Do you still have a full bed down on top of your rubber mats?

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FleabittenT

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Looking to save money this winter as straw prices are already going up and up around here :(

Do you still have a full bed on top of rubber matting? Or a smaller bed?

What type of bedding do you find best with mats?

Just trying to weigh up the costs on investing in some matting, & switching bedding, against sticking with straw. Same supplier that I paid £3 per bale of straw last winter is now asking £4.75 :o

Any thoughts would be much appreciated :)
 
Yes I do with L but she has slight capped hocks and is a big girl and loves to lie down lots!

My little pony had a sprinkling of straw just to soak up the pee and that was it, certainly a lot cheaper! :)
 
I am a wood pellet convert! Rubber mats.....home-made shredded paper round the sides for banks and wood pellets in the middle. Very economical...would never go back to shavings!
 
Yes I do! I can't BEAR to see just a sprinkling of shavings in the back of the box - all my horses like to lie down and won't if they don't have a big enough bed. Most are on straw or paper but I have a few on shavings. The most economical shavings beds I have discovered are:
1 bale of Nedzbed to 2 bales of cheap, very fine shavings such as Plospan

This is not too expensive to start out with, and if you muck out properly every day they are very cheap to maintain and don't need much topping up - my dirty mare only needs half a bale a week!
 
I have just mats on the front part of the stable, where my mare stands to eat her hay etc, then a full bed at the back.

It works well for me but I'm lucky to have a dirt floor at the back so I can deep litter my bedding.
 
Although the initial outlay for mats is high, we never regretted it - our 17hh mare has a half bed now instead of a full bed before - we use a combination of paper and shavings - we even shred our own paper - crosscut though - it takes time but can be very therapeutic - especially when we think of how much money we are saving
 
FleabittenT said:
Looking to save money this winter as straw prices are already going up and up around here :(

Do you still have a full bed on top of rubber matting? Or a smaller bed?

What type of bedding do you find best with mats?

Just trying to weigh up the costs on investing in some matting, & switching bedding, against sticking with straw. Same supplier that I paid £3 per bale of straw last winter is now asking £4.75 :o

Any thoughts would be much appreciated :)
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Hello :)

£3 ?!?!? for straw ? only £1.50 here......

im in a similar situation to you, i am going to get mats and then only have the back half of my stable with bed, i am going to either use straw or shavings...
i am only going to have a thin-ish bed but i am getting equimats which are more cushining than rubber i would suggest these even tho they are very pricey...
 
I have matting and have a hemp bedding. I have not got a full bed, whats the point in buying rubber matting then having a full bed its a waste of money! He has a corner bed just to soak up wee and thats it. My horse isn't a child he's an animal and can sleep on rubber matting. If you'r looking to save money don't hae a full bed.
 
My friend has her two out 24/7 at the moment with hay in the field as it is so dry the grass isn't enough for full time turnout but she can't get the straw to be able to bring them in over night. Really difficult to get and poor quality and expensive when she can.
 
I still have a full bed on mats. Tia is a big girl and lies down a lot, and she is also very clean so I don't waste much bedding. I can't bear to see horses lying down on a scrap of bedding. Mine won't lie down in the field and if there's not enough bedding in the stable she won't lie down in there either.
 
I'd be happy to keep my two on minimal bedding i.e. a very fine layer at the back half of the stable. My Section A is always found lying down at the front of her stable on the mats (her door is open all winter with two chains across) Saying that she will sleep lying down anywhere, shes a very chilled out pony!
 
Mine is on rubber mats with a thin layer (about an inch) of shavings across the back third/half of her box. Enough to soak up the wee pretty much. She still lies down (can tell by shavings in mane/on rug!) and to be honest, the field in the summer which shehappily lies down in is probably just as solid as rubber mats! ;)
 
I use aquamax and depending on how stingy I am feeling, or whether it is me or OH who mucks out she has a third to a quarter bedding and the rest rubber matting. Although we have moved yards and her new stable is more open to the elements so I am thinking of putting banks of shavings in...
If it was up to OH she wouldnt be able to get in the stable for all the bedding!
 
