Is having a horse in the box on rubber matting without bedding cruel?

GSLS

GSLS

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As title

Is having a horse stay in its stable over night with hay/water as usual but no bedding and just rubber matting okay or cruel.

I have no opinion... Some vets recommend it for horses with issues such as COPD if turnout is not available through the winter or something/most livery yards don't turn out over night in winter.

Some people have also said it's no different to laying down on grass/hard ground in summer in the field.


I have never done it with any of my horses however I know a few friends who have their horses like this.


Opinions? Anyone ran into any difficulties through this e.g. capped elbows/hocks?
 
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i would put something down just for him to pee on.... mine wouldnt pee if there was nothing down.. i used to put a flexi tub of shavings in the middle... he now has a big shavings bed, with banks... :o


edited to say, i did this when he was only in for a few hours through the day.. he has a big bed if in over night... now hes an old man, he gets a big bed... he lies down a bit more now hes older...
 
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I agree laying on matting is not much different to laying on the ground in the field. That said, if a horse is better off without bedding due to COPD or similar, then surely its better off in a field than in a stable?

I dont stable, but if I did i'd put something down, even if it was just a think layer of shavings to soak up the urine. x
 
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i wouldnt have no bedding.....mine is on mats and a tiny corner of shavings - she lives in a turnout as obvs more wee on her rugs etc.... yuk.

i use a bale every other week and its always fresh bedding she lies on as i remove/brush out the floor daily :)
 
I personally wouldn't for the reasons below

Dirty stinky rugs
Dirty stinky horse
Could get foot problems like thrush
If they were laying out in the field I presume they would choose not to lay in their own pee and poo
 
I don't know that I would deem it as cruel, but there must be some 'dustfree' bedding you could use like that Ecobed or suchlike to soak up the urine at least. I think that the fumes from the urine if just left on the mats would be more detrimental to the horse's breathing than the potential dust from a small amount of bedding.

I agree about getting stinky rugs etc. Lots of cons to this arrangement.
 
It's the wrong use of the word cruel, so no I don't think it's cruel but IMO its undesirable management and I would not allow my horses to be kept like that.
 
I echo what's been said before, I wouldn't leave a horse on mats without at least a thin layer of bedding. Without the wet will be soaked up by the rugs, your rugs will stink, your horse will stink and in fact the whole yard will stink (I once tried a horse on a yard where no bedding was used, the whole place stunk) but I wouldn't go so as to say it was cruel. Some horse will not want to wee on it, at least in a fields they can choose where they wee and I know that mine have a 'loo' area where they don't graze so there is more grass cover.

I've had mine stabled on mats and still had a full bed down. A full bed stays cleaner, the wet stays underneath leaving the top clean.
 
Personally I really don't like it. I don't even like beds being banked up and then they're left with nothing on the floor to urinate on, etc. My cousin used to have all of hers on just rubber matting. Everything stank on urine, it was gross, and their rugs were covered in urine and manure :(. It's each to their own but like I've said it's certainly not for me.
 
I don't use rubber matting, but one of the issues with an ongoing RSPCA case I know of is the owner just putting about 2 handfuls of shavings or something in one corner of her rubber matting. The horse won't pee, so goes all night in misery until the owner turns up - not very early - to put it out in the morning. Nor will it lie down.

As others have said, I think it's very bad management.
 
Bad practice.

Agree with others;

Stinking horse, rugs, stable.

Horse breathing in stench of urine/droppings and standing in it for hours.

Hay contaminated by filthy floor and horse unable to lie down unless accepts lying in a cold wet mess.

Horse better off out in the paddock.
 
Cruel? Not always, no. It's not something I would choose to do - but that doesn't mean it's wrong. Friends of mine stable their horses on rubber matting with a tiny patch of wood pellets in the corner . . . it's cost effective and the rubber matting is sealed and cushioned so is soft enough for the horses to lie down and get up without capped hocks, etc., but their rugs are rather smelly (understandably). I don't judge . . . they are lovely people and very experienced . . . and their horses are very well cared for . . . it's just not what I would do (but then I'm a tad OCD about keeping GreyDonk clean).

