3Beasties
Well-Known Member
Do you use rubber matting without any bedding? If so how do you find it? How long does Mucking out take?
Any thoughts on this, good or bad?
Thanks
Any thoughts on this, good or bad?
Thanks
Rubber Matting with NO Bedding at all, Does it work?
- Thread starter 3Beasties
- Start date
eoe
Well-Known Member
I had someone on my yard that did this and yes it was easy to muckout but their rugs stunk and were always covered in poo and wet.
Mrs_Wishkabibble
Well-Known Member
I suppose you would just shovel all the poo out and try and drain or sweep away the wee.
Absolutely gross I would imagine and not do the horses much good as I would think they would be breathing amonia fumes all night.
Rugs and horses would stink also.
Would you like to lay in your own wee and poo all night??
Absolutely gross I would imagine and not do the horses much good as I would think they would be breathing amonia fumes all night.
Rugs and horses would stink also.
Would you like to lay in your own wee and poo all night??
Maesfen
Extremely Old Nag!
Not nice for the horse if a completely bare mat; they need at least a small pile to stale on if nothing else. I'm not against that, it works for a lot of people and is very quick; just personally, don't like nothing at all!
flowerlady
Well-Known Member
We have rubber matting and JB will not lie down on anything no matter how thick we make a bed 10" thick but he will not lie down in the stable. So we put a 6" thick area in the middle at the back for him to urinate on as he won't go without anything as it splashes back at him. Bless
dwi
Well-Known Member
I know a RS that do it and they have to leave their horses TO rugs on over night or it does make your rugs smell.
Only really works if you have very good drainage in your stable and can wash your stable out thoroughly every day.
I might do it if I needed to for medical reasons but personally i prefer to give D a small amount of bedding to wee on. She won't go in a bare stable so she would be ill if I didn't give her bedding.
Only really works if you have very good drainage in your stable and can wash your stable out thoroughly every day.
I might do it if I needed to for medical reasons but personally i prefer to give D a small amount of bedding to wee on. She won't go in a bare stable so she would be ill if I didn't give her bedding.
legaldancer
Well-Known Member
Mine have very thick mats (1.5 inches) & I just give them a thin layer of shavings at the back to stale on. They wear turnout rugs as stable rugs would just soak up the wet.
There is no smell of amonia at all, & I sweep the whole lot out each morning, so mucking out is quick & there's less waste I think. They then have completely clean beds each night. They only seem to wee twice overnight, so not as wet as you may think.
We had a mare who lived out & had access to her stable, which only had mats, no bedding. She rarely staled in there, but always went in to poo!
There is no smell of amonia at all, & I sweep the whole lot out each morning, so mucking out is quick & there's less waste I think. They then have completely clean beds each night. They only seem to wee twice overnight, so not as wet as you may think.
We had a mare who lived out & had access to her stable, which only had mats, no bedding. She rarely staled in there, but always went in to poo!
Lulup
Well-Known Member
Personally I think its revolting - especially when its really cold and you see these horse/ponies with no option but to lie in their own mess which is cold/wet and generally unpleasant. How anybody can look at their horse living in that situation and think it looks acceptable is beyond me.
If time/money on mucking out/bedding is an issue then I think living out 24/7 is a better option than keeping horses like this.
If time/money on mucking out/bedding is an issue then I think living out 24/7 is a better option than keeping horses like this.
Spot_the_Risk
Well-Known Member
I agree with Lulups comments.
legaldancer
Well-Known Member
14x14ft stable, so no need to lie in the mess. Think they often lie on poo whatever the bedding. One of ours only uses one corner to stale & poo, but will only lie on top of it, despite option to lie in the 75% clean floorspace with clean bedding adjacent. Only this one horse gets dirty rugs, although he gets a thick bed in that corner.
Maizy
Well-Known Member
[ QUOTE ]
I agree with Lulups comments.
[/ QUOTE ]
I agree with Lulups comments.
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Faberge
Well-Known Member
I don't think it's very hygenic - it makes horses feet rot, not to mention the horrific stench of their tails/rugs/manes that you take home on your clothes with you each day. Gross!
All you need is a thinish layer of a good absorbent bedding (aubiose, shavings etc) and rubber mats work a treat.
All you need is a thinish layer of a good absorbent bedding (aubiose, shavings etc) and rubber mats work a treat.
angiebaby
Well-Known Member
I had a livery who only used matting; She would sweep it all up in the morning, Put most of it in a wheelbarrow, then throw the left over water onto it and brush it down the yard!!
Her horses rugs were forever being washed, they were disgusting; he had thrush all the time; my yard was a mess, especially when it was frozen; she blocked the drains because she didn't clean up properley.
