Rubber Matting Virgin

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nikki_07766

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I've been thinking about moving over to the dark side and putting rubber matting down in my stables, what do people use on there mats and how much?, do you just put a sprinkling down or have a bed but smaller than a normal, at the momet mine are on a full bed of easibed and my cob has two bales a week and my ish has one or two depending on how damp the weather is, am i going to be using more or about the same? and if there is anything else i have forgotten please tell me!!, i did say i was a matting virgin
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I have mats and i have a small corner bed of about 10x6 for my big horse.Some people still prefer to have a full bed with mats and some just have a sprinkling of bedding so the horse can wee/poo on it.Alot will also depend on how dirty your horse it.I think it is all down to trial and error.
 
hi, thanks for that, this was my think re. trail and error my cob is a right messy bugger and always has a wet pooy bed in the mornings, were as my ish is quite clean and tidy.
 
I have rubber matting. I put down a good half bed, taking the wet out every day.

I still use two bales of shavings a week - but it's better than the four I was using prior to buying the matting.
 
I'm a huge fan of matting. I put down Equimat 2 years ago and have never looked back. My TB x had real problems with puffy legs and also sometimes slipping on her floor if she got through to the concrete which wasn't helping her old Eventing injury. Now she lies down every single night with no problems. Even if you do still use the same amount of bedding, matting is more comfortable and warmer for your beastie not to mention safer!
Equimat is also easy to lift when you spring clean your bed!
 
I use the stablelite matting which drains and is designed to be a non-bed system. I have done so since 1996. With Miss Delia, I had a stable that drained well and could be hosed down into the yard drain. She also was a terrible box walker. I put down about 3 buckets of shavings in the back of the stable to pee on, removed everything the next day and hosed down twice a week. Worked really well. I did have some leakage at the front of the stable when in more during the winter, but this was easily swept into the drain outside. I took the mats up once a year and pressure hosed everything.

I now am in a yard with internal stables so cannot wash out easily. Cairo also likes to lie down a lot. I use a 50 - 50 mix of shavings and dixons chopped straw and put it over the back half of the stable to about 4" deep. Take out the wet and poo daily. Again once a year I like to take everything out and pressure hose the mats and wash out the stable as best I can. This system works well as there is no smell or leakage.

I use stable rugs that have a polypropelene outer as this helps reduce stains or wet coming through to the horse. Some people prefer to use turnout rugs.

I love my matting - takes 10 mins max to muck out a big clydesdale and I use about a bale a week of bedding in winter instead of 3/4. Chancer is still on just shavings, but he is a nice clean little horse now and pees in one place and poos at the back so I'll probably leave him for the moment.
 
i use rubber matting, and a full shavings bed.
use about one bale a week
i think its best if you use a decent size bed to absorp all the wee etc, but it is personal preference, and depends on how messy your horse is .
a lady on the yard just puts bedding in a corner of the stable, and mats on the rest, and this seems to work well for her

trial and error i suppose until you work out whats best for you, good luck
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If your stable is well drained and any wee will drain out then I don't see a need to put down a big bed on mats. Daisy has just a small handful of straw to stop the wee splashing on her legs and that's it. Less dusty, she can't eat it, doesn't give me a bad back mucking out, costs less, she doesn't get wet frogs from standing in wet bedding, no bedding to drag out on the yard...
 
My 2 have rubber mats for the front third of their stables and a deep litter bed of shavings for the back 2 thirds which is concrete. Works well although my mare is a mucky little madam and tramples the front bit of her bed into a sort of disgusting porridge every night. I bought just the basic black rubber mats, channels inthe under side, pimples on top.
 
The main thing to remember when you are considering buying matting is do not buy any matting trhinner than 17/18mm thick because you will find your horse will eventually rip it with the twists & turns they do in the stable. You won't need a particular make. I bought mine from an ebay seller at £25 per mat + delivery. That was 3 years ago & they are still fine.
You can have a thin or normal bed on the matting, it's personal choice but you will use less bedding weekly.
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I have matting and still put down virtually a full bed - it works for me. The less bed my horse has, the dirtier he is! It all depends on the horse though, some wont lie down on just a sprinkle of bedding, whilst others will. My chap has shavings mixed with hemp bedding.
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There are so many products about these days, you could spend hours deciding on what to use!
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I use matting and Aquamax which is very absorbent so I can use a small bit of bedding. The horses then use it as a litter tray and wee on the bedding (I've had quite a few on this system and no one had a problem 'hitting' the litter. About once a year someone misses but the amount of wee is very small and does not go far). They all lie down as the mats keep the stable warm, so no problems there, but like Teresa_F I am a bit careful what stable rugs I buy (I suspect a duvet-like rug could get dirty, but mine only need cleaning once a year which is not bad). Ebay has some very good deals on rubber mats, but when comparing prices check the thickness of the mats as some good deals are deceptive (less money but for a much thinner mat!).
 
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