Stable Mats - the Soft and Squidgy Ones?

[MrsMozart]

The Dizz will be in at night come mid-October.

Vet says she needs a deep bed, due to her wonkinesses. Only trouble is, she is a dirty mare in the stable! It can easily take up to an hour and at least four barrowloads to muck out when she's been in overnight .

We've tried: straw - normal, and deep littered; shavings (and variations on it) - normal, and deep littered. Same each time. She wees for England, and buries poo like it's some sort of game

So, given that she will have to be worked and turned out and we have the other to look after as well, I'm thinking about getting some of the deeper/softer mats. We have the usual rubber mats, but they won't do the job - I thought the deeper/softer mats, with a sprinkle of shavings or similar on top would be fine. It works with the other horses on the normal rubber mats.

Any suggestions/thoughts/experiences?

 

[debsflo]

i have equimats and easibed,works well...

 

[MrsMozart]

i have equimats and easibed,works well...

*trots off to look at Equimats*


Ta

 

[daydreambeliever]

Equimats seem quite soft and squidgy, lightweight too, they are the ones that fit together with the jigsaw puzzle edge. Have you tried wood pellets as they are ment for use with mats and just a thin layer of pellets.

 

[MrsMozart]

Interesting, thank you

No, I haven't tried pellets. I nearly did last year, but she's just such a diggy/messy mare..., can't remember why exactly I didn't give them a go.

 

[Abbeygale]

I would definitely recommend equimat. Our original mats are just now looking a bit tired and I'm going to replace them before winter, but they've been down about 14 years approx. The guys at equimat are really helpful and tbh the other mats I've looked at just don't compare. They might be a few squids cheaper, but my sisters last "cheaper" mat buying only lasted a few years before they were pooped!

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

I also have a filth-bucket of a big Fuzzy (or rather she was!)

Heavy duty mats from wall to wall - with Jeyes powder liberally sprinkled underneath them.
About 3" of Comfybed - right the way across, apart from the doorway & water trug corner.
Then about 3-4 inches of snowflake woodchips.

1st week - terrible.
2nd week, still terrible
3rd week - better
end of month - got the idea.

Cost a fair bit in bedding to kick off (well, I thought 2 bales a week was pricey!), but by month 2, we were skipping out in the morning on work days, then taking the worst of the wet out at weekends if really necessary. Usually at max a bale a week, if not less.
The comfybed stayed put, absorbed the worst of it etc too.

However, she reverted back to being a mucky moo ONLY when others had been in the yard after me at night & they disturbed her
Once they had left yard in January, things looked up immensely.
Also - chucking out at 6am helps too

 

[Tiffany]

Equi mats are softer than the black mats but find them difficult to put back together if you ever take them up. I'd prefer them just square than than a jigsaw piece.

 

[Rhandir]

I have Fieldguard mats, not the cheapest, but, in my opinion the best. They have little legs underneath so they drain well and also insulate the horse from the cold floor .. very hard wearing, some of mine are over 20, yes twenty, years old and are still going strong. Their smaller size also makes it easier for the annual spring clean.

 

[MrsMozart]

Thank you folks

Fuzzy = Dizzy! Dizz doesn't do stables. She's better than she was, but if she sees someone she knows, she thinks they should be there to take her out/do something interesting with her (flipping prima donna lol).

The Equimat and the Fieldguard seem the most popular, so I will go look at both and discuss with the manufacturers and my vet, figure out which are the best for the wonky one.

 

[Laura1234]

I had the 1 inch thick soft squidgy mats for my new horse - horse got them up and flipped them over a couple of times. IMO, they are too light to stay in place when horse rolls etc, then gets back up. I'm not sure if they played a part, but my horse got cast in his stable, some of the mats were all over when he was found. The vet thinks he went down and rolled already with colic, rather than him rolling and getting cast and could not get back up, but the mats being all over may have hampered him trying to get back up in his weakened state - we lost him.
So, as soon as we got a new horse, these were not put back in place, and we got the heavy duty rubber ones, which stay in place - much safer.

 

[MrsMozart]

So sorry L .

Sorry to ask, but do you remember what make they were? PM me if you prefer.

