For those with rubber mats and small beds!

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bumblelion

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Ok, well normally my two have big beds on matting but I need to cut down on mucking out time, takes me over an hour norm as they're very messy! So was thinking of trying the small bed technique this winter. They've both got matting although one is arthritic and the other rolls a lot!
Do you think this would be suitable as they're so messy?
What bedding do you use?
How much do you put in and how deep?
I was thinking of just giving them a quarter of stable although I would probably have to chuck the whole lot so would it actually work out more expensive do you think?
Also aiming to keep muck heap as small as possible!

Seems a big ask but just wondering if anyone's cracked it?!
 
I put in a quarter stable of about 1 1/2 inch thick shavings for my very messy boy - takes me all of 5 mins to muck out & use about a bale a fortnight (just top up every few days) xx
 
My stable is 12 x 12, so 2 mats wide and 3 deep.
I only cover back 2 mats, use stovies, also known as wood pellets. 1 bag a week does, i started with 3, and just muck out and top up with the 1 bag a week.
Very easy and cheap and pony fine with it, i'd never go back to straw now, way to much hard work lol
 
I used wood pellets too last winter with a fully matted 12x12 ish stable and a 15.3 mare. I was up at 6 and in at 6pm and it was wonderful - took me 15 minutes to muck out two stables - other one had a 11.3 pony in it.

Covered half the stable with about 2 or 3 inches of bed.
 
Another vote for wood pellets,have two ponies on them takes minutes to muck both stables out including taking the wet out from my mare. I top up the mare's bed once a week, one bag and the other is one bag a fortnight (Shetland, very tidy)
 
Aoibhin said:
im on mats & shavings, 1/2 an inch thick bed on the back third of stable & takes a couple of mins a day to muck out.

its a dream & he doesnt eat it, unlike straw.
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Is he messy? Also does it get smelly?

I'v always been very obsessive with their beds, it's a bit of a joke to people actually! OCD or something! Literally takes me over an hour for the two and that's me going flat out! Can't have a piece of poo in the shavings!! And the banks have to be level etc They do look quite impressive once finished! Trouble is now I have a baby I have to manage my time much better and if I'm going to fit in riding them both I have to cut my mucking out time down! It's not the bedding down that takes the time, it's the actual mucking out bit! This is why I'm thinking of the less bedding, chuck it all the next morning way! My concerns are that the horses will get really filthy, they won't lie down/roll and the stables/matting will stink of ammonia! Is this the case those who have their stables this way?
 
I use mats and wood pellets too. My filly is the foulest creature on God's green earth. Nothing keeps her clean. Wood pellets are the closest I've come. Especially as they 'sit' well and she box walks. Shavings and straw just get churned with her. She has less than quarter of a stable (but her box is 14'x14') about an inch and a half deep.

But yes, she does get smelly rugs. She lives in her TO so the rain just washes it all off again. I couldn't put her in a stable rug I don't think.

On the plus side, if you buy a wood pellet fork it'll be really easy for you to sift out every tiny speck of muck.

I used to be on Dixon's Dustless chopped straw years ago. Before mats existed really. Was very nice stuff but Nits would make a total mess in it! Too light :(
 
jesstickle said:
I use mats and wood pellets too. My filly is the foulest creature on God's green earth. Nothing keeps her clean. Wood pellets are the closest I've come. Especially as they 'sit' well and she box walks. Shavings and straw just get churned with her. She has less than quarter of a stable (but her box is 14'x14') about an inch and a half deep.

But yes, she does get smelly rugs. She lives in her TO so the rain just washes it all off again. I couldn't put her in a stable rug I don't think.

On the plus side, if you buy a wood pellet fork it'll be really easy for you to sift out every tiny speck of muck.

I used to be on Dixon's Dustless chopped straw years ago. Before mats existed really. Was very nice stuff but Nits would make a total mess in it! Too light :(
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Do the wood pellets need to be soaked? My two are really messy. One box walks and rolls alot, the other is a massive beast so he only has to walk into his stable and his beddings everywhere! It's good to know that that they "sit well". I tried hemcore for a fortnight last year but couldn't hack the deep litter system, it didn't work with my two as they just churned it all up! I then resorted back to shavings!
 
