either with half or full mats) ? I have it in my head that the rubber will stop it spreading so much (with it being grippy) but not sure if this is right.

I think im going to get half done until i can afford the other half but im just deciding on whether to stick with a thick straw bed or change to shavings at the back arrrgggh, decisions decisions!!!
 
I got the non-movable ones and they are stuck together with a rubber sealant and to the walls, the wee can't get under them then. I use a bit of aqua-max or similar at the back to soak up the wee. When I bought mine the bloke said 'Don't use more than a bucket full of shavings on them' so I don't and they are quite easy to muck out.
 
I have the back 3/4s of mine matted (very thick, heavy duty stuff - doesn't move at all), then do thick banks around 3 edges (not where her hay and water is at the front) and a small scattering across the matting.
She only wee's and poo's around the edges, so I take out the wet bits and poo, then re-bank.
I'd guess I've got about 2 bales of straw in there and use about 1 more bale a week to "top up".
 
Thanks everyone for your replies on this, i finally bit the bullet and bought the full lot of mats. Ie decided on the Black Mat Co matting after what seemed like months trawling the net to research every type of mat going and picked it up and fitted it yesterday.

I still have a half a straw bed (well just over at the minute as i've not quite got used to using less straw!) and it was my first day of mucking out today and WOW! loved it! I'm going to stick with straw for now and if i have problems with wet patches will try a scattering of shavings underneath and then if still having problems will try either shavings or wood pellets as a bed but I'm hoping the straw will be fine (Its a smaller bed but i still have it deep).

I'm also pleased as it seems to be an easy sweep top on the mats as although it has a raised bobble pattern all the bubbles/bobbles are joined together rather than some other types which have bobbles with flat bits around.

Here's to more time riding and less time mucking out!
 
I have 3/4 matting and 1/4 bedding. I did originally have the stable fully matted but it takes longer to sweep & due to having no drainage underneath the matting gets stinking.
 
I have heavy rubber matting in the whole stable which is 12' x 14'. My boy is only 14.2hh.

I deep litter 3/4 of the stable. I use bliss which really soaks up the wee. I did pick up the mats after one year and nothing too gross or smelly so haven't done it since. His stable has no nasty smells.

I find his water stays nice and clean as away from the bed.

Jane
 
Dirty_D said:
Here's to more time riding and less time mucking out!
Click to expand...

I know I am a fruit and nut case, but to me, I really don't mind mucking out, with one horse, I can have a little "me time", no one interferes, and I can just do my own thing.
If I have multiple horses, I have a target to meet, a standard to achieve
, who cares, I have to have a few minutes on my own.
 
Nope.

Straw and concrete underneath that.

Never 'ad capped 'ocks nor ave I ever 'ad an 'orse complain. If they did, me 'orse communicator never said nuthin so I wouldn't know.

Rubber smells and should only be put on willies.
 
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