 

[Laura1234]

Hi Mrs M, thanks for that.
I don't know the name I am afraid, as I bought them from a friend who had some left over - she did not seem to have issues with her horse flipping them over though (mine did it a couple of times - had him only 6 days!). They are light grey, about an inch thick, very squidgy, so would be lovely for a horse to lie on (if they do not move them) and very light, which is why i thought they were ideal, as they could be moved regularly to clean under.
When he was found, all the mats were everywhere and he was cast. My vet says they will not have caused him to fall or anything by tripping over them, far too light for that (vet think he started with colic, then went down to roll and got cast), but I think they may have hindered him trying to get back up when cast or rolling as they moved. It is, I suppose, just another thing you can think to yourself, what if I had done things differently he may still be here, and you end up punishing yourself over and over.

 

[Theresa_F]

I have used Stablelite mats since 1996. The original set are in a field shelter, the ones in Farra's stable are now 9 years old and have had Clydesdales on them but no signs of wearing out. The ones in Stinky's stable are 2 years old. They still look like new.

These mats are very cushioned, allow the pee to drain through and I can't recommend them enough. They were excellent for Cairo's joints when he got problems. They are 3" thick and have thick legs underneath and stay warm in the coldest of weather, my buckets never freeze like they did when stood on concrete.

http://www.stableite.co.uk/

They are not the cheapest, but as far as I am concerned they are the best.

I have mine with 3 - 4" deep bed of wood pellets over the back half. This means no pee draining out the front, no smell and my rugs stay clean. I take the mats up every other year and pressure wash the stable. The mats are very heavy and really need two people, or you pay three teenagers £15 each between them to take them out, wash them and put them back

I have had them with just a pee spot on a boxing walking TB. I just swept out the stable each day and sprayed down with a hose and at night put in another pee spot of a couple of buckets of shavings. I had an outside stable at the time with a drain at the front so liquid could drain out.

 

[ReggieP]

I have Fieldguard mats, not the cheapest, but, in my opinion the best. They have little legs underneath so they drain well and also insulate the horse from the cold floor .. very hard wearing, some of mine are over 20, yes twenty, years old and are still going strong. Their smaller size also makes it easier for the annual spring clean.

Hi,
We've started fitting out with Fieldguard M8 , and so far have done 4 boxes. Mostly it seems OK, but we have one very messy mare that is always kicking them up. They are fitted very tightly together, but she still manages to lift at least one and displace it every night. This is a real pain as the sawdust then gets pushed up under the other mats, meaning that 4 or 5 need to be lifted and the floor cleaned before refitting.

In the other boxes 2 never have a problem and for a 3rd (pony mare) they also occassionaly get slightly raised, but not major problem as we can just kick it back down again.

Are we doing something wrong. Is there a trick to keeping these down, or do other have problems keeping their fieldguard mats down.

 

[rossiroo]

Have a look at newmarket requiesits website, I bought some mats from them 5 years ago, they are soft and very light weight but have been moved 3 times and are still as good as new ! They are easy to sweep and not slippery when wet, made of a foam-like material (the man on the phone said they were made in USA for NASA)I use in conjunction with wood pellets and think that they are great.Cheaper than rubber and delivery was much cheaper due to the light-weight.

 

[TGM]

I have Fieldguard mats, not the cheapest, but, in my opinion the best. They have little legs underneath so they drain well and also insulate the horse from the cold floor ..

We have Fieldguard mats too - the M2 ones which are designed for use with minimal bedding. (There are other types of Fieldguard mats which are designed for use with full beds).

The real test for me was that I was quite happy to lie on the bare mats myself - the little legs underneath the mats make them quite squishy and comfortable. You just need to add enough bedding to soak up any excess urine.

 

[Lynsey&Smartie]

We had Quattro Products out to fit mats to our stables when they were first built, they sealed them in place and I have been delighted with them, because they are sealed no urine can get underneath and they don't move at all. They are nice and soft and have stood up to a 17hh pawing at his door each day no problem.

I use wood pellets on top of them enough to soak up the urine but not a deep bed at all (I soak a 10kg bag in 1/4 bucket of water with citronella in before I put them down) which is the best thing I have found for my messy horse.

Quattro have a website and were really helpful on the phone and in person when they came to do the job.

 

[katherine1975]

I use easimats they come in two different thicknesses and you can get them on ebay. They have a ten year guarantee.

 

[Echo Bravo]

Mine are on the equimats (green) they are good, but as another poster said difficult to put back down when youve cleaned them as we found they thin out after awhile, also I've put my 4 back on a thick straw beds, as then shavings got to expensive and min bedding their rugs got really filthy and stank to high heaven and was costing a fortune to keep clean. My old mare bless her can trash a bed in minutes and bury for england, so she topped up with a bale a day, but I have found that the straw instead of having long stalks, like it use to be is now chopped short, so you are taking more out.