The smell was awful
Need I go on?!!! She didn't last long
Her horses rugs were forever being washed, they were disgusting; he had thrush all the time; my yard was a mess, especially when it was frozen; she blocked the drains because she didn't clean up properley.
The smell was awful
Need I go on?!!! She didn't last long
mik
Well-Known Member
Mine wont wee at all unless the bed is in. Doesnt sound very nice at all.
pennyh
Well-Known Member
mine just have a thin layer of bedding on their mats & the whole middle section comes out each muck out , its really easy & economical on bedding
NO WAY would i do no bedding , the rugs would be gross & the horses legs , belly etc would be sticky & nasty
NO WAY would i do no bedding , the rugs would be gross & the horses legs , belly etc would be sticky & nasty
MrsMozart
Just passing through...
My mare is so messy that if I try to contemplate putting a 'normal' bed in, I have visions of it taking me hours to much out
I think it's horses for courses, but definately wouldn't have no bedding at all - yuck.
Theresa_F
Well-Known Member
I use Stablelite bedding which is designed to be non-bed as it is very thick and porous so wet drains through - no puddles of pee on top.
However, as an absolute minimum I have always had a pee spot of two/three buckets of shavings. This was with my box walking TB who trashed her stable. I just swept out everything each day and used a bucket of water on the pee area, then left the door open to air. When she came in, put in her pee spot. For her this was far more hygenic as she had a clean washed out stable each day. I took my muck out time from 40 mins to 5 and cut my bedding by 3/4s.
This method did not smell, rugs were a bit grubby but for her no more than when she had a full bed as she was so filthy. I used a non-lined T/O rug on top of stable rugs overnight - she was out every day in winter and 24 x 7 in summer. Stable had excellent drainage so run off went into drain at side of the stable.
However, I prefer and now do, use a thin - 3 - 4" deep bed on back third to half of the stable. This is for three reasons (1) I can't wash out and drain in the stable I now have and don't want pee running out of the stable, hence enough bed to soak up most of the pee. (2) the horses I now have don't box walk everything into a mash. My rugs are ok, but I do use ones with a polypropylene outer. (3) My horses are still out 24 x 7 in summer but in every night and every other day in the winter, hence I prefer a bed so they can lie down more in the stable.
If the horse is in, say just for a few hours a day, a pee spot would be fine with nothing else and this is what I tend to do in summer with some megazorb.
However, as an absolute minimum I have always had a pee spot of two/three buckets of shavings. This was with my box walking TB who trashed her stable. I just swept out everything each day and used a bucket of water on the pee area, then left the door open to air. When she came in, put in her pee spot. For her this was far more hygenic as she had a clean washed out stable each day. I took my muck out time from 40 mins to 5 and cut my bedding by 3/4s.
This method did not smell, rugs were a bit grubby but for her no more than when she had a full bed as she was so filthy. I used a non-lined T/O rug on top of stable rugs overnight - she was out every day in winter and 24 x 7 in summer. Stable had excellent drainage so run off went into drain at side of the stable.
However, I prefer and now do, use a thin - 3 - 4" deep bed on back third to half of the stable. This is for three reasons (1) I can't wash out and drain in the stable I now have and don't want pee running out of the stable, hence enough bed to soak up most of the pee. (2) the horses I now have don't box walk everything into a mash. My rugs are ok, but I do use ones with a polypropylene outer. (3) My horses are still out 24 x 7 in summer but in every night and every other day in the winter, hence I prefer a bed so they can lie down more in the stable.
If the horse is in, say just for a few hours a day, a pee spot would be fine with nothing else and this is what I tend to do in summer with some megazorb.
Jiggy
Well-Known Member
Will you need to put mats up the wall too,as im very oldfashioned and do a deep bed with bankings[supposed to stop ponies getting cast]....and also stops draughs i would imagine[but havnt actually slept in the stable so wouldnt know,lol....]
I do use rubber mats underneath,but just dont think an empty stable void of bedding looks very inviting....
Sawdust will be dustier than shavings due to the process used when making it....
Good Luck with your choice,let us know how you get on...
I do use rubber mats underneath,but just dont think an empty stable void of bedding looks very inviting....
Sawdust will be dustier than shavings due to the process used when making it....
Good Luck with your choice,let us know how you get on...
MrsMozart
Just passing through...
I used to have huge banks, solid ones that one could stand on. Was paranoid about them. Now, friend pointed out we haven't had banks for the best part of a year and so far so good
, but our stables are quite big so I don't know if that makes a difference.
