Field shelter floors

[Patiencepending]

Hey,

I hope you had a happy Christmas.

we have built a new field shelter which the horses love! But we need to put in a floor. it’s on skids and needs to be moveable so no concrete

any recommendations for somewhere to buy rubber matting that doesn’t cost a bomb? We have rubber mats in our stables but don’t have another £500+ for matting the shelter.

I found some rolls of matting which is what we use in our tack room but just wondering if there are better solutions? Any recommendations very welcome.
Thank you

 

[HashRouge]

Can I ask why you think it needs a floor? Unless you can do proper hardcore, which it sounds like you can't, I would either leave it as an earth floor or put a good covering of straw in. If you're finding that it is getting very wet and boggy inside, then rubber mats won't be a good solution to that and I would be thinking about something like mud control mats.

 

[Patiencepending]

Can I ask why you think it needs a floor? Unless you can do proper hardcore, which it sounds like you can't, I would either leave it as an earth floor or put a good covering of straw in. If you're finding that it is getting very wet and boggy inside, then rubber mats won't be a good solution to that and I would be thinking about something like mud control mats.

I was hoping to leave it as earth but it’s starting to get a bit churned which makes it hard to get the muck out. It’s not currently so uneven rubber mats wouldnt lay but I need to get something in pretty soon or it will become that way.

 

[rabatsa]

How about a load of sand if you cannot afford mud control slabs?

 

[Patiencepending]

https://www.horsematsplus.co.uk/grass-protection-mesh-single-roll.html

I was thinking to put this under some mats.

 

[Goldenstar]

My portable shelter has an earth floor with shavings on top , at the front where water blows in we add road planeings .
in front and just into the front of the shelter .
We Poo pick and keep the bed level and add big flake shavings .In the spring we give it a good sort out and level it ( its rarely used in summer ) .

 

[HBB]

I can highly recommend this rubber mat company and free overnight delivery too!
https://deltamart.co.uk/product-category/equine-mats/
In the end I had to add hardcore to my field shelters with a whin dust topping, then mats on top. What I really would have loved to have done is level the earth floors, add a layer of mud control mats then put rubber mats on top of them but it was working out too expensive.

 

[Patiencepending]

I can highly recommend this rubber mat company and free overnight delivery too!
https://deltamart.co.uk/product-category/equine-mats/
In the end I had to add hardcore to my field shelters with a whin dust topping, then mats on top. What I really would have loved to have done is level the earth floors, add a layer of mud control mats then put rubber mats on top of them but it was working out too expensive.

Thank you. There are some pin ones on here that look perfect! Fab recommendation thank you!

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

Mine is on a pad of thick rough textured paving stones ( ex council ) , laid on sand and left ungrouted so they drain brilliantly and are theoretically moveable ( so not classed as a permanent fixture ) . Ours is currently used as a hay store but when I had horses in it I put rubber matting on top . The slabs have been down for 25 years and have never moved or cracked .

 

[cauda equina]

I have used -
Nothing - ok but once the grass goes it gets very dusty
Bedding straight on the ground, straw or shavings - good until the grass goes then it gets very dusty
Stable mats, rubber or EVA - the best thing imo, either with or without bedding on top. EVA mats need to be fitted with a gap all round or they bulge in the heat

 

[Tiddlypom]

Mine is on a pad of thick rough textured paving stones ( ex council ) , laid on sand and left ungrouted so they drain brilliantly and are theoretically moveable ( so not classed as a permanent fixture ) . Ours is currently used as a hay store but when I had horses in it I put rubber matting on top . The slabs have been down for 25 years and have never moved or cracked .

That's exactly what we used in our old stables very successfully . I laid the slabs on sand myself. I re laid them on our new stable yard when the old stables went, the slabs are now 35+ years old and are still good.

Bit tricky if OP's shelter is supposed to be mobile, though.

 

[Palindrome]

I have just bought some mats for my shelter, they come from the same company that make the mud control mats in Germany. They are a hard plastic mat with little circles shapes on them and you clip them together. They are made to be laid directly on a flat shelter floor without a base.
I have put some straw on top and they seem to work well so far. They were a bit cheaper than the mud control slabs per square meter.

 

[Thundering]

I am having a issue with mine getting muddy inside. its a mobile one though so limited to what I can do. Im putting straw down at mo which helps.

 

[rabatsa]

I am having a issue with mine getting muddy inside. its a mobile one though so limited to what I can do. Im putting straw down at mo which helps.

Mud control slabs are easy to move when the shelter does. The price goes up on 1 Jan by 92p/m²