Do you use stall mats?

[Julie Clemons]

I am thinking about switching from shavings to stall mats for a number of reasons. Cost: Stall mats are expensive but if they last more than, say, two years, they will be cheaper than shavings. I’ll also have better compost without the wood shavings. I also just had caulked shoes put on my horse (winter only) and I can hear them ripping fibers in the (hemlock) floor when she moves around.

Can you use stall mats without any bedding at all? My horse rarely pees in her stall.

Will the caulks rip up the mats? Will her shoes get caught on the edges of the mat if I don’t get mats that go all the way to all 4 walls?

Will the mats hold moisture and rot the floor?

What else should I be thinking about?

Thanks, Julie

[Mark Cowdrey]

I have mats in my box stall for the express purpose of conserving urine. I have dirt under them. I use shavings on them the same as I would if they were not there to soak up the urine & to provide what seems to me to be a more comfortable (warmer? softer?) lying surface. As an alternative to mats, you might try a sacrificial wood layer on top of your structural layer. I do that in my tie stalls. This would still require bedding however.

What kind of caulks do you have? I would think sharp ones would tear them up but borium might not be too bad.

If the mats don’t fit tight wall to wall they will move around.

I expect that the mats would tend to rot your floor faster by holding the moisture that comes off the ground below. I don’t recall how much air circulation you have under the floor. That could be the saving grace rot-wise.

Its always something, isn’t it?

Good luck, See you in a week.

Mark

[Carl Russell]

I have always just used hemlock lumber for stall floors. With caulked shoes they get torn up, but making a false floor is the best solution. Oak, elm, or even sugar maple are better than hemlock. My ice caulks will carve ip a hemlock board in two years.

I use shavings, sawdust, manger and loft chaff, or what ever I can for bedding. Horse manure composts pretty well without bedding added, but I have found that it is even better with some coarse or woody material.

But, all this and I don’t keep my horses in box stalls, so I may not have pertinent feed-back. If I did use box-stalls I can see where rubber mats would be attractive, but I still think I would use wood… and shaving/sawdust/straw.

Carl

[OldKat]

Can I ask you guys something & not have you laugh at me? This is a serious question; why do stalls, either tie or box up in your part of the world have raised floors?

The reason I ask is we don’t use them at all. Typically I put down a fine red clay about 6″ thick and then a red sandy clay mix about 2 to 3″ thick and then shavings on top of that. Some people use a similar process and put rubber stall mats down on top of the sandy clay mix, but I have never seen anyone use a wooden floor. I have seen a few people use a concrete floor, but they then have to put down about 3 layers of mats when they do that. These are in box stalls. Almost no one uses tie stalls, but there are very few draft horses here so maybe that is why. Our ground doesn’t freeze, so maybe that is why we don’t use a raised floor. I have always been curious about this, but never thought to ask.

[Ed Thayer]

I have box stalls with concrete floors and then mats on top. We do use some shavings. I find with our horses, the less bedding in the stall the more apt they are to urinate outside. We rarely close the stall doors and the horses are free to come and go as they wish.

I pull the mats once a year to pressure wash and then I clean the concrete underneath.

The amount of urine that weeps between the mats is not terrible. I f you were to use mats on top of wood, I think Mark was right. You may have a moisture problem.

In the end, If I had not allready purchased the mats, I would do as Carl suggested and lay down a hardwood surface.

Good luck,

Ed

[grey]

OldKat, A raised floor is typically used with tie stalls in order to achieve a particular desired slope, causing the urine to run out of the stall rather than puddle in the middle.

[Theloggerswife]

I use stall mats for my horses. I don’t have a fancy barn set up at all. I use one end of an old dairy barn as an run in/out for my horses. I have decided to use the stall mats because we have a concrete floor in the barn. I put shavings or hay chaff on the mats but nothing thick, just a layer. My horses go barefoot so my mats are still in great shape.

[LStone]

We use rubber mats over concrete floor as well. I use tie stalls and put bedding down only if I turn them in for the night. Figuring the shavings to absorb the urine. They stay out except for the worst weather so I generally keep the mats bare for feed vet harness etc.. I was thinking that if I were to shoe them I should use a wood floor on top of the mats. By the way they are all outside looking east for the sun. It’s a might chilly in the Granite State this morning.

LStone

[OldKat]

@grey 15064 wrote:

OldKat, A raised floor is typically used with tie stalls in order to achieve a particular desired slope, causing the urine to run out of the stall rather than puddle in the middle.

Thanks for the answer. I had imagined that it was something to do with the ground freezing under their feet or something exotic like that. You know, I had forgotten that I asked this question so was reading the most recent posts and was sort of surprised to see an answer directed to me! 😀

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