how to have a non-smelly rubber bed?

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dorito

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I've never used rubber mats or mucked out such a bed. I know they are supposed to save mucking out time as you use less bedding, but from what I've seen of others' rubber beds, the horses/rugs seem to get filthy and the stables are usually smelly.

Is it possible to have a quick to muck out, yet sweet smelling and hygienic box, without a grossly dirty horse and rugs?
If so, please share the secret!

I'm wondering particularly if rinsing/scrubbing the mats regularly will help - or does it just get wetter and smellier underneath the mats?

thanks
 
My horses box has rubber matting and so long as the mats are sealed together, and the pee can't get under them, I don't see why they would be smelly...
Actually.. I think that it was easier to keep clean and fresh and the matting didn't absorb the pee.

Also, if you were to wash the stable out, they dry very quickly and the bits of poop etc brush right out :o

I wouldn't use any less bedding just because there was rubber matting though :o maybe it's just me, but it's not that comfortable :p
 
A thin, half shavings bed should be enough to soak up all the wee and still be quick to muck out. I'm doing this at the moment as my horse is in during the day and out at night. When he comes in at night, though, he'll get a full bed again.
 
If you use decent absorbent bedding you should be fine. Personally I use Aquamax (wood pellets). The owner of the stable is amazed. I currently have mare & foal in on box rest and no honky smell at all, she is used to pee dripping out the front and collecting round the water bowl because the floor is not quite level and it stinking and she uses straw. None of that with the wood pellets. Shavings are a close second, but not quite as good, some wet will still get under the mats usually.
 
I put rubber matting down in one of my boxes - and took it out again as the whole place had begun to stink something cronic! - and the place was regularly mucked out and Jeyes sloshed around like it was going out of fashion. Also, during the night horsey would keep on kicking up the mat and getting it in a helluva mess, and all the bedding would get under it and it was getting a real nightmare. So I took it out. Result, nice, clean, sweet smelling bed and I wished I'd done it before!

One of the other stables has got it down; this stable has much better draining away than the one I'm describing above, and if you put Jeyes or whatever down then it will go under the mats and drain away - and so that's a different kettle of fish. I'm thinking of having this stable done professionally so the mats fit together properly; as I am definately using less bedding here.

IME if you do use rubber matting, you need to have a stable with good drainage in the floor, otherwise the whole place will pong in no time.
 
I have rubber matting but do still have a full bed. The stable has super drainage which makes a massive difference and use a lot less bedding than previously. I use equifresh powder during the winter - really does help to keep the pongs away.
 
Rubber mats and very little bedding honk! I use wood pellets and have a thick bed at the rear half of the stable on mats. No smell that I can detect.
 
My mats are lightweight so I can lift them out and wash quite easily, also I sprinkle some shavings under them to absorb any wet.
Dirty beds are due to lazy owners, they would be lazy whether they had mats or not.
 
If you can pick up all the mats then do so, wash mats and floor thoroughly and allow to dry.

Put a thick layer of garden lime on the floor and then replace the mats.

Rubber mats were never meant to replace bedding but to provide a more comfortable surface for the stabled horse to stand on. A good deep bed will keep your horse and rugs clean and comfortable too.
 
My rubber floored stable is disgusting in the winter, even though I put in a good layer of
bedding. The wee all runs down the joins. Have tried to seal joins but because floor is not level and does not drain, and is also down a step from the yard, wee collects. Takes me a good day to move all the mats out and clean underneath they are extremely heavy. Thinking of going back to no mats this year.
 
It's a falicy to think that you can have a rubber matting 'bed' and no smell (even bonded and sealed). You do need to put a good bed down to soak up the urine, which in turn will help reduce the smell.

I've used rubber matting - and love it to bits, but always put a good bed on top, which is mucked out daily.
 
I use a liquid called bio fresh to combat the smell and reduce amonia, it works great.It goes in a pump sprayer with water,and is used once or twice a week.I still have to clean under the mats sometimes,but ususlly my stable smells fresh.Or as fresh as it can be with a horse in it.
 
hippo-horse said:
I use a liquid called bio fresh to combat the smell and reduce amonia, it works great.It goes in a pump sprayer with water,and is used once or twice a week.I still have to clean under the mats sometimes,but ususlly my stable smells fresh.Or as fresh as it can be with a horse in it.
Click to expand...

Really interested in your "Bio Fresh", where can you get it?
 
The liquid is made by a company called Biotal,I dont know of stockists,but there is a contact number here .
Code: 
http://www.biotal.co.uk/pages/185/equine_division/default.aspx
 
Having previously had no rubber mats and deep litter beds, and after a lot of research I decided to take the plunge with rubber mats for ours. I chose the lightweight eva ones from agricultural revolution online. They are fab! I have them on a scattering of shavings with a deep litter bit where they wee (I use the woods pellets here for max absorbancy). Even our youngster has learned to be clean using this way by setting off with quite a large area of deep litter and slowly reducing it. He wees and poos on this bit now. There is no smell in any of the stables and as the mats are fitted closely together they've kind of sealed themselves with the finer bits of the shavings I scatter about. They all lie down each night as the mats are of a softer composition than the hard heavy rubber ones. Happy horses and happy owner!! :D:D
 
I have got matting in my stable with a hemcore type of bedding, it's a half bed with banks still and a good covering, he lays down every night and seems to be cleaner on it too, I went for matting again as I have a dodgy back so it helps with the mucking out with a plastic shavings fork.

Bed is aired everyday and doesn't smell too bad really, but has only been a week.

I might in time go and get the softer lighter mats instead of the heavy ones that I have now.
 
I use slightly less shavings with mats but not thin enough just to soak up pee. I started with 5 bales of shavings and add a bale per week to 10 days (as opposed to 2 per week) including topping up banks. The bed is thick enough for my horse to lie down on and for me not to hear the fork prongs hit the floor when I drop it. My horse is healthy and happy, neither he or his rugs smell and only takes me 15 minutes to muck out going through the whole bed with rubber gloves (yes I am that anal about my bed :D). During the days when YO couldn't catch him to turn him out in the morning so just left him in all day the bed would be exactly the same just with a load of haylage trampled in where YO left him a load on the floor.
 
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