Comfort Stall Mats

[Jag and Inti's Mom]

:saludando: We are in the process of planning out stalls and in looking for mats, I found information about the comfort mats. They remind me of a pillow top mattress. They have a bag underneath that has chunks of rubber in it and then a skin on top. The idea is that they are pretty cushy and easy on their legs. Has anyone ever used them? They are pricey and I had never heard of them. Thanks

 

[disneyhorse]

The lady where I board had one installed in one of her stalls about five years ago, with the idea that if they worked out for her she would have the rest of the stalls done. It was expensive, for her 15X15 box stall was about $800 if I remember correctly.

It sort of is more comfy for the horse I guess, but the problem is the mat really did not hold up over the years and compacted down. It isn't near as springy as when they installed it.

Minis aren't on it, it is an Andalusian mare that lives in the stall.

It is now pretty flat, and you can see every ridge from the mattress below it.

Andrea

P.S. I just went to their website. My friend has the actual Comfort Stall brand. It looks like they changed their product... it used to be tubes filled with rubber bits under the skin. It is now some sort of foam. I guess since the tubes didn't work out (like in my friend's case) they have switched to the foam. I still wouldn't use the product without a long-term test of the product since it is such an investment. I don't know if the foam will hold up any better or worse throughout the years.

 

[zoey829]

Sams club has anit fatigue matts that inter lock and they work really well anf cheap.

 

[evedex]

I have all the stalls done this way....slowly over several years, because of cost. I LOVE them and so do the horses. Our full size horse now lies down...something the old boy didn't do with just the regular rubber mats.

As for the Minis, I only put bedding in one corner for pee. Every day I sweep the floor of the stall and shovel up the wet bedding and the manure...only takes a few minutes compared to before. I find that without the old bedding, the barn is a LOT less dusty and it doesn't smell of amonia. A plus as I have some horses with heaves. Also, I think it is much warmer for them in the winter months as we have a concrete floor in the barn.

I had two separate companies install over the years and I have learned that the rubber chip underneath needs to be packed in tightly. The first guy spread the matresses out and we have bumps that make for wet spots and "urine travel paths". The second installer, packed a lot more into the stalls by compressing the matresses (made them cover a narrower area) and top dressed with loose chips as well. These stalls don't have places where the urine runs around the low spots....but the horses learned fairly quickly to use the bedding anyway(about 1/4 bale or shavings in the corner).

I have had horses on these stalls for quite a few years and am very happy with the durrability of the product. Besides, if the top did 'wear out' it is ONLY the top that needs replacing and the biggest cost is the rubber chip underneath that lasts 'forever'

As an added comment, my farrier loves trimming the foals in the stall with Mom as he gets to kneel on the cushy stuff <G> It sure is softer for the horse's legs too!

 

[Jag and Inti's Mom]

I have seen two kinds of comfort stall mats. One of them has the mattresses filled with the rubber pellets and the other one has a type of foam underneath. I was torn between the two, cost is about the same good to hear that the key is to compact the mattresses and then to fill in between them. Who installed them for you, I was considering doing it myself.

 

[Suzie]

We have foam cushioning down in our foaling barn, in the hall and in the stalls. It was pretty inexpensive to cover the whole barn floor with it. We used 3 inch thick foam in the hall and 2 inch thick foam in the stalls. My farrier and vet both love it. So do the horses. It is not name brand, we got it from our tack man but it is wonderful. Holds up very well, cleans easily and dries nicely too. In the winter it is warm and stays pretty cool in the summer. The mares and foals lie down on it all the time and it is comfy I must admit. We have the harder rubber mats in our main barn stalls and it has held up for years and years. But our adult horses usually don't lie down much anyway. We top it with about 2 inches of pine shavings anyway.

 

[Jag and Inti's Mom]

Do you have a cover of some kind over the foam? How do you keep it from picking up the ammonia smell?

 

[anoki]

Just fyi.....there are 2 TOTALLY different companies that go by 'comfort stall'.

The original company was started here in Ontario, Canada with the 'tubes' filled with rubber bits with a top cover over top, as they grew they ran into the name already being used in the US. They started out making mats and covers for cattle barns, and they have expanded into other animals now!

The Canadian product is now called Stable Comfort, as they had to get around the problem with the same name. Here is their website Promat Ltd

(btw the light bay & the feet picture belong to my coaches' dutch warmblood gelding!)

We have the mats at the big horse barn. They have been in there for 6, 7, maybe 8 years!!! We've had great success with them and really like them. The top covers DO have to be stretched from time to time. It's made of rubber on fabric....hard to explain, but I'm sure it is covered on their website...if not call them. They are great to talk to! OH and we installed them all ourselves.....if you have any problems, or questions, they are really good to talk to about it! They are pretty easy to install too!

Let me know if I can be of any more help to you on this!!

~kathryn