Rubber Matting, does anyone have experience of it what are your thoughts??

[Tini]

So I figure the title pretty much sums it up. I'm going to buy some rubber matting for my stables in the not very distant future and have narrowed it down to either fieldguard matting or equimat. I'm currently leaning towards equimat but I'm not sure. Does anyone have experience of either of these mats,or rubber matting in general, is it much better?? what have you found??

[eml]

I have had Equimats ( the heavier ones) in all 36 of my stables for about 10 years and would not be without them. Only a couple have had damage from box walkers or door kickers and these have been easily patched with off cuts from when they were laid.

You can see my comments on how much I saved on the brochure...well unless they have a new one!!...but we basically saved the cost of the mats in staff costs and bedding within the first few months.

If you are anywhere near the Midlands you are welcome to come and see mine.

[Tini]

Hi, thanks for that reply. Unfortunately I live in lancashire so the midlands are a bit away from me but thanks for the offer! I'm looking into the thicker ones for my big horse. How much bedding do you use with them now?? I have been warned that EVA stretches, have you found this??

[Stormin]

I also heard that rubber matting had to be changed regularly, like every few years. Is this true ?

Also how do you clean them in winter without creating an ice rink in the stable ?

[eml]

My thick Equimats have never altered in shape (although sometimes getting them back in after the annual pressure wash of floors is 'interesting')

Davies and Co who make Equimats will recommend leaving a gap round the edge in case they spread but we have never found this an issue.

We use just enough shavings to absorb enough wet to avoid the horses getting stained but do use waterproof, breatheable rugs just in case. This varies from about a bucketful for ponies to about 1/2 bale for my daughter grey competition horse. My 17.3hh heavyweight has about three bucketfuls of shavings (topped up to that each day in winter). We generally just use a sprinkling of bedding when horses just come in for a few hours in summer.

We have experimented with various bedding materials and find small flake shavings/sawdust if you can get it, best. Mucking out we do with plastic snowshovels and in winter one girl can do 36 stables completely including waters and sweeping yards (lots of concrete!) in about 3 hours. No I am not a slave driver honestly its that easy!!

[Tini]

So do the horses take to it well? I already bed on shavings luckily. I'm mailnly getting it to reduce my muckheap in winter. My boys come in at night in the winter, will they still lie down with limited bedding?? Also when you say bucket, do you mean an average bucket, nothing huge?? Thanks for all the advice!

[Tini]

Also, sorry for all the questions lol, what made you choose equimat over all the other brands?? Ipresume you did a fair bit of market research?? I have been ringing about but all the other companies are very scathing of equimat, although they would be I suppose!

[Portia]

I have 17mm thick rubber matting wall-to-wall, had it for three years and no sign of wear, great stuff, makes a noticable difference to the ambient temp in the stable. Started out using the minimal amount of shavings for the wet, but found B wasn't lying down, so had to revert to a 'normal' shavings bed on top.

I bought mine direct from the importer, it's worth doing a 'net search as you'll reduce prices considerably. I dont really see that any particular brand makes a difference, any matting supplied for agricultural use would do the trick provided it's of a suitable thickness.

[eml]

Yes I mean average bucket. They all laid down the first night and yes the stables immediately felt warmer. If you venture onto the yard after about 10pm everything is stretched out!!

My husband was an engineer who specialised in plastic and rubber and he chose the ones we had from a technical point of view. I liked the 'jigsaw' fitting that