# Rubber mats in stalls?



## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

I use rubber mats and pelletized bedding. With sandy soil under the mats, and bedding on top, the horses should be very comfortable and their stalls will be easier for you to clean.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Do your horses lay down outside in their paddock area to rest, sleep and sun themselves?
If they do they are comfortable laying in the sand.
My horse actually will paw and walk the ground they want to lay down on so they have it "just right" then plop down and rest they do...
My stalls are dirt floors with mats only under where my feed tubs are so any dropped morsel hopefully is retrieved without a mouthful of excess sand....
I have shavings in my stalls too.
Yes, they mixed in for a while now they no longer do.
My shavings stay on the top and the dirt filters out of them back into the ground.
I clean my stalls daily as needed since my horses rarely make a mess in them {Thank-you!}
I find them no harder to clean with no mats, actually easier for me.

Straw bedded stalls to me are the warmest and softest material to use...
They are also time consuming, and a lot harder for many to clean...there is a knack to mucking straw stalls or they are never fresh and clean smelling or looking.
:runninghorse2:....
_jmo.._


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## cbar (Nov 27, 2015)

I've had horses on both the rubber mats and on packed dirt flooring with both shavings or straw as bedding. 

I honestly found the packed dirt floor stalls easier to clean than the rubber mats...the mats can get slippery if you have a horse that likes to shuffle the shavings around a lot. And it got really annoying if the mats ever shifted and you had a 'lip'. However, the dirt floors got very stinky and we had to use lyme a lot to get the ammonia smell down. The rubber mats were easier to spray off with a hose to get clean. 

I prefer cleaning stalls with shavings vs. straw. The straw beds are hard to pick (as mentioned above), and sometimes the horses will eat their bedding. I would go so far to say that I hate cleaning straw bedding!


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## my horse (May 23, 2013)

Thanks for all you inpute! I actually clean my horses stalls out twice a day because one of my horses is so messy! She makes it really wet and hard to keep fresh. It seems like I am constitnly adding sand in her stall, and on top of that, there is always a dip in the middle her stall. (the middle is lower than the sides causing it to be uneven) horselovingguy, Yes, they lay down in the paddock and stalls.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

my horse said:


> Thanks for all you inpute! I actually clean my horses stalls out twice a day because one of my horses is so messy! _*She makes it really wet and hard to keep fresh. It seems like I am constitnly adding sand in her stall, and on top of that, there is always a dip in the middle her stall.*_ (the middle is lower than the sides causing it to be uneven) horselovingguy, Yes, they lay down in the paddock and stalls.


_I don't think that is going to change whether you have mats or not...
If she is that wet, you need to dig it out, lime and replace dirt periodically no matter what. 
You need to dig as the urine now will seep around and off the mat into the ground underneath...that means digging and pulling mats on a continual basis.
I see no gains by doing mats in your case....

Now I know that a excessively wet horse can be a symptom of :think:.....
*OK...someone help me out...please.*
Can be a symptom of "???".....
Has the horse had a check-up lately and have you mentioned this much wetness to your vet?
Some are just pigs in the stall, some have a underlying medical condition that creates the issue...
Something to be aware of....now darn what is that symptomatic of :x
:runninghorse2:......_


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

You can did out the wet spot, put Sweet PDZ in it and mix in more sand and that will cure the hole & the smell. I went to mats because I have a couple of diggers and it saved my barn floor. The wet ones are still wet but with the pelletized bedding on top of the mats I don't have NEARLY the problems keeping dry that I used to. I fluff 3 or 4 bags of the pellets and then throw down a bag or 2 of dry pellets and when the horse pees the pellets soak it up and fluff. Now I pull mats yearly vs weekly or monthly if I was lucky.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

she could be bored so she drinks a lot of water , and pees a lot . She could have the start of cushings or some other type of disease. i would first guess she is drinking because of boredom.


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## Jan1975 (Sep 7, 2015)

I think some horses are just slobs. My horse is known as the messiest horse in the barn! He pees/poops right in the middle then walks through it and kicks it all over. And, there are rubber mats, and were at the other barn we boarded at, too. They are fine at our current barn, but at the other barn, we had the "lip" problem and the pitchfork would always get caught on it.


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## Yogiwick (Sep 30, 2013)

If you have problems with the mats or need to pull them up regularly they aren't done right regardless of the horse in the stall.... I don't care how messy the horse is....

Lost my reply but in short yes get mats they are FAR better, and really the ONLY downside (if done right) is IF you need to move them they are SUPER heavy....but since you will practically never need to after install it's worth it.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

I use grid mats, over top of 8-10 inches of limestone crush, with shavings on top of the grid mats.

*The good * about grid mats: they are full of holes and no matter how full of shavings they get over time, the urine drains down and I have never had to pull up a mat for moisture issues.

*The bad * about grid mats: They are actually mats for the wash rack so won't last a lifetime. I got nine years out of mine. We just ordered new grid mats for two 12 X 14 stalls at a cost of $1,100. If I get nine years out of them, they will make it until my last two horses are laid to rest.

They come 5x5. They are supposed to interlock but I use plastic ties to tie them together. 

****
There are companies who make grid squares for horse stalls but the cost is double, and the stall prep intense. They are supposed to last a lifetime and they do use sand as the base.

Hope this helps


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## Smilie (Oct 4, 2010)

my stalls have a packed clay base, with rubber matts on that base, and shavings for bedding
Very comfortable, easy to clean. I don't have a problem with urine pooling, but I do use stall dry over any wet spots, after cleaning the stall


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## Dreamcatcher Arabians (Nov 14, 2010)

Smilie said:


> but I do use stall dry over any wet spots, after cleaning the stall


Stall Dry is the BEST product I have ever found for drying up wet spots and firming up the soil if it gets too mushy in the stalls. And sadly, I have to special order it by the pallet because nobody out here (where it actually rains) has ever heard of it or carries it. Now in the Deserts of So. Cal and AZ, all the feed stores had it. Go figure.


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