Stinky rubber matting???

Spyda

Spyda

Well-Known Member
Joined
30 October 2005
Messages
5,148
Location
U.K.
Visit site
Having actually laid rubber mats in my stable this morning I am now unsure the best way to manage them. This was not helped by someone coming up to me and saying, "Eugh, those things are awful. Someone I know has them and you can smell the stink from their stables 10 feet away from the doors..."
shocked.gif


I have the regular 6'x4' unporous mats (my stable does not drain) and have put them down myself (Ugh, what a job for a single 5ft person to do on their own!!!) Anyway, there are little gaps (about 2mm) here and there between the mats because the stable is not perfectly square. Enough I'm guessing for pee to seep underneath.

The whole point of getting the mats was to reduce bedding costs and the amount I had to take out each day. I've put some bedding down in the back corner where Theatrix usually pees. It's about 2 inches deep. That said, I am absolutely positive that Miss Nosey will have a dig at the bedding with her foot and scatter it everywhere leaving her pee spot bare and the wet to drain under the matting. Eeek.

Just wondered what other people who are on mats do to control smell?

I definitely do not want to fully bed her out on top of the matting because that will defeat the point of having gotten them but on the other hand I do not want my poor horse breathing in strong ammonia fumes all night.

I know some people have mentioned washing the stable out with water, daily. Does this work sufficiently to dilute the pee under the mats or would a weekly disinfecting be better?
 
I used to have the same problem with my rubber matting which had small gaps between the sheets.

I now put down a half straw bed which seems to soak up most of the wee and lift, disinfect and air the floor underneath once a month. A big job but well worth it.
 
I use about a 3" bed of shavings over the back 1/3 of my stable. Straw tends not to be absorbant enough - I have tried it.

If you are really have smell problems you can get powder to disinfect and neutralise ammonia. Just sprinkle a small amount daily in pee area and then put clean bedding on top. I used to have to do this with one of my mares who was smelly.

You can get away with minimal bedding on the porous mats - which I use, but with the non-porous you are going to have to use some bedding or you will get the problem you describe unless you can hose out and disinfect daily,
 
I have equimats & I use only a bit of bedding where mine pee. If it gets smelly I use stable zone powder (just a sprinkle) & it takes the smell away
 
You want to get some Fieldguard Green Gloop. It's fantastic for deodorising stables. It will clean your matting and have it smelling of pine in no time at all.

It seems really expensive but you only put a wee drip into a bucket so it lasts ages. I've converted most of the people from our stables into using it. My friends now also use it in her kennel and I've caught Mum washing out the garage with it too.

Its very environmentally friendly and biodegrable so super safe to use.
 
<span style="color:red"> </span> <span style="color:red"> </span> <span style="color:red"> </span> <span style="color:red"> </span> I use Stable Boy around the time my mare's are foaling - is Stable Zone the same sort of stuff? Which product is cheaper? Guess that will be the deciding factor!
 

Thanks.... I'll check out the Field Guard web-site. I assume they deliver? I'll give it a try. Be preferable to suffocating Theatrix with Jeyes fumes
grin.gif
 
I use a Hozelock spray attachment on the normal water hosepipe set to give the equivalent of a 'pressure washer' jet and wash out all the boxes like this once a week. It's amazing what seeps out under the door afterwards - but the boxes do not smell.

Be careful not to use aggressive disinfectants as they can affect the rubber.

Green Gloop from Fieldguard is recommended for rubber mats - mix it into water and slosh around. It disinfects as well as de-ordourises.
 


Thanks. I think I'll get a pipe attachment for the yard. It seem inevitable that I am going to need one!

I guess it will be trial and error working out how often I have to hose out. Would rather hose out regularly to keep on top of things than have to move the mats out fully to clean underneath. I've no one to help me and it was one heck of a job getting them all in this morning. Not something I want to do again in a hurry.

Just phoned FieldGuard to order a 2lt bottle of Green Gloop as someone else has recommended it too.

First thing Theatrix did when I let her in the evening was to do a pee in the corner where I'd laid the patch of bedding for her! At least I know she's not deterred from peeing by her new flooring... and she did it on the right spot. Good horse!
 
We fitted mine as snug as possible but there is the odd gap. Ive not had a problem with smelly wee and he wees a lot. I can of course smell it when I remove it. I have started to do this daily as I had ran the bed down to about 2 inches (over the back half of the stable) but Im not convinced this is cost effective. Last winter my bed was thicker and I only removed the wee every 2 to 3 days and for me I think this worked best. With not as much bedding it seems to move arround and I end up throwing more away each day. Another problem with a small bed is dirty rugs. We now use dual purpose rugs and that works much better as they dont get wet through any wee patches he may decide to lie in.
 
Initially I was going to lay only a thinish layer of bedding in the back corner but ended up adding the whole bag of Bliss bedding. I've just popped up to check on her and put a thin rug on her; and see that she's moved the bedding over a wider area of the floor but for the most part the thickest is still in the far corner where she's peed and done a pooh. Guess tomorrow will tell as to how bad it's going to get over a full night!

