Stable mats

[Cneifiwr]

My new horse makes a terrible mess of her bed in the stable every night! Goes through 2 bales of straw every night! Thinking of investing in stable mats! Any suggestions of which ones are the best - for the horse, value for £, any in the Anglesey/ North Wales area?

Any available second hand ?

Do I need to cover her whole stable?

Thanks

Cneifiwr

 

[Oberon]

I bought EVA comfort mats for my two horses, eight years ago now. It cost me £500 altogether.

I've always been very happy with them.

I use them with a deep, LWP bed as they are both very wet.

You can either put the mats in the main body of the bed - where they might lie down. Or in an area that you'd keep bare of bedding - like the front of the stable. Whatever suits you best.

I like the fact that even if they dig at the bed, they will never find concrete when lying down and it's always warm for them.

 

[MrsMozart]

We've used the rubber mats for some years (the type with raised pimples).

Apart from being a pain to sweep, they'be been great

Three of ours are every so mucky urchins . Used to love them having deep beds, but no matter what we use or how we do it, it still takes an hour to muck out every day - they manage to layer it, lie on it, squidged it right in, and generally get very comfy!

Now they have about six inches of straw on top of the mats, and that's really just to encourage them to wee if they feel the need. We lose pretty much all that bedding every day.

I'd like the mats to cover the whole stable floor, but only because my lass weaves over the door when any of her people are in view, so I'd like the padding. If it weren't for that, I'd be fine with what we have, which is pretty much 3/4 of the stable floor covered in matting.

The rubber ones tend to come in 6'x3' sheets. It's slippery when it first arrives, so always put a full bed down on top until it's dried off (sort of oily).

They're an absolute bogger to move! Tips are: rubber gloves (a must, especially after they've been used!); binders twine - roll them up and tied at each end - easier then to carry and to transport.

I got mine from eBay. I think they were about £25 each, plus delivery. Friend got some not too long ago - they were about £30 and we collected.

Make sure you get the heavy ones. They'll move a bit anyway, but the heavier they are, the better they are at staying put.

We throw water over once a week, then lift and disinfect once a month.

 

[Oberon]

I didn't like the heavy rubber ones I had before. Too heavy to move.

I can lift each of my EVA mats myself and clean underneath. With the old mats, I'd need help.

They don't move at all, but then I have full coverage in the stable. If I had fewer mats - they may move, so I suppose it depends on what works best for you.

I'd like to upgrade to posh, interlocking mats...but then I'd like to spend money on lots of things I don't have

 

[AmyMay]

I love Equimats. Not cheap, but bloomin marvelous.