rubber matting

curio

curio

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im thinking of matting two stables, but can you help with a few questions

1. stable doesn't have drainage - so will it smell?
2. what is it like if you don't use bedding?
3. does a thin straw bed on top work
4. do the horse and its rugs end up stinking?
5. will black mats create black marks on a coloured horse?
6. will it make life quicker and easier?
7. what's the best thickness to put down - neither horse has lameness but one does drag his bed about

thank you
 
curio said:
im thinking of matting two stables, but can you help with a few questions

1. stable doesn't have drainage - so will it smell?
2. what is it like if you don't use bedding?
3. does a thin straw bed on top work
4. do the horse and its rugs end up stinking?
5. will black mats create black marks on a coloured horse?
6. will it make life quicker and easier?
7. what's the best thickness to put down - neither horse has lameness but one does drag his bed about

thank you
Click to expand...

IMO
1 yes unless you bed them
2 horrible
3 a friend tried mats with straw and could not get it work but I can't see why it would not
4 if you use no bedding rugs and horse will stink
5 my mats don't mark my grey but I bed with shavings as well.
6 we use less bedding so it's quicker to muck out and in summer we just use enough so they can pee when we bring them in to ride so that saves bedding and time
7 not sure if you mean the mats or the bed.
 
If you stable at night with no drainage yes will stink.
Better with shavings.
Didn't mark my grey.
Horrid with no bedding - my connie used to wait until I let her out in the morning, go and have a long pee, then go back in for her breakfast. RIP my lovely Tamara.
I wouldn't be without them but put a corner of shavings down as horses don't like splashing their legs.
 
thank you for the replies ive been thinking about doing this for a couple of years but stables are on tarmac the floor doesnt slope and is the same level as outside, so there is no drainage
what thickness of mat would be best,
the coloured is 15hh but is very messy he drags his bed and pees everywhere a full straw bed is cheapest, easiest and quickest mucked out every day for him he is worse on shavings went through 4 bales a week was great on hemp but its gone too pricey
iam thinking of still using a full bed on top but putting down more of a day bed rather than a fork deep, this would hopefully save on straw, and make mucking out quicker, giving more time to exercise them :)
 
ive put down rubber matting in Harry's stable, it does tend to pool puddles of wee as it isnt sloping, I use a mixture of shavings (seems to soak the wee better) and straw to give a nice bed. Easy to muck out and keep clean and every so often will remove bedding and scrub / wash down the mats.
kate
 
I use the cow mattress type [eva] which are easy to lift and wash.
I would hate to have my horse on dirty wet smelly bedding, at the moment I use wood pellets [two bags per week in winter], shavings, I used five bales per month.
 
Mine are in 14 x 16 stables and I have matted most, but leave a 6 foot strip down the side which I fill with woodchip/woodpellets. Makes mucking out an awful lot easier and means they still have somewhere to pee.

My stables don't drain brilliantly but as the horses only ever pee on the bedding it soaks up and doesn't pool under the mats anyway :)
 
curio said:
im thinking of matting two stables, but can you help with a few questions

1. stable doesn't have drainage - so will it smell?
2. what is it like if you don't use bedding?
3. does a thin straw bed on top work
4. do the horse and its rugs end up stinking?
5. will black mats create black marks on a coloured horse?
6. will it make life quicker and easier?
7. what's the best thickness to put down - neither horse has lameness but one does drag his bed about

thank you
Click to expand...



1. depends on what bedding you use
if you do full muck out daily
how messy your horses is
is you put any stable disinfectant powder down under the mats
if you have good ventilation
how often you lift mats and give stable a wash out


2. easier to muck out
horse covered in poo
rugs covered in poo
messier stable needs to be washed out more
quicker to muck out

3 again depends on the cleanliness of your horse
prob not as absorbent as shaving in this situation

4. I think i covered this above YES

5. not sure I have equimats
but black mats haven't discoloured concrete floor
6. day to day life will be quicker but weekends wash the stable and mats

7. any thickness from a sprinkling to a deep litter though I am a believer you don't need allot of bedding when you have mats. horses don't need it. ( unless injury or laminitis )
 
1. Possibly, my stable doesn't have the best drainage but it only smells when I lift it to clean underneath.
2. Horrible! Used to work on a friends yard and she just had mats and a sprinkle of shavings it was very slippery.
3. Can't see why not but I use shavings
4. Only if there's no bed
5. Doesn't on my grey
6. Not sure! Mine is thin but works well with the bed, wouldn't want to use it without a bed though
 
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