P
 
Well my yard is struggling to get bedding at the moment so it is 'rationed' for the riding school ponies. They get a little square of shavings at the back of the stable to lie down on. A few weeks into this I noticed Jock had a little sore above his eye, the type seen when a horse has rolled (or maybe simply laid down?) on a hard surface. I guessed he got it from lying/rolling in the non-bedded part of his stable. It was just a little sore bit, but it shows that rubber matting isn't all that soft to lie on. Also, the mare I used to part loan was on just rubber matting for a time because she's so messy with bedding. It was quite awful to muck out, the smell of ammonia was not something I'd want my horse to sleep near to or for me to muck out.

I'd be using some bedding on top, no doubt about that.
 
My pony is on rubber no bedding, she trashes everything otherwise.

What you can do is go to hay barn and collect a little old inedible stuff off the floor and put that down where he pees. That way your not wasting anything

But my pony will stay this way she is happy pees at the back and it drains out
 
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Leviathan said:
My pony is on rubber no bedding, she trashes everything otherwise.

What you can do is go to hay barn and collect a little old inedible stuff off the floor and put that down where he pees. That way your not wasting anything
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Have you had any experiences with any injuries due to lack of bedding? :)
 
horserider said:
Bad practice.

Agree with others;

Stinking horse, rugs, stable.

Horse breathing in stench of urine/droppings and standing in it for hours.

Hay contaminated by filthy floor and horse unable to lie down unless accepts lying in a cold wet mess.

Horse better off out in the paddock.
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That is just your opinion FWIW:rolleyes:

I Don't agree. You cannot say bad practice I am sure 100's here wont agree

1. If the horse is allergic to bedding you have to leave bedding out
2. rubber matting is designed to be used on its own just a sprinkling.
 
At my livery yard the horses all have rubber mats in their stables with a small shavings bed and a bag of aquamax under the bed in the area they wee.
Works well. I think each horse gets a bag of aquamax and a bag of shavings per week.
I wouldn't keep my horse on mats without a small bed or at least something to poo and wee on. Otherwise it is pretty gross and smelly!
 
I bought my rubber mats about 15 years ago and at the time I was advised by the manufacturers to put no more than a bucket of shavings or similar material in a corner, muck it out with snow plough type thing (no metal scratchy stuff), and was told that was the recommendation from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. My horses do not stay in overnight and tend not to lay down in the stable but this system suits me.
 
I challenge everyone who thinks it's OK to stable a horse for more than a few hours a day on rubber with no bed to put a bed 4 inches deep in the draughtiest, nastiest quarter of the stable and then watch what their horse actually wants.

Please don't kid yourselves. Unless your horse has serious wind issues (and why then is it in at all??) you are doing this entirely to save your own time and your own money. It is very unlikely to be what your horse would choose.
 
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cptrayes said:
I challenge everyone who thinks it's OK to stable a horse for more than a few hours a day on rubber with no bed to put a bed 4 inches deep in the draughtiest, nastiest quarter of the stable and then watch what their horse actually wants.

Please don't kid yourselves. Unless your horse has serious wind issues (and why then is it in at all??) you are doing this entirely to save your own time and your own money. It is very unlikely to be what your horse would choose.
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Actually I started with a small bed for the pony. She totally ignored the shavings poo'd at the front and lay on it .

Sorry but in my case money / time is not the issue.

The end of the day rubber matting is designed to have little or no bedding on top. That is the way I will continue :)

My gelding has a thicker bed (2-4 inches) He is skipped our right up to 10.30 at night. He does another 3 poos during the night and you can guarantee he lies in them . He will even have a kip before late night hay at 9pm, during the last skip out 7pm he has done 1 poo and laid in it. He is in a 15 by 14 stable, has plenty of room to avoid it but chooses to lie in it. His late mum never or rarely did and she ws 1 hand bigger than him. Its his choice he chooses to lie in it.

