DOES ANYONE USE STALL MATS...

[Critterhugger]

I'm wondering if anyone does this and how it works out for you. My vet has his barn set up like this for his riding horses and uses NO bedding whatsoever, but it seems like the urine would have trouble draining. Any input would be appreciated! THANKS!

 

[Millstone Farm]

We use thick rubber mats, but also heavily bed our stalls with pine shavings. Great results for us, but I'm not really answering your question.

 

[Magic]

I do, in the summer. I have rubber stall mats and all of my stalls are open 24/7 (in the summer anyway) to runs outside the barn. I put no bedding in the stalls and just put a little out in the runs for the horses to urinate in (they don't want to splash on themselves!). That way their stalls stay quite clean and I just have to clean up in the runs. It can get so smelly in the summer if they are "going" in their stalls, and it attracts more flies, etc. In the winter I have to start using bedding inside again because when the weather is bad, they understandably don't want to go outside to use the bathroom. This works really well for me.

 

[Bluebell]

I did for 1 mare last year. It seemed like everything bothered her and made her cough. The mat went to about 12 inches from the back of her stall and that is where she did her messes. Never on the mat.

She is cough free all summer now and will live with her stallion buddy in a 3 sided shelter so i don't run into any problems again. But the mat worked great for her.

 

[Alisha514]

Hi. We do that in the summer. We put very little saw dust down. Just enough to soak up the pee and it so easy to clean out. In the winter though we do put more bedding in so that they can keep warm a little better.

Alisha

 

[Hosscrazy]

I have stall mats with a small amount of shaving on top - maybe 1 1/2" thick? Just enough to absorb the urine. Works for me!

Liz R.

 

[nootka]

We do use stall mats and sometimes we bed just a small area w/shavings. This keeps my "clean" horses a bit cleaner as they like to go and pee and poop in the area the shavings are at.

But, the piggy ones still make quite a mess as they seem to not care if they get splashed and will pee or poop anywhere, and the mat gets really nasty, plus it ends up in their hay, etc.

It requires a bit of extra work and to me, you still end up using about the same amount of shavings, they are pretty heavy and soggy when you take 'em out.

It works better to use about a quarter bale or a third of a bale of shavings, at least, per stall, depending on size.

Liz M.

 

[Cathy_H]

We have some stalls with mats. We keep the bedding at one end of the stall though, enough to make a soft bed & to catch the urine............................... I'm thinking all that urine soaking into the mats & underneath would smell up the barn even more than it does without something to catch it.

 

[promise]

I use stall mats with quite a bit of sawdust, I love them. Origionally got them for my aged mare with stiff joints, she passed, but I still love them for my minis. Makes clean up quick! Great for their joints if you have concrete floors. Did I mention I love them? If you have a local tractor supply store , that is the cheapest place I found them, but each store varies on price depending on demand.

Promise

 

[Filipowicz Farm]

We have stall mats and have used bedding in them according on how messy the horse might be.and the size of the stall. Now most of our horses stay outside in sheds.

 

[Feather1414]

I know a lady who has the poor horses in the stall, with rubber mats throughout, but once the poor horses run out of bedding, they are stuck using their own crap to soak up the urine. Its quite bad really. My friend Sarah and I do everything to help them, but when there are no shavings on the premesis, its quite dificult. We usually just stick em outside all day.

 

[Jean_B]

On the RARE occasion that I have a horse stalled ...

My barn floor is cement - and I have rubber mats in the front of the stall with approximately 2 feet of bare cement at the back. That's where I put the shavings. The lip of the rubber mat help to keep the shavings in pretty much one area. And the horses mess up only that area, because as the others said, they don't like to splash on themselves. Saves me a lot of $$ on shavings, and a lot of time in clean up.

 

[MeadowRidge Farm]

I have all my stalls matted, and I do use bedding in each one, the stallions and mares get enough bedding to saok up the pee and so they are just comfy, and dont get wet and dirty,about 1 to 1/2" thick, my weanlings and yearlings get bedded heavier, dont know why--but they do

and I also put straw down for them when its exceptionally cold outside, even tho our barn stays at a nice temp. and they are inside.

Corinne

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Ok so flame me but this is one thing that really bugs me. We buy these horses or raise them, and we want to make them happy and love em. If you were a horse.....would you prefer...A) a nice cold/hot hard rubber mat to lie on for a nap or the nite, or hang out in if sick or hurt, or just nasty weather. OR B) a nice rubber mat stall with enough bedding to be comfortable to lie in and YES use for potty?

Sorry folks but if I own a horse and it has to be in a stall for whatever reason it deserves a nice soft bed. I ask this horse to be a good horse...if a mare to give me a pretty saleable showable lovable baby, a stallion to be a good breeder or showman. A baby! should have the best bed of all.

Ok I'm exhausted from moving and this touched a nerve sorry really but a horse deserves the very best we can give be it a run in shed or stall. You try to nap on a nice hard rubber mat then say "Gee I have to pee" "splash drip YUK".

 

[attwoode]

We have rubber mats covering all but the edges of the stalls. We put about a 1/2 -3/4 bag of shavings in the back of the stall and spread it towards the front. This leaves a few feet in the front for feed dishes and hay with out getting shavings in the food. Mostly they do their duties in the back and then are picked out or replaced when it gets messy. I think it is important to have clean bedding and a clean area to feed, but have found that a couple of inches of shavings in the back of the stall is great and doesn't waste much.

 

[Danielle_E.]

I have stall mats from wall to wall in all my stalls and I bed heavy with shavings in the end of Fall and Winter. In the Spring and Summer I use woody pet as it is so much easier and faster to clean I am with Dinimore on this one. All my horses like to lie down in their stalls and I want them comfortable.

 

[CAM]

We have 12 x 12 stalls and one 12 x 24 for our foaling Arabian mares. For the 12 x 12's in the winter, we use two bags of shavings and it makes a very nice thick soft bed for them to lay down and get warm in. In the 12 x 24 we use 4 bags. That said, we use the barn for foaling, weaning, and in the event of illness so we like lots of shavings for these circumstances, or straw in the case of foaling. Otherwise the horses are in paddocks or pasture with shelters.

Edited to add: we do have rubber mats that cover the entire stall floors.

 

[wildoak]

I haven't used mats, but glad you asked the question as we are building new stalls and wanting to go to mats. For those of you who used mats in part of the stall, do you have a problem with bedding getting under and curling up the mats?

Jan

 

[js1arab]

I have rubber mats, but I still use shavings for 3 main reasons.

1) The mats by themselves or with straw can be very slick at times.

2) Bedding helps keep the smell to a minimum

3) If a person has a horse in a stall for long periods(mine are out more times than not) or has a horse that lays down a lot for whatever reason -the mats alone with rub them raw as they are getting up and down especially on the fetlocks and hocks. But again, this is usually ones who are in a lot or lay down a lot.

 

[Shari]

I use heavy rubber stall matts and just put the shavings in the corner where they use the rest room.

It works fine for them.

However the stall matts I have are designed not to be slippery even when wet.

Since they pee in the corner and I towel (most of the time) dry them off before they go in at night.. it doesn't tend to get wet.