Concrete?

[CLAUDIA]

I've always been told that concrete is horrible for animal's joints and bones (if you've ever stood at length on a concrete floor you'll know what I mean :) ). What kind of material is best to use as flooring in the stable and stalls?

[Tikki]

Most stable floors are concrete, though if you have a deep enough bed it shouldn't harm the horse's joints. Rubber flooring is becoming more common and technically doesn't need any other bedding on it. We are still in the dark ages here and have cobbles in our stables. I use deep litter shavings which is great 'til the end of the year when you have to clean the whole lot out!

[Medalia]

We actually use railway ties and rubber floor mats covered with shavings and sometimes straw. There's concrete under the railway ties.

[KB]

The best solution that I have heard (which I've been too lazy to do so far...) was to dig down in the stall floor about a foot and put gravel in with clay over that and then a layer dirt and then the rubber mats. That way you have a softer floor but it will drain really well. Right now I have mats over dirt in 2 of my stalls and will put mats in the rest this fall.

[MistyEQ]

Wood seems like a good choice. My instructor's current barn is dirt with a matt over it, haven't been in the new barn yet. Where I volunteer they have a concrete floor, so does my friend's instructor. It's easy to clean and won't rot if you put water on it (we disinfect the barn by spraying disinfectant on the floor and sometimes the stall walls and then rinsing it with the hose. The walls are wood but painted with a few coats. Plus the stalls have concrete with thick matts, making them easy to clean -take out the matts (heavy though) and hose! :)