Those who use rubber matting - question?

My lad has half a bed - strategically placed in accordance with which way his head is facing while he eats and his poo and pee habits - most of his poo goes straight onto the mat where there is no bedding and he pee's on the shavings - works quite well and saves time on mucking out :D
 
Still a full bed, but not as deep. I put them in mainly as my mare is a roller, and scrapes her bed around before - now it doesn't scare me to death... During the snow we were seriously low on bedding, and I cut them down a lot. They worked perfectly well with tiny beds...
 
i dont use it either, but i am interested in getting it as well. so i would need matting for full stable and do a full bed but not as deep, is this right. thanks
 
Ours have half beds and it's so much easier!! We used to have massive straw beds and turn the banks every week etc and none of that now :D We use a mix of bed-down excel and hunter shavings and find this works really well, takes me less than 10 mins to do each stable and my gelding is so messy! We do, however, wash the floor more than we did before, especially under the mats as they're not fitted as best they could be so get a bit grimy underneath if left.
 
Well I've got a huge stable and have put rubber matting across half that space, if that makes sense. The stable has got hopeless drainage and I'm thinking of taking it out to be honest, coz all the pee collects up underneath and it reeks!!

I think to get the most out of rubber matting you have got to have a stable that has good drainage running off; so you can ideally get a hosepipe and sluice through underneath. If you don't have good drainage, probably best not to go for rubber matting IME.

Also ideally you need to have it professionally fitted so there are no gaps between mats, coz otherwise the horse's movement makes it creep around and muck gets into the gaps and then it will lift it so its uneven.

Rubber matting might be brilliant in some stables, but not in mine! A pity as I know it would save on bedding.
 
I use equimats with a thin bed over the rear half of the stable. This is spread about during the night, but is adequate for absorbing the wee.

I can't really see the point in having mats & still putting a full bed down. Surely that doesn't save time or money?
 
As above really - rubber matting works better if their is drainage underneath either a gentle slope to front or proper drains.

All my stables have drains in the centre with full rubber matting and a full bed on top (Cushionbed) - and is worked on a semi deep litter routine. Skip out, then a full bed lift every 5-7 days depending on the horse. This works well for me and I have 17 to muck out every day. Takes me literally 1hr 15mins start to finish inc haynets and water.

All our mats were fitted by the manufactor - we had all 17 stables done together - and it took him literally a day to do all stables and they have been fantastic - this is the fifith year they have been down - no smell, no movement and still has a good grippy surface.
You get what you pay for . Definatley saves on bedding for me - cost a bit to put each bed down to start but only use 1 bale per bed lift.
 
I use very little (think scattering) or no bedding. Horse is digusting in the stable so everything gets swept out and a bucket of water thrown down and swept out (yes she is that gross lol) and the pony is cleaner but prefers to make a bed in her hay no matter how much bed she has!!
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Well I've got a huge stable and have put rubber matting across half that space, if that makes sense. The stable has got hopeless drainage and I'm thinking of taking it out to be honest, coz all the pee collects up underneath and it reeks!!

I think to get the most out of rubber matting you have got to have a stable that has good drainage running off; so you can ideally get a hosepipe and sluice through underneath. If you don't have good drainage, probably best not to go for rubber matting IME.

Also ideally you need to have it professionally fitted so there are no gaps between mats, coz otherwise the horse's movement makes it creep around and muck gets into the gaps and then it will lift it so its uneven.

Rubber matting might be brilliant in some stables, but not in mine! A pity as I know it would save on bedding.
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I have the same problem but I am soldiering on for the moment.

My stable has a very uneven floor in places and when I put the mats down initially I was thrilled because they fit like gloves and I thought I was sorted.

However, I noticed a squelching noise about a week later and found to my horror that puddles of wet had collected in the dips under the mats. Even the teeniest crack is enough to let wet seep through.

So I took the mats up, washed underneath, dried it as best I could then left that part of the stable mat free with just shavings on top. That way the shavings soak up the wet in the dips which I remove daily, and the part of the stable with the mats is basically ok. I did take them up recently and found a small amount of pee, but nothing like the original area.

So I agree - works very well for some, not for others. I'm perservering but I'm not sure if I'm saving bedding or not ...... :confused:
 
We have thick mats, fitted by myself; I feel they stop the cold coming through the concrete floor so only use a little bedding on top. When it is really cold I empty a bale of shavings and bank it up round the walls to stop the draughts through holes in the stable! Last year I noticed that the fillies were waiting until they went out in the morning to have a wee, so have increased the amount of shavings in the stable. I don't have a problem with smell, or mats moving but our concrete is level and in good condition. It is much easier to muck out and the muck heap is smaller than otherwise would be the case.
 
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