The pony before I removed her bedding also chose to lie in it even again when i skipped her out. Bet loads here willl agree their horses will lie on poo regardless of stable size/ skipping out/whether they have a bed or not
 
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Agree with CP, IMO it's about laziness and tightness, if you're that lazy & tight, leave you horse out. Oh no, then you'd have to spend time grooming and washing the mud off! I know someone who had a coloured she liked to keep clean with mnimal effort. She put down as little bed as possible (on concrete) to discourage hm from lying down.

I will admit that I am a little lazy myself, and that's one of the reasons I will never buy a coloured or another grey! ;)
 
I wouldn't say 'cruel' no. But I'd much rather have at least SOME bedding down.

One of mines deep littered.
The other two have thick mats with about 3/4 inches of bedding on (get thicker as I chuck bits down throughout the week).
If my two on the thinner beds ever bothered lying down then I'd give them a much thicker bed. They've been on thick beds and never bothered (also were very very dirty on thick beds and they'd be wet within a few hours :().

I think at least a bale or two of shavings is needed, if only to soak the wee up!
 
marmalade76 said:
Agree with CP, IMO it's about laziness and tightness, if you're that lazy & tight, leave you horse out. Oh no, then you'd have to spend time grooming and washing the mud off! I know someone who had a coloured she liked to keep clean with mnimal effort. She put down as little bed as possible (on concrete) to discourage hm from lying down.

I will admit that I am a little lazy myself, and that's one of the reasons I will never buy a coloured or another grey! ;)
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As usual a poster asks a question and we answer we do what she was asking we get shot down for it. Well deal with it
 
Not only is it smelly and horrible but very slippy i found with a horse i used to no that he was always slipping around.... Really if it's about money then isn't it cheaper to put down a proper bed then have to pay a possible costly vet bill if/when they hurt themselfs.editted to add the time you save by using no bedding is then spend trying to clean the horse up. the money for bedding you save you then spend on rug cleaning.

I no some people have horses which are very dirty and it's the only way they can keep them if it's your only choice then cleary you'll do it but it probably wouldn't be most peoples ideal.
 
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Looking at it from the point of YO who lives within 50 feet of the stables, I would never have anyone keep a horse in without bedding.

I did have one livery years ago who didn't use any, she would clear it all up in the morning, empty the left over water over the matting, then she would sweep it down my drive! Stink stink stink, the yard, the stable, the horse. He always had thrush, always had disgusting rugs or stains all over him.
 
AngieandBen said:
Looking at it from the point of YO who lives within 50 feet of the stables, I would never have anyone keep a horse in without bedding.

I did have one livery years ago who didn't use any, she would clear it all up in the morning, empty the left over water over the matting, then she would sweep it down my drive! Stink stink stink, the yard, the stable, the horse. He always had thrush, always had disgusting rugs or stains all over him.
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I NEVER tell any of my liveries they have to have bedding. If they choose to have none - a small square of bedding or a thick one its their choice. Every one of my liveries has their beds in a different way and thats the way it is.

I live 20 feet from my ponies stable and 7 feet from the door of my mares stable (6 inches between the house wall and stable wall), I never smell anything including in the summer months when the windows are open.

This debate will go round and round.

Those of who appose it and those that are for it.
 
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My stables all fully covered in rubber mats. They all have thick straw beds on half of the stable. However, T eats, drinks, wees and poos a lot!! His stable is big but he always chooses to lie in it.

B lived out all the time due to COPD and only came in the night before hunting as he was bathed due to being grey. He had nothing but small amount of shavings to wee on as otherwise it affected his breathing.

The other 2 are fine on half straw beds. It isn't cruel to just have rubber but does depend on the individual.
 
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