best mud mats

[Abacus]

After this hideous year I am planning ahead and want to mud mat an area of a small paddock in time for next winter. I know of mud control mats and WF racing mats (any opinions either way?) - does anyone know other alternatives?

Also I am finding it hard to visualise how much space would be ideal per horse. The paddock is only 40m x 20m and I'd like to mud mat a good area of it (10X15?) plus add a shelter. The whole thing is for 3 horses, I can turn them out in bigger fields on nice days. I realise that the rest of this field will probably be trashed but I don't mind that, hopefully they'll prefer to stay on the mats. I'm just not sure if 10x15m is enough, but that's going to cost about 5k in mats...

 

[Jambarissa]

Unless you have pretty well drained land the rubbery mud control mats will just sink.

Mud slabs like these are what you'd want

EQUESTRIAN | Mudcontrol

www.mudcontrol.co.uk

Plenty of info on there of how to set up. It's best to do it whilst it's muddy because they're harder to set up on dry unlevel ground.

 

[Abacus]

Unless you have pretty well drained land the rubbery mud control mats will just sink.

Mud slabs like these are what you'd want

EQUESTRIAN | Mudcontrol

www.mudcontrol.co.uk

Plenty of info on there of how to set up. It's best to do it whilst it's muddy because they're harder to set up on dry unlevel ground.

Thank you, those are the ones I was looking at (also the WF racing mats). Pricewise pretty similar.

 

[Palindrome]

I have mud control mats but they are currently under several inches of water.
What happened is that the mud went through the holes in the mats, as I poo picked I also removed the surface mud to make it a nice surface for the horses, the mats are now sitting lower than the surrounding ground and water is pooling onto them.
Caveat is it might not have done that if I have put sand onto them (and I am on clay so a very badly draining field). I am planning to remove the mats and lay some stone underneath before relaying them but I have to wait for the water to go first.

Also, the horses won't just stay on the mats, they go everywhere, so prepare for any non matted area to get muddy. Mine don't canter on the mats, they will however canter in the mud.

 

[loz9]

I have the mudcontrol mats & really rate them. They've been a lifesaver this year & even with the grass starting to poke through my 4 are still spending lots of time on them. Yes they're expensive (we did an area just short of 20x20m, but I have a very grumpy mare & wanted plenty of space) but they've been worth every penny. I think they've been down about 4yrs now.

Edited to add a photo if it helps visualise the area. The 2 closer ponies are 14.1ish, the 2 further back around 15.2. The gate is 12ft. The wheelbarrow is a standard b&q one

 

[millitiger]

I have Jelka mats and love them, I'd have been lost this winter without them!

I like them as they don't have holes so the mud doesn't come up and cover them.
It does mean grass won't grow through but that doesn't bother me as I keep them in the winter field.

I also prefer they are flat edged and don't need to slot together, just lay them next to each other- much easier to put down!

I am interested in the new WF racing ones as I'm looking to extend my area but will likely go with another pallet of Jelka.

My current area is about 20 x 10metres and has 3 hay boxes on it.
I want to extend as I have 3 X very playful, big, geldings who like to canter up and down the mats

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Not sure what I would have done without my mud control mats this year. My gateway would have been extremely dangerous. I will be ordering more. Highly recommended them.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I have Jelka mats and love them, I'd have been lost this winter without them!

I like them as they don't have holes so the mud doesn't come up and cover them.
It does mean grass won't grow through but that doesn't bother me as I keep them in the winter field.

I also prefer they are flat edged and don't need to slot together, just lay them next to each other- much easier to put down!

I am interested in the new WF racing ones as I'm looking to extend my area but will likely go with another pallet of Jelka.

My current area is about 20 x 10metres and has 3 hay boxes on it.
I want to extend as I have 3 X very playful, big, geldings who like to canter up and down the mats

I have just googled the jelka mats. I think they work out about the same price as the mud control mats. Do the jelka mats sink?

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

After this hideous year I am planning ahead and want to mud mat an area of a small paddock in time for next winter. I know of mud control mats and WF racing mats (any opinions either way?) - does anyone know other alternatives?

Also I am finding it hard to visualise how much space would be ideal per horse. The paddock is only 40m x 20m and I'd like to mud mat a good area of it (10X15?) plus add a shelter. The whole thing is for 3 horses, I can turn them out in bigger fields on nice days. I realise that the rest of this field will probably be trashed but I don't mind that, hopefully they'll prefer to stay on the mats. I'm just not sure if 10x15m is enough, but that's going to cost about 5k in mats...

I bought some MOT road stone for my gateways, helped really a lot so not getting stuck in mud when turning horses out. This has made my gate ways so much better. https://southernroofingltd.co.uk/mot-type-1-roadstone-aggregate-bulk-bag-800kg-8516-p.asp

also made a channel; by the gate and the water pours in from the field and down the drain now it has a path to follow.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Unless you have pretty well drained land the rubbery mud control mats will just sink.

I think you are referring to Grass mats which will definitely sink and also rot. Mud control mats are recycled plastic and virtually indestructible. I love mine, a game changer.

 

[millitiger]

I have just googled the jelka mats. I think they work out about the same price as the mud control mats. Do the jelka mats sink?

No sinking at all.
Jelka were slightly cheaper than mud control, but not much in it at all!!

 

[Sanversera]

I inquired about jelka last year,was given a price but couldn't afford them at the time. I was bombarded by phone calls and emails from the guy at jelka, totally put me off buying from them,had to block him in the end.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

I think you are referring to Grass mats which will definitely sink and also rot. Mud control mats are recycled plastic and virtually indestructible. I love mine, a game changer.

