Mats/ bedding

[Spanielady5]

Please might I take advantage of all the knowledge and expertise out there to ask for some advice? Just moving into our own place and having 2 stables put in
-I think we are going to have issues disposing of ‘waste’ so was hoping to minimise or ideally do without bedding. Looking at the Fieldguard m2 complete bedding mats- they claim (with good stable drainage) to be all that is required as the pee drains through quickly. Don’t want to waste money if there is a better solution out there! What are your thoughts please?

 

[dogatemysalad]

My stable mats are brilliant, thick, comfortable, not slippery and quick to drain. I've had them for years and are still like new. I was told that they could be used without bedding, or just a sprinkling of shavings. I tried that, and it didn't work. Horses got poo in feet, trod it around the stable and got soggy poo stains on their bodies or rugs.
The mats are great for stopping the cold rising up through the ground and protective enough for hocks, but in practice, a decent bed of shavings works much better than using nothing.

 

[be positive]

All of the above plus some horses will not pee unless they have a decent bed which is not fair and can be harmful, if you want to have no bedding the only way I think you can do it is to have them out 24/7 or open access to a yard area from the stable.

 

[Starzaan]

There was a fabulous article in H&H recently explaining that horses bedded on matting with either just a sprinkle of bedding or no bedding at all, are much less likely to get proper REM sleep and therefore performance will drop and they will be more likely to injure themselves due to tiredness and loss of concentration.

I love my EVA mats, but they aren't a replacement for bedding, they are to make the floor softer and more forgiving and to keep the box warmer. They have a nice thick shavings bed on top so that my horses can still comfortably lie down.

I have had a lot of horses, and worked on some very large yards. I have encountered some truly revolting animals to muck out. However, I can confidently say that in all instances, bigger beds were better for these gross horses as they are more stable and harder to destroy. This was even the case for a box walker who was so bad that in her previous yard (bedded on matting with a sprinkle of shavings in one corner) she had walked THROUGH the mats within two months!

 

[TPO]

Can you not contact local farmers and ask for a price for them to uplift your muck heap?

 

[TGM]

I have the Fieldguard M2 mats and have had them down over 15 years and they are excellent. They are different from standard mats in they have little 'legs' underneath them which a) makes them springy and comfy and b) allows urine to drain away underneath if the floor is laid correctly. From a comfort point of view they really don't need extra bedding - I am quite happy to lie down on them myself. However, as said above most horses don't like urine splashing on their legs from bare mats. Also although most of the urine does drain away there is some residue left which can combine with droppings to make a bit of slurry if the horse is in for a long time. For these reasons I find it best to have some absorbent bedding down, especially if the horse is going to be in overnight. Doesn't have to be anywhere near as much as a normal full bed though, and I have found wood pellets the best for this purpose. Pellets are very absorbent and because the particles are so small it is easy to separate out soiled from clean bedding with a shavings fork, so not much ends up on the muck heap apart from droppings and urine-soaked bedding.

So although we do end up with a muck heap, it is not a huge one and are able to dispose of it as manure to local gardeners.

Another advantage of the M2 mats is they are extremely hard-wearing - as said above I've had them 15 years with no wear showing on them whatsoever. Whereas I've seen various posts on Facebook criticising other makes where mats have worn out after only a year or so. Not all mats are created equal, that's for sure!

 

[paddy555]

I have field guard mats and they were put down in 1993 so they have worn pretty well. I use minimal bedding, just sprinkle shavings on them. My floors were specifically set up for them. The biggest mistake with fieldguard is drainage. Drain them well and correctly and they are great and very dry. Otherwise they are a shit heap, horses and rugs mucky. The sprinkle of shavings is not for the horse but to make the dung easier to clear up.. The water goes through the gaps and is locked beneath.
The horses lie down, sleep, pee and do everything a normal horse does. I have found the fieldguard ones were great for arthritic horses. If horses step in poo on any bed they get it in their feet, fieldguard or deep litter shavings. If they do it doesn't cause a problem, my horses are barefoot so their feet have to be good.

If you are moving to your own place and setting the stables up then my advice would be to put outdoor pee areas in. Several of mine have open doors onto a small yard with a pee area. The horses use the pee area and poo outside in the yard. I have several stables with fieldguard mats that I have not swept or renewed the sprinkle of shavings for several weeks. The horses, given the chance, keep their stables immaculate, clean and dry and they always have a warm comfy bed to stand or lie on. Those horses basically use no shavings as the originals ones are left down and the only waste is dung as the yards are swept and washed.

The important thing I must stress again for fieldguard to work is drainage. Our concrete floors were put in a slight fall into a drain which then connects to a series of drains outside the stables. When you come to clean them it works best with a pressure washer. All the mats come up with the backing plates left on and are pressure washed outside and then the floor is pressure washed. Underneath the mats is pretty grungy when you come to clean them but, before you removed the mats,, you could lie on them and they would be perfectly dry.

