Does matting need to cover all stable floor?

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annew

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I am about to buy some matting for two new stables. I have 2 mini shetlands and covered all the floor but I have read before that there is no need to cover all the floor and to be honest my minis only soil the back bit.
How much should I cover and are the lighter versions of matting good as I have traditional rubber matting so are VERY heavy!
 
I only cover the front of my stable where there is no bedding. However, I deep litter on shavings so always have a deep bed. If you were having a thin bed I would use the mats to cover the entire area. x
 
i have matted all the floor then put a bed on the top, and the pony has a small amount of bed in his with full matting because he is really dirty
 
I have fully matted all my stable. I initially did it for my gelding as he used to dig his bed up and then when I got my mare and some rubber mat for her I got enough for the whole of her stable. She doesn't dig like the gelding, but I can get away with a thinner bed.
 
Our stables are 14 x 12 so i have used 6 mats and have left a 2' gap at the front of the stable where they are fed and the water buckets are kept. The haynets are also on that wall but they stand on the matting while feeding so it all works ok.
 
i have EVA matting, much better than rubber (and i've had both in the past).
if i was only doing part of stable, i'd definitely do the bit where the bedding is, where the ponies will lie down, as preventing scrubs to hocks, knees etc on concrete is the whole point of it imho. i know people say horses aren't 'nesting' animals and don't need bedding, but they always choose to lie on it if it's there, even on thick EVA matting!
if ponies are barefoot, i'd prob put it over the whole stable floor.
 
Yes my ponies are barefoot and perhaps with the thicker matting it may be a possible trip hazzard - especially for me! The stables are 12X12 so probably not big enough to leave a margin at the front. I'm edging towards matting it all.
 
I have mats over the entire stable. I do this because if you only mat part of it, bedding, muck and wee gets under the mats and then you are contantly lifting it to clean underneath.


The main reason I bought mats was purely to cut down on time it takes to muck out. The are fitted really well. I actually lifetd them and cleaned underneath yesterday and I realised I hadn't done it in 3 years!! My stable doesn't smell and it actually wasn't too bad under the mats. So I'd recommend covering the whole lot.
 
We have mats that fill the stable, however I used to use just 2 in the centre as my old mare used to scrape her hocks on the floor when she got up. I found if I just put the mats under the middle part of the bed she didnt do this. Was alot cheaper than buying 6 mats!
 
Have a 16 x 12 bed fully matted ! Horse on quite deep shavings as very dirty in stable, but also matted all over as he has navicular and I thought it would help his feet to be on a soft surface
 
Going to mat allover as I think it will be easier to muck out although the initial outlay hurts. This forum is great because you get so many differenet opinions it really makes you think doesn't it? Thanks everyone.
 
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