# Mats in oddly sized stalls QUESTIONS



## Blue (Sep 4, 2011)

I'm not an expert on mats, but are you putting the cinders in first? How deep?


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Re slant - If the slant is not too pronounced then it will aid in drainage which is a good thing (hay would be put in a spot in the stall to avoid the collection area); if there's too much of a slant then it becomes somewhat uncomfortable for the horse which is not such a good thing (and you've got a plan to correct that).

Re cement block - It shouldn't be a problem if you've got your mat over it.

Re next door stall - It probably won't create much of a problem; the worse that may happen is a drainage issue but that's unlikely because the walls look snug to the floor and there'll be bedding in place to absorb surplus fluids.

As an fyi, I use rubber mats that I bought at the local farm supply store. Since they are already cut into a standard size, I use two mats per stall and they don't fit snug up to the walls. A very small gap is left between a couple of walls and the mats (the floors are dirt) but once the bedding is in it's nicely covered up.


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

Blue said:


> I'm not an expert on mats, but are you putting the cinders in first? How deep?


Yes I will be putting cinders in, I'm thinking that I will make it even up to the boarder of the stall in the front, or maybe leave just enough room so that the mat sits level with the small boarder of the stall, and even to the cement block in the back.
I don't really want to add cinders ontop of the cement block, I think that it would drain even if my mare did pee against the wall, which I feel she will do.
She's a habitual stall keeper. She will always pee in the back right corner, and poo in the back left and then right in front of the door.


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

Chevaux said:


> Re cement block - It shouldn't be a problem if you've got your mat over it.


Thank you for all that info!
Do you think that it will cause an issue if the block isn't slanted? I haven't gotten down there to look, but it seems that the block is completely level and the rest of the stalls slants away from it.

It wouldn't be an issue, but b.o like to feed in the front of the stalls and throw hay in the front of the stalls. I feel like the mats would lead to everything draining into her hay (b.o isn't so happy with changes like that, though I do plan to ask)

ALSO, do you think it would be a bad idea to wait to put the mats in until summer? I could do it now, but I make a lot more money in the summer..
These stalls have been empty for 8 years so the ground isn't all smelly and pee soaked anymore, which is why I feel that putting the mats in now would be the best


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Re cement block - if that's the block in the photo, it doesn't look too high to me so the mat would still go over it nicely; there might be a little rise in the mat but nothing of consequence.

Re timing of mats - sooner is probably the best but we all know that darn budget thing can get in the way sometimes.

Re feeding at front - if it looks like its getting too wet then you might be able to get away with a small, lightweight ribbed rubber mat in the hay area (the ribbing working to keep the hay off the other mat; the urine would drain under the ribbing; this mat would have to be picked up periodically to let the area underneath it dry out).


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

Chevaux said:


> Re feeding at front - if it looks like its getting too wet then you might be able to get away with a small, lightweight ribbed rubber mat in the hay area (the ribbing working to keep the hay off the other mat; the urine would drain under the ribbing; this mat would have to be picked up periodically to let the area underneath it dry out).


Thanks! I didn't know that they made any type of mat aside from ribbed ones..
But now I see that they also make smooth ones, those are best for stall mats?


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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

When the mats don't fit, I simply cut them to fit.


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

I was thinking about that, but the mats I want are fairly thick 
What did you use to cut them?


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Lexiie said:


> I was thinking about that, but the mats I want are fairly thick
> What did you use to cut them?


A saws-all works great, but you can cut them by multiple passes with a sharp box cutter, too.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

Thank you!
At least the stalls are mostly square at this barn. They're just oddly sized like 8.5x9.5


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

You can certainly double up on mats in the stalls. I prefer 3/4 inch rubber mats bc my floor is also cement. I have cut them with a reciprocating saw, and I'm pretty sure that a circular saw could be used to cut to an exact fit, too.
Rubber mats aren't a perfect solution, but they do give your horse a comfortable floor. Take them out during the summer, scrub them down and let the sun really clean them. I had chickens in one stall for a few years with rubber mats above the floor. I cleaned the mats (after I stripped and sanitized the stall area) and left them outside for a couple of months. Now, I'm taking the stall back for a horse and confident that they are really clean for my horse.
If you use 1/4 inch mats You can roll them as tight as possible, grab the ends and move them fairly easily. The 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch mats can be folded over, and I grab the sides and pull them backwards. It's a REAL workout, but then you start the season with clean mats.


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

Yeah. We have 3/4 inch mats in our wash area. You wouldn't think they'd be so heavy
A horse cut open an artery near his fetlock and we didn't want to move him so we dragged them across the farm. Didn't help that they were slippery on the bottom.


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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

Also, a simple hand cross-cut saw (my personal fave) works very well. I laid mine up on a pair of 2X4's with the cutting like between them and got after it.


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## squirrelfood (Mar 29, 2014)

Corporal said:


> You can certainly double up on mats in the stalls. I prefer 3/4 inch rubber mats bc my floor is also cement. I have cut them with a reciprocating saw, and I'm pretty sure that a circular saw could be used to cut to an exact fit, too.
> Rubber mats aren't a perfect solution, but they do give your horse a comfortable floor. Take them out during the summer, scrub them down and let the sun really clean them. I had chickens in one stall for a few years with rubber mats above the floor. I cleaned the mats (after I stripped and sanitized the stall area) and left them outside for a couple of months. Now, I'm taking the stall back for a horse and confident that they are really clean for my horse.
> If you use 1/4 inch mats You can roll them as tight as possible, grab the ends and move them fairly easily. The 1/2 inch and 3/4 inch mats can be folded over, and I grab the sides and pull them backwards. It's a REAL workout, but then you start the season with clean mats.



I use a heavy clamp fastened in the middle of one short end. Great handle!


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## Horseychick87 (Feb 5, 2014)

A tip on cutting the mats, if you can't use a saw but you can use a sharp razor or box cutter, apply dish soap, it helps the blade slide better. I had to instruct someone who had to mat 30 stalls once, she didn't know about the soap trick until I told her, cut her job time in half.

If the BO wants to feed in the front and the stalls slant that way you'll either as you said have to level the stall or put something in there for the hay to go into, like a muck bucket or small trough, but at that size I wouldn't want to take up more space than necessary.

8.5x 9.5 makes 80.75 square feet of floor space to be covered. I've seen 1/4 inch matts From farmtek in 4x6 (24 sq ft), 4x8 (32 sq ft) 5x8 ( 40 sq ft) and 5x 10 (50 sq ft) 
You can mix and match the sizes to get a tight fit along with cutting them to fit.


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## Lexiie (Nov 14, 2011)

Well I measured the stall today. It's 8'5" by 9'10"
The mats at tsc are 3/4" and 4x6
I would much rather buy them in person due to cost of shipping and delivery.
The mats only cost $40 a piece. I'm kind of leaning towards doing that.
We're filling in the stalls tomorrow. I already filled the deep holes in mine, but maybe at the end of tomorrow I'll fill it completely and level it. 

Thank you all so much for all the advice!


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