Passtheshampoo
Well-Known Member
When mine were living in I had shavings bankings and just sprinkled one black builders bucket worth of shavings over the middle section of the bed after I'd mucked out. This was enough to soak up any urine and I have to say the stable was never smelly. My horses didn't wear rugs though so can't comment on that side of things but they were never wet and smelly either and they did lie down. It was extremely easy to muck out though and very economical on bedding.
lauraanddolly
Well-Known Member
A lady at my yard uses a sprinkling of shavings on her mats, literally a couple of handfuls of shavings, not something I would do as it looks really bare and the few shavings that are there normally get soaked with the 1st wee, his rugs stink and he has permanent stable stains.
I wouldn't use nothing on mats, a decent sized square of a few inches depth would be the least shavings I would use on mats.
I wouldn't use nothing on mats, a decent sized square of a few inches depth would be the least shavings I would use on mats.
Ranyhyn
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't like to put nothing down, but you can be far more economical on shavings etc.
oln
Well-Known Member
do people have banks with mats ,so far i havent and have had no problems but i always use to have them. yesterday a friend said their vet said banks were a waste of time unless they were at least up to the horses hocks. just wondered your views
Tia
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't put no shavings down, but a decent sprinkling of shavings to soak up the wee will work well. Brings down total mucking out time to around 4 or 5 minutes using this system.
Fiona
Well-Known Member
Normally I use full banks and a couple of inches of bedding on top of my two horses rubber mats.
However my TB has a foot puncture, and I stood her in last weekend in our "spare" box which only has a v small amount of shavings in one corner.
I was concerned by how damp and slippy with poo the mats got in a couple of hours (didn't try it overnight), and although the box was easy to clean (just swept it all out), I don't think I'd move to using less bedding normally.
FIona
However my TB has a foot puncture, and I stood her in last weekend in our "spare" box which only has a v small amount of shavings in one corner.
I was concerned by how damp and slippy with poo the mats got in a couple of hours (didn't try it overnight), and although the box was easy to clean (just swept it all out), I don't think I'd move to using less bedding normally.
FIona
itsme123
Well-Known Member
Some horses will not wee if there is nothing to stop it splashing back on their legs. This can lead to kidney problems.
TBH even if you only put one small pad of straw in you would only use one bale a week, and that's nothing
TBH even if you only put one small pad of straw in you would only use one bale a week, and that's nothing
Ottinmeg
Well-Known Member
i tried the pee corner with my mare and she wasn't having any of it , refused to pee in the stable until i covered a whole mat with bedding. She uses that as her toilet and lays down on the other mat.
Daisychain
Well-Known Member
I used to work on a yard where they had mats and no bedding. It was absolutely vile, the horses rarely lay down.
If your that lazy to not use anything, then you shouldnt bother bringing them in.
My own horses have 3ft straw with huge banks, lie down, well rested and keep clean.
If your that lazy to not use anything, then you shouldnt bother bringing them in.
My own horses have 3ft straw with huge banks, lie down, well rested and keep clean.
chestnut cob
Well-Known Member
It's absolutely revolting. I used to be stabled next door to a mare, a couple of years ago, whose owner had mats and put literally a sprinkling of shavings at the back. The mare was v wet anyway and use to lie on this soaking wet floor all night. She had thrush all the time and she STUNK. Half of the wee used to run straight through into my stable, so my bed ended up soaking it up.
Utterly disgusting. If you want to save on bedding, put a decent amount of shavings down in the first place (no mats), then deep litter. If you manage it properly you should need at most one new bag a week.
Utterly disgusting. If you want to save on bedding, put a decent amount of shavings down in the first place (no mats), then deep litter. If you manage it properly you should need at most one new bag a week.
skewby
Well-Known Member
I have heard (but not first hand) of horses with no bedding on mats slipping when they extend to wee and seriously hurting themselves.
But is it really that different to a "sprinkling" of shavings? Some of the horses' boxes on my yard are absolutely revolting in the morning. What shavings have been put down are a vile wee-soaked, poo-filled mess. Disgusting. I have mats but a full bed of shavings with big banks still - some people call me mad but I had the mats put in to make the stable warmer and less slippy, and it is cleaner than before as the mats do allow some wee to drain.
But is it really that different to a "sprinkling" of shavings? Some of the horses' boxes on my yard are absolutely revolting in the morning. What shavings have been put down are a vile wee-soaked, poo-filled mess. Disgusting. I have mats but a full bed of shavings with big banks still - some people call me mad but I had the mats put in to make the stable warmer and less slippy, and it is cleaner than before as the mats do allow some wee to drain.