I've got the mud control mats and love them!! The jelka mats look different to grass mats.

 

[Bellalily]

Unless you have pretty well drained land the rubbery mud control mats will just sink.

Mud slabs like these are what you'd want

EQUESTRIAN | Mudcontrol

www.mudcontrol.co.uk

Plenty of info on there of how to set up. It's best to do it whilst it's muddy because they're harder to set up on dry unlevel ground.

I could do with these in front of the shelter. Have you seen the delivery charges tho?

 

[Patterdale]

I have mud control mats. They are amazing. Got one pallet last winter and bought another half pallet this year, they genuinely revolutionise my day to day horsey life.
They hold their value and can be moved endlessly and relatively easily. I wouldn’t have anything else!

 

[Nicnac]

Mudcontrol have been a life-saver on clay.
I have one gateway that I had hard-core about 6 years ago and still ok but was expensive to do properly.
I didn't put sand down on mats as was wet and now grass has grown up through them which shetland tidies for me at night as she free ranges.
Worth keeping an eye out for 2nd hand mats as they come up regularly on their FB page.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I could do with these in front of the shelter. Have you seen the delivery charges tho?

It costs a lot to deliver. Work out how much it would cost you to collect and then it won't seem so much. We collected ours as we are relatively close and only wanted a small quantity. Trailer could have fitted more in but would have been too heavy for our car to legally pull.

 

[asmp]

I could do with these in front of the shelter. Have you seen the delivery charges tho?

If I remember rightly there is a FB page when you can group together with other people to split the delivery cost. I couldn’t be bothered with that so bought a pallet load and then advertised the mats I didn’t need at the price they cost me including delivery. They were snapped up.

 

[millitiger]

Here are my Jelka mats, you can see how bad the mud is around them!

 

[Tiddlypom]

Here are my Jelka mats, you can see how bad the mud is around them!View attachment 135512

Wow! That’s impressive.

Was it difficult to lay them so evenly? Are they slippery? There are a number of reports of horses slipping on mud control mats, which has put me right off them.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

We love our mud control mats. Thank goodness we had got them down before I broke my leg in Oct 2020 because that meant that the horses could live out and sister could deal eith them more easily on her own. Our problem was that they come on an enormous HGV and had to be delivered to a neighbouring farm (HGV just fitted down the lane). Farmer then brought them round to us with his tractor. We got 2 pallets, have them as the shelter floor and hardstanding apron in front of it, with some in a field gateway. I haven't seen either of our horses slip on them but they usually canter up the field , slow down and are walking by the time they hit the mats. We are going to get some more this summer.

 

[EventingMum]

This is 3 pallets worth of mud control mats that we put down to create a turnout pen on our clay soil (the boards in the fence line keep haynets off the electric fence). It works really well and gets used a lot, we have topped up the sand on top once. I also have a pallet down in my isolation paddock where we put a 12' x 12' stable on top of the mats with an area extended out in front of it.

 

[Fieldlife]

I could do with these in front of the shelter. Have you seen the delivery charges tho?

Mud control deliver at cost. £80 delivered for £11-1200 of mats (one pallet load) seems very fair to me. Cost me that in fuel and effort to collect! I don’t get the fuss re delivery charges as very small percent!

 

[Flowerofthefen]

Wow! That’s impressive.

Was it difficult to lay them so evenly? Are they slippery? There are a number of reports of horses slipping on mud control mats, which has put me right off them.

They are slippery but all you need to do is sprinkle them with sharp sand.

 

[millitiger]

Wow! That’s impressive.

Was it difficult to lay them so evenly? Are they slippery? There are a number of reports of horses slipping on mud control mats, which has put me right off them.

Super easy to lay.
Jelka don't have to slot together like some other brands so you just lay them next to each other, very easy.

Not slippy at all, mine are big, playful geldings and are rearing, cantering up and down etc. Even my shod one is fine.
I did loads of research and was put off Mud Control by the amount of people who said they can be slippy.
Mine had a bit of sand when I first laid them in October but I haven't had to top up at all, even with all of the monsoons we've had since!

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I like the Jelka ones. Our YO let us put six in front of my water trough last year as mine had some really bad mud fever and that area is where its very boggy. No ground prep, just straight on wet mud and no problem, still all ok now.

 

[honetpot]

I was trying to compare the two systems, I have Mudcontrol Mats, and laid a full pallet by my self. It needed two dumpy bags of sand, one to level and one to fill in, its in a shed that houses cows and ponies, and has been down two years.
I like them because if you make a mistake or you just change your mind they are easy to lift and replace, if I had the money I would do the whole sheds. I have used some for a caravan standing.
The information provided by the manifacturer is clear,https://www.hahnplastics.ca/INB-Mud-Control-Grids/6000001

Top Clean Gallery | Jelka

See our Top Clean ground mats in situ: paddocks, turnout pens, trails and feeding areas.

jelka.co.uk

I was trying to work out how much sand they would use.

 

[sollimum]

I bought WF racing mats in November. Put them down in our gateway and they have been brilliant. I am not sure I would have survived this winter without them. I am saving for 2 more pallets to add to the 2 we put down. We are on clay. I did end up with a discount too from a fb group.

 

[Follysmum]

Do you have to keep putting sand down on top of the mats? Especially when it keeps raining.

A friend has some for her barefoot oldies and she says they are so slippy and wishes she hadn’t bothered.

Am in 2 minds about purchasing any.

 

[NR88]

If the jelka mats do not interlink, what prevents gaps appearing and the mats moving?