Rubber matting with straw- yay or nay?

J

Jingleballs

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I was wondering what people's thoughs were on these.

I'm trying to cut down on costs and time this winter and was thinking that using rubber matting under a straw bed might be an option.

So what are the pro's and cons?

My main concern is keeping the matting clean and stoping the build up of smells and bacteria.
 
I had straw on top of my mats in a youngsters stable last winter and it didn't really work! BUT said youngster did like to dig holes!!
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I have just gone from using shavings with rubber matting to using straw, which do I prefer? Straw definitely! I did it for the same reason as you, to save money, My shavings use to cost nearly £7 a bale where as straw costs me £1.50!!

I used to use one bale of shavings a week and there beds were still pretty naf, not very deep and by the end of the week they were looking very mucky (even when I had been taking wet & poo out daily). Now they have a nice size bed (I used two bales to start with in 12x12 stable) and use 1 - 1 1/2 bales of straw a week. It looks a lot deeper and cleaner. In the winter I will probably put straw down all the way to the door so will prob use 2 bales a week but I still think it's far better and cheaper!

Also when I used shavings the muck heap filled up over 5 times faster then when I was using straw!
 
We put a layer of shavings on top of our rubber matting, and then a big straw bed on top. The shavings catch the wee and there is never any odour in the stables at all.

A great compromise for us, and saves us a fortune from having full shavings beds!
 
I use straw and mats. I don't really know why I bother with the mats because he has a huge bed anyway! It works for me, and he seems fine on it. The mats do smell, but thats because I'm a bit lazy when it comes to cleaning them
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Something in the straw makes the smell of wee worse than with shavings...... mine was rank
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and i cleaned under all the mats every week!!!

I stank and so did merlin, but the stable had no drainage, so that was obviously the main cause.

Greenguard told me that also geldings smell worse (not sure that is true though), but they were right about the straw
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My rather dirty older horse was better on straw, I used to use a sort of 2/3 bed that stopped a few feet from the door and it wasn't quite as thick as normal but it worked very well for him
 
for the same reason iv tried to cut down the amount of bedding i use, last year my boy had a nice comfy deep shavings bed
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he liked it but it took agessssss to muck out and cost a fortune, so this year we went for rubber mats, then two extra really soft squidgey foam mats (we got them for £10 each )in the corner for him to sleep on , i have to put shavings under the two foam mats then a bit sprinkled on top and then i hose them off at the weekend as they do smell abit. horsey still happy to sleep on them and its saved a fortune ! it sounds abit odd but it works !
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hehe on the other hand me ponies field shelter has rubber mats with straw and it smellls bad!! and its wel ventilated
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so thats not so easy to keep nice
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Thanks - do you just build your banks, lay a thin layer on the middle and then lift the middle part out every day?

How often do you give the mats a good clean?
 
When I first put the straw down I used a bale for the banks and then a bale for the floor. I take the poo out every day and the wet out every 2 or 3 days, weekends I try to move all clean bedding to front of stable and take out any wet that gets under the banks. I use a Pressure Washer (Makes life so much easier - definitely worth investing in) to clean the mats, but probably only wash them every 2 months or so. I have had my Mats down for well over a year now and have never once lifted them up. They are tightly fitted and the stable has good drainage which helps. I have never had a problem with them smelling!
 
Is the wee supposed to go down under the matting ?

I always find r/matting so darn heavy that the thought of having to lift it up to clean would be a nightmare and therefore I am less likely to do so.

SO perhaps I am better off with just a deep straw bed and gut the wet each day?
 
[ QUOTE ]
We put a layer of shavings on top of our rubber matting, and then a big straw bed on top. The shavings catch the wee and there is never any odour in the stables at all.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree - this method works a treat! I'm using megazorb on it's own at the moment, but if it doesn't work out I'll definatley be using it under straw as it's really, really absorbent and even when you take wet out the mats aren't wet they're dry or ever so slightly damp at worst!.
 
I use Stable Comfort mats and they fasten to the wall so no pee ever gets under them and they never need lifted - yay! I used to use Easibed but I'm moving to a yard with straw so will see how it goes. But my horse is a grot bag and even at his messiest the stable doesn't smell because they way I lay the mats, all the pee runs to the front and I just sweep it out daily.

I love rubber mats!!
 
I had problems with a poorly draining stable.
The wee drained through the straw and through the gaps in the mats and there it sat unless I took the mats up and swept it out.
That was a very smelly 2 person job.
When i moved I didn't take them with me and now have straw on stable bricks and just sweep out the wet every day.
 
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