 

[Goldenstar]

I have only once seen bedding free system in use without a very nasty all permeating pong .
It’s not good for horses .
I have sealed rubber mats and bed with shavings on top .
Everyday I see the horses lying down during the day in summer it worth the work and the cost to see them flat out eyelids twitching having rem sleep while we do stuff .

 

[paddy555]

I have only once seen bedding free system in use without a very nasty all permeating pong .
It’s not good for horses .
I have sealed rubber mats and bed with shavings on top .
Everyday I see the horses lying down during the day in summer it worth the work and the cost to see them flat out eyelids twitching having rem sleep while we do stuff .

what kind of mats were the bedding free systems set up on?

 

[Goldenstar]

The ones that drain through honestly I find it a hideous concept .

 

[honetpot]

I have only once seen bedding free system in use without a very nasty all permeating pong .
It’s not good for horses .
I have sealed rubber mats and bed with shavings on top .
Everyday I see the horses lying down during the day in summer it worth the work and the cost to see them flat out eyelids twitching having rem sleep while we do stuff .

I like them to have an afternoon knap if they come in.
I have EVA with as much bedding as they need to snooze I do not bed banks and I am saving so much money the bedding in the middle costs a pittance.

 

[Fiona]

We have 30mm EVA mayo mats down in our stables and they are hardly worn after 16 years.

On top they have a layer of pellets and then shavings with banks.

Yes it's bedding, but only about 4-5 inches deep over the back half of stables, where's if I didn't have mats, my beds would probably be at least double that thickness over the whole floor, so I'm definitely saving bedding and mucking out time.

Fiona

 

[paddy555]

The ones that drain through honestly I find it a hideous concept .

I don't know which make you are talking about. Ours drain through the joins (not through the mats) That is what makes for a very dry and odour free stable.

 

[stimpy]

If you are moving to your own place and setting the stables up then my advice would be to put outdoor pee areas in. Several of mine have open doors onto a small yard with a pee area.

How did you make an outdoor pee area Paddy555? This is exactly the setup I am trying to create, 'free range' stables opening onto large concrete yard but I would rather that the horses peed outside than in the stables.

 

[paddy555]

How did you make an outdoor pee area Paddy555? This is exactly the setup I am trying to create, 'free range' stables opening onto large concrete yard but I would rather that the horses peed outside than in the stables.

if you have say a large concrete fenced yard then find an area they are going to like to pee in. Fairly close to the stable but a safe area, not where other horses are going to lean over the fence at them, not somewhere where something could jump out at them, just somewhere safe where they are going to be relaxed. Cut a shape around the concrete with say an angle grinder and dig out the concrete. Be as generous as you can on size. If you have a large horse 10ft x 10 would be nice for example. Next step depends on your ground and drainage. We are on granite so we took off the top soil and then went down to hard yellow gravel. Have it with a slight slope and put a drain in the corner so it drains into the drain. The drain then goes into an underground drain to a soakaway. That depends on your yard.It also deals with the rainwater. Then fill in the area possibly with woodchip or sand. Wood chip is great but does break down with urine. If you use sand make sure you don't hang hay nets near it. If you have a "soft" area when you dig out consider a membrane to separate the base and the woodchip. If it is just too soft consider filling with stone and then a membrane.

Another one I made the horses went from a rubber matter shelter and rubber matted yard onto a natural hard surface (not concrete) and I just put a membrane down and wood chip and changed it every 3 years or so when it got soggy.

If you have several horses you could consider a couple of areas in case anyone get bullied.

 

[stimpy]

if you have say a large concrete fenced yard then find an area they are going to like to pee in. Fairly close to the stable but a safe area, not where other horses are going to lean over the fence at them, not somewhere where something could jump out at them, just somewhere safe where they are going to be relaxed. Cut a shape around the concrete with say an angle grinder and dig out the concrete. Be as generous as you can on size. If you have a large horse 10ft x 10 would be nice for example. Next step depends on your ground and drainage. We are on granite so we took off the top soil and then went down to hard yellow gravel. Have it with a slight slope and put a drain in the corner so it drains into the drain. The drain then goes into an underground drain to a soakaway. That depends on your yard.It also deals with the rainwater. Then fill in the area possibly with woodchip or sand. Wood chip is great but does break down with urine. If you use sand make sure you don't hang hay nets near it. If you have a "soft" area when you dig out consider a membrane to separate the base and the woodchip. If it is just too soft consider filling with stone and then a membrane.

Another one I made the horses went from a rubber matter shelter and rubber matted yard onto a natural hard surface (not concrete) and I just put a membrane down and wood chip and changed it every 3 years or so when it got soggy.

If you have several horses you could consider a couple of areas in case anyone get bullied.

Thanks paddy555, that's very helpful