Is there a way to 'manage' rubber mats to minimise them getting icky underneath?

[Reacher]

Ive left my rubber mats down for years. There's no smell unless you lift or disturb them which I have to do on very rare occasions, but my stables smell of clean bedding.

Ditto - my rubber matts are fitted tightly so although liquid gets under them, smell doesn’t get out (unless you lift them). Some are nearly 20 years old and showing no damage.

ETA I must have missed any threads about problems with your neighbour / am guessing complaining about smells, but I live in a village with dairy farms next door to housing and there are no complaints about smells so I can’t see how your neighbour can have a valid complaint

 

[Goldenstar]

Quattro where the company that fitted my sealed mats they are from Penrith but fit all over the country .
You would need to empty the stables scrub out with a deodoriser ( like field guard green gloop). The floor would need to be dry before the mats went down .

 

[NinjaPony]

I got rid of my rubber mats for the same reason, the smell/wet underneath them was revolting and can’t be good for their lungs. I now just use a thick shavings bed on concrete with a scoop of pellets In the wet patch. Floor is much easier to sweep/disinfect and dries much more quickly.

 

[ElleSkywalkingintheair]

What mats do you have? I have green Equimats, 20mm and 28mm and don't notice any smell and when I've lifted them they aren't grim underneath? I use aquamax bedding on the top, not very thick this time of year and my muck heap is ace, the well rotted stuff (4 years plus) is better than shop bought compost ?

 

[Hallo2012]

you need a thicker bed maybe?

mine are on cardboard semi deep litter and really deep beds and if i have to lift a mat its bone dry underneath even under the wee spots.

i muck out the poo by hand with rubber gloves then carefully dig wet out and my muck heap is 90% poo and rots incredibly quickly so that could work for you?

 

[Flyermc]

Yes, they certainly do! Drives me distracted. They aren't shut in (unless eating) so why can't they just GO OUTSIDE...?! That's what 'outside' is for! Actually, there is only one who does it all the time - the new chap. The others would only do it v infrequently.

If your horses are only in when you feed them, do they need matting?

 

[Red-1]

I use mats but with a thick bed and there isn't any smell as the bedding holds the wee and is regularly removed.

Maybe find someone else to remove a muck heap? Mine goes in a trailer and is picked up by a farmer. I don't know how you have the patience to bag into Ikea bags, it is bad enough forking up!

Beds made of mats and only a sprinkle of bedding always seem smelly, even when sealed down, as the horses tend to lie in the wee. Rugs get rank.

 

[milliepops]

My mats are also dry underneath, on level concrete, and i am not the world's most fastidious mucker outer, they do have a good absorbent bed though. so i agree with a previous poster that you probably need to find a way to get a muck skip or trailer for the bedding. appreciate this may cause yet another issue with the ridiculous neighbour. i can't believe a fellow horse owner can be such a pita.

 

[catembi]

(Potted version of neighbour…there are 3 other neighbours closer than her but she has complained about smell repeatedly in person, by letter, by messenger and on village FB page. I finally reported her to the council and police for harassment. They came out last month as I wanted them to, looked around the yard and concluded that there was no smell. She has since reported me for breaching my planning conditions by running a rescue. A planning enforcement officer came out today and was lovely and concluded that I am not (intentionally!) running a rescue. We await the next development. I predict RSPCA for the horses or dangerous dogs as all her comments complain about how scared she is of them. This is because She once came to the door to complain about the smell and the dogs were bouncing around wanting to say hello. They are dangerous as they are Rotties. So hence being paranoid re smell.)

So many ideas! Hard to know what to try first!

 

[angel7]

In the long term I would get new floor waterproof concrete poured ontop with good slope (as very thin layer would not be that costly (you could even do it yourself) to a new drilled out drain.
Or get grooves drilled out the existing floor to make channels for the wet to drain away. Definately consider sealing the concrete as it shouldnt smell after cleaning.
Failing all that stick down the rubber mats both to the floor and the joins and use tipping trailer and more bedding.
Otherwise you are giving yourself a lot of work and high bedding costs for many years.

 

[Goldenstar]

She harassing you and inferring with your right to enjoy your home .
Have you taken legal advice ? If not I would .
I would be looking at sending her a stiff lawyers letter.

 

[Xmasha]

Good grief Catembi, what is wrong with this women . She really does seem to have some sort of vendetta against you. I would 100% do what GS suggests. you need to hit back now.

 

[cauda equina]

Well, her scattergun approach to complaining will probably count against her as the police/council are likely to see her as the saddo she is and stop taking any of it seriously