They do need soaking. I only soak mine about ten mins max though and put them in half done. They soon swell up and break down with a horse in there! I only put in one bag a week and I only muck out once a week (I do skep out the rest of the time don't panic) so I just soak them in a big trug whilst I'm mucking out and off I go :)

They are the easiest thing in the world to muck out. My two are quite happy to lie down on their mats but I don't know if their indicative of normal horses. They're proper sleepy heads and would sleep anywhere!
 
Creature has mats and was on Hunters, but swapped to Bedmax due to price. He's very messy but it takes me 5 minutes to muck out. He ruins his rugs in winter, soaks any fleeces and uses the current one big daily poo as a pillow. Foul animal! But I'm terribly mean and he gets almost no bed and is fab.
 
We have a couple of horses on our yard who are kept on mats with minimal bedding, and to be honest, they and their stables stink. I can't imagine it's very healthy for a horse to have to lie in urine.
 
Another huge shout out for wood pellets!!

14x14 stable with a quarter covered. It's usually about 1.5 inches deep.

Place your haynet diagnally opposite the covered area and hopefully, your ponies will crap on the rubber matting instead of the bedding! You can also deep litter wood pellets, it really takes me about 10 mins to clear out in the morning.
 
lhotse said:
We have a couple of horses on our yard who are kept on mats with minimal bedding, and to be honest, they and their stables stink. I can't imagine it's very healthy for a horse to have to lie in urine.
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mine stinks and lies in urine either way so why waste bedding? I've tried deep littering, mucking out fully every day and minimal bedding. Every morning the result is the same. Not a scrap of clean bed and a stinky filly. She is truly rank, I've never known one so dirty :(
 
My horse is on rubber matting, but has a large shavings bed down aswell. She just won't lie down unless the bed is big enough. It takes me about 15/20 mins to muck her out; the pony is more accommodating and will lie down on a much smaller bed and the rubber mats, he takes about 2 mins to muck out. My mare is very messy and a bigger/thicker bed is less smelly.
 
I tried limited bedding with my filthy horse and she always stank!
So now I have her on a full bed. Perhaps you could cut it down a little and maybe work towards it not having to be immaculate. :)
 
12 by 12 stable with a quater bed, inch thick with shavings. I take up the bed everyday and it only takes 10 mins :-)
 
If you use wood pellets, instead of soaking them in the stable, open the top of the bag and 2 kettles of boiling water transforms the bed instantly!
 
i use bedsoft i too have done the deep bed and the little and no bed no difference the more u put in the more u take out diamonds don is like a girl he gets up the wall and pees sideways in the banks.

i skip them out last thing at night around 10pm but they still lie in poo

good drainage might help under the mats
 
I have rubber mats except for one corner where the stables on a slight slant and have hole in wall for drainage (this is where her water goes). I only cover mats at the back of the stable, used to use wood shavings but worked out at est £8 a bag i opted for straw for £3 a bale. Use one bale a week but i dont have a messy mare and she poos and wees all in the same spot so im lucky.
 
I find the secret to reducing a disaterous (sp?!) bed is to figure how to reduce the horse moving!! If they are quite in their box put the hay so that the ar*e is on the mats, not bed = no or very little ***** in bed!! If they move around a lot, try the hay at the door to see if that lessens the walking. Also have a pee bucket - most horses do big pee as soon as they come in - catch it in a bucket and its way less to muck out!! I did that for a while with my mare and sometimes she clearly didn't pee again all night!! I'd also second pellets. Water the initial bed and don't lift it every day to get the best out of it. You do have to experiment how long to leave it as I've found each horse is different. I don't water the additional bedding - just mix it through and it absorbs much more.
 
I use rubber matting and she gets a medium size tug trug of shavings spread over the floor. She wears turnout rugs both indoors and outdoors. The bonus is our stables have excellent drainage as they were designed for rubber matting and minimal shavings. Yes my horse is minging but she also gets covered in **** in a 17 acre field so there is absolutely no hope for her lol
 
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