Rubber stable mats - help please

[horsegirl]

Hi,

I am thinking of investing in some mats can the people who use them please help me with a few answers?

Do you really use 80% less bedding? Is this 1 thin layer over floor or just some where they wee? Are they comfortable lying down with so little bed? Can you use straw or is it not absorbent enought?

Thanks

 

[_jetset_]

I have rubber matting and I use one bale of shavings a week in summer and 2 a week in winter (they are in a lot during winter on our yard). I used to have to use four bales a week in winter before I had rubber matting because she would move her bed a lot and get cuts on her hocks.

I use more shavings than most people with rubber matting because I hate the smell of wee so make sure there is quite a bit of bedding to soak it up.

Rebecca

 

[spike123]

We have just had rubber matting put down in the stables.We have the comfort matting rather than the harder type and so far we are finding it to be fine with just a thin layer of bedding down in there to absorb the wee.It is much easier to clean out the stables and quicker plus as its comfort matting we use its much lighter to pick up and clean underneath than the traditional sort. As the horses are still adjusting to the matting we are finding that some will happily lay down on it while others are not so sure about it.One of our biggest horses a 17hh Hunter came in and refused to move at first and just stood there with his legs wide apart but once he was encouraged to move around the box and some haylage was put in for him he soon adjusted to it.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

Yep you can use straw if your stable has good drainage (mine doesn't, floor is dead level and my mare would eat the straw anyway, so use shavings)!! I personnally don't use 80% less bedding as still have a good bed 3-4" across whole floor (still probably save 50%) as used to have bed 7-8" thick to stop my mare going through bed to the concrete below. My mare used to be on working livery where they only had thin amount of bedding on back half, I found that my mare just used to end up lying in her pee & poo as wouldn't lie on rubber alone, but also used the shavings area as a toilet, so ended up with very stinky rugs. YUCK. The newer softer mats are better for the horses to lie on if your not going to put much bedding down, but you will probably still have the problem of smelly rugs.

 

[Happytohack]

We have rubber matting which is great, but I still have decent beds as well, especially as one of mine has Cushings and is therefore prone to laminitis. I personally would not advise straw on rubber matting, unless you are going to put a normal bed down. If you want to use just a small amount of bedding, you need to use an absorbent bedding such as shavings, megasorb, bedmax, etc. Straw is not absorbent, so you will just end up with a smelly mess. I use Bed down Excel, which is a mixture of shavings and dust-extracted chopped straw. Rubber matting was one of the best things we invested in - I would not be without it now.

 

[izzyxxx]

i find it soo much quicker to clean out i used to have to dig about to find all the mess under the straw and she used to eat staw she now has a thin layer of shavings and i make banks due to her lying down more than on straw i got my mats quite cheep as they where brought second hand although never used!

 

[brighteyes]

I've got the 'cow comfort' mats down everywhere! The horses lie directly on them and I use just as much bedding as I did before (semi-deep litter) from a personal preference. You do need enough bedding down to soak up enough wet! If the bedding moves you don't get capped anything and they have to be better than standing on concrete for limbs. They are also non-slip and easy to lift. Most of mine have been down around 10 years now and are still fine. Kneel on them and they give and feel warm to the touch. Well worth it IMO