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Discussion on Are stall mats really soft enough?
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Member:
lynnland
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2010 - 8:29 am:
Hi Gang,
This might sound like a silly question but it seems every time I walk into a stall with stall mats I think they are still hard as heck (my horse is on packed sand with straw or shavings bedding). I realize there is some give in them, but other than the high end ones with the "matress/pillow" under a top cover, I cannot imaging a heavy horse being comfortable laying in them. Not a real problem for those with access to a soft turnout area, but for horses stabled overnight I would image that a reasonably thick bedding is still needed/desirable. My horse tends to make a mess out of his stall and I was contemplating mats (preferably permeable or simply drilling holes into the non-permeable ones). Any ideas or comments appreciated.
Cheers
Lynn
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Member:
lucyc1
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2010 - 9:38 am:
Hi Lynn! We use mats on packed M-10 (like stone dust.) They are definitely not soft enough by themselves. When the horses are in overnight we bed quite heavily. In the summer when they are in during the day we bed more lightly -- but still use shavings. I like them very much though. In the old barn the urine soaked down into the ground and built up. With mats the urine is almost entirely absorbed by the shavings -- because it can't seep down -- and we can get it out. In other words, I'm not sure how much they help the horses -- but I think they help the longevity of the barn - a lot.
I don't like mats on concrete -- I think they are too hard, and what urine does get under the mats has no where to go, doesn't seem to break down, and ends up being way to much work (removing the mats to clean under) or unsanitary.)
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Thursday, Jul 1, 2010 - 3:45 pm:
I like 6 inches of shavings over a stall mat for the reasons Lucy gives and because I think they do make the horses more comfortable.
DrO
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Member:
lynnland
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Posted on Monday, Jul 5, 2010 - 7:51 am:
Thanks for the replies.
Lucy, We generally bed with straw as it is inexpensive here and composts well. The problem is that it doesn't absorb urine nearly as well as good quality shavings so...I would rather dig out the stall yearly than have him sitting in urine. We are on good draining sand so digging it up and refilling it isn't too hard a job. If we used shavings, I would go with the nice mattress type mats.
Lynn
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