In the field they can choose where to lie down, not so in the stable. I have rubber mats and a full bed of Nedz with large banks. I choose to keep my horse in a stable at night so I want to make it as comfortable for him as possible. After setting up the stable I use a bale a week.
 
Yes pretty much a full bed of shavings. Shes grey and apart from anything else, her rugs stay cleaner too. Have found that the more of a bed she has the less I use if that makes sense.
 
i have rubber mats and half of the stable with thick bed of shavings..works very well....ive found that if i use a thin bed my mare gets worse stable stains as she loves a good lay down, also in the winter the rugs get wet and very smelly on a thin bed. i use approx 1 bale a week in winter when she is in at night....only slight drawback with mats is they dont absorb any moisture so if i was using straw i would only have mats at the front....
 
Mine only have a springle of shavings on the back half of the stables & it hasnt changed their behaviour with laying down. those who layed down before still did & those that didnt lay down still didnt. I was using around 2bales of shavings per week for 8horses, so it was saving me a fortune in time & money!

I personally dont see the point in forking out the money for rubber mats & then use the same thickness bed as you would on a concrete floor. I thought the whole point of them was to provide cushioning to reduce bedding amount, but hey each to their own! :)
 
We have rubber mats in the stables on our yard and I use Aubiose for about half the stable (the back half) to a depth of about 4 inches - don't do it as deep littered as they suggest as I have a very tidy horse who dungs in the same place but I find it good and absorbent and I don't have to take out much wet. Aubiose also doesn't stick to the horse or the droppings so you don't lose much that way either. As our mats are ageing I don't think they'd cope for long with nothing down to soak up the wet. I think I used about 2 bales a month at the moment but will increase a bit in the winter when he's in for longer.
 
Thanks all, really useful! :D

My mare is skewbald, with a lot of grey (after swearing I'd never buy another grey!) - for those who use less bedding with mats, do you end up with really dirty horses/rugs?

Thanks again :)
 
I use minimal bedding (Paper if i can get it). I bank up round the walls. The only time i didnt use minimal was with a gelding who wouldnt wee on the mats.

I also invested in dark tartan stable rugs which dont show the stains!;) But tbh i rarely use them as usually leave them in their turnout rugs instead. I only use the stable rugs if they are in for a few days or on boxrest.

If you do decide to invest in mats then do your homework and ask for samples. Some of them make the horse smell rubbery!:)
 
I have mats down, but still put a full bed of shavings down as my mare likes to lie down at night.
I have tried a thin layer of bedding, but found this doesnt work as the urine will soak through her rugs or pool at the front of the stable (ugh!).
Next to my mare is a gelding who quite litterally has a sprinkling of shavings across his mats, but ALL the urine flows out under the stable door and he has to lay in his poo and urine. Needless to say his rugs are ruined!
 
I have my two on half beds on mats :) simply because Lord is big and likes to lay down and Banner is simply vile with his bedding (and he's grey :) )

In winter I do put banks in on 3 sides to "insulate" the bed a bit and they do have slightly deeper beds but still only went through a bale of shavings a week with Lord.

They are on flax now and I am doing a bale a week with B which is actually very good for him and about a bale a month for lord as he is only in every now & then atm :)
My friend also uses flax and she deep litters and only uses a bale a month!!!
 
Kokopelli said:
I have matting and have a hemp bedding. I have not got a full bed, whats the point in buying rubber matting then having a full bed its a waste of money! He has a corner bed just to soak up wee and thats it. My horse isn't a child he's an animal and can sleep on rubber matting. If you'r looking to save money don't hae a full bed.
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I agree, my horse has just a back bank to keep the rest of the bedding clean and just has a mini bed :)
 
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