Rubber matting - good for legs

[V2V]

Hi all – quick question!

My stable has rubber matting, although it’s not particularly thick – maybe a couple of cm’s max. It doesn’t feel soft or springy to walk on but you can tell it’s obviously more giving than the concrete floor.

I have a deep bed in the corner for my horse to lie / stand / make a mess(!) on and as my stable is quite large (larger than a foaling box) so when she isn’t doing any of these she’s hanging out of the stable door or eating her haynet whilst stood just on the rubber matting.

The other night I noticed she hadn’t gone onto the bed at all so had just stood on the matting all night.

My question is - just how giving is the rubber matting on their legs? My horse only stays in over night so a maximum period of 12 hours but a lot of this is stood around on that matting – is it bad for their legs?

My mare is 17 this year and has (fingers crossed) good, clean legs with no sign of any old age so I want to ensure that I’m not doing anything that will jeapordise this.

Opinions please! 

 

[RolyPolyPony]

My horse had rubber matting in stable at old yard, i used to give him a HUGE thick straw bed then changed it for a very small miscanthus bed, he spent more time stood on just the matting looking out door and I actually found it was better for his legs. They used to swell a lot on the straw bed but once i changed they didnt swell up at all. He is 26yrs old, he was stabled for around 16hours a night (occasionally the next day as well if the weather really awful!) He is a shiverer also, and I found he was better when spent more time standing on rubber matting than a thick bed.