So you recommend a semi-deep litter system, just taking out the wet every few days?
 
For me, I found that best. With a thin bed Im ending up throwing loads away as the wee gets mixed in and my boy is good, he wees in one place and poos in another.
Im goin to start building it up again, nothing like it would be though without the mats.
 
hi its my first time on here and i used to work for an event rider called caron roberts and she had the matting problem and i made up a mix of shavings bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice and put it down the cracks and the sawdust soaked it up and the bicarb of soda and lemon juice kills the germs and makes it smell fresh and we replaced it every two days hope it helps
 

Have to say, I am MEGA MEGA impressed with my new mats. Soooooooo quick to clean out, even after T was in all day yesterday cos the weather was so vile.

And, so far, things aren't too bad in stinky terms, either.

I have laid quite a thick pee patch in one corner which I am hoping to be able to leave undisturbed for a week, before then removing it all, disinfecting underneath and relaying another bale of Bliss bedding.

Must admit, the bedding under the pee patch is getting quite wet, but I suppose that means it's doing it's job and soaking up all the wee.

Will certainly keep your 'recipe', tho. May well come in handy. Time will tell
smile.gif
 
How will you manage this system when the mare foals, as obviously you'll want her on a nice big straw bed when the time comes?
 
BLINKING GOOD POINT! Since the yard I am at does not allow the use of straw.

Recon I am going to have to get straw in a month before she's due and for a month or so after and take the muck away myself, daily. Goodness knows where I am going to dispose of it. It's going to be a complete headache.

The situation is not made any better by the fact that the other livery there has foaled their mare there before and kept her on shavings throughout. Their mare is due to foal a couple of weeks after T and they're already telling me shavings are just fine and what am I on about. Grrrrr
mad.gif


Could be a good reason to book T to foal at stud somewhere and bring her back a month later.... more expense though.
 
Straw is just so much easier to deal with with mares foaling.

You'll have to bed her down a fortnight or so before hand on a good deep bed. And probably have to muck out completely a day or so after she's foaled, and put a fresh bed down.
 
Having only ever used straw previously, I have been reading that 'bitty' bedding like shavings can be riskier than straw because it can stick to the foal's navel and/or get sucked inside the mare during foaling and cause problems. Shavings and hemp bedding does stick to things, so I guess this risk factor makes sense.

I normally give my mares a good deep straw bed and in the time leading up to the actual foaling, keep it as clean as possible. Once she foals I then use a deep litter system, skipping out the poohs regularly, until the foal and mare are going out (this depends on the weather.) I've a late May foal due this time so they two of them should be out within a day, hopefully. I don't like to lay new bedding when the foal is very tiny due to the inevitable dust.

I think I might have to start a new post to see whether other people have used bedding other than straw when foaling down. Be interesting to find out.

 
I use rubber matting &amp; very rarely wash or move the mats - I sprinkle Sirocco powder over the mats a few times a week &amp; they really do not smell.
 
Mmmmmmm.....
smile.gif


Thanks for the recommendation to try the Green Gloop! Just took delivery of two bottles.

Mmmmmmm, doesn't it smell just lovely? Can't wait to give it a go in my stable, and only using 1/4 of a tea-cup's worth a week it should last a good while too.

A1 - thanks!
 

I looked into that powder. Is it economical?

I went on the mats to save cost of shavings (as well as save time) but at £20'ish a tub it seemed quite expensive; as do all the equivalent products, Stable Boy, Stable Zone, etc.

I know.... I am a cheapskate!
crazy.gif
 

Blinking heck.... that must have been one heck of a job. Poor you!
shocked.gif


I laid my mats myself (I am 5'1" and a weakling!) and would not want to do it again in a hurry! Most dofficuly part was lining the heavy mats up against each other on the stable floor, so they were evenly lined up whilst also leaving the minimum gap in between. I am praying I can get away with just a once or twice yearly total over haul.
ooo.gif
 
It wasn't too bad, he only had one large mat under where he wee-d (which was probably why so much leaked underneath), so I just used to drag it to the other side of the stable and tip it upside down to scrub it and the floor.

I do like rubber matting because you can use less bedding, although I do still like a decent thickness of bed on them. I can't stand beds that only have a sprinkle of shavings on!
 

Hi,

Just thought I'd add an update to this post.

I've been using the rubber matting for a fair while now and have to say I am thrilled with it.

The whole of my stable is laid with non-porous type mats and I'm now putting a small (but deep) layer of Equibed in one back corner (the corner my mare always pees in). This is working well. She uses the bedded corner to pee on and dungs on the mats. I remove the dung piles and sweep off the mats daily, and take out and replace the corner bedding once a week. About three times a week I pour a small amount of dilute Green Gloop over the clean swept mats and sweep it across so it soaked into the cracks.

The best thing anyone recommended was Fieldguard's Green Gloop. I bought two bottles last year and grumbled at the cost but I've STILL only used part of one bottle, so it's really economical. It smells divine and really does the job neutralising any potential ammonia smells. I can honestly say I haven't had any problem with a smell coming up from under the mats.

Anyway, I am pleased to say I am really happy with my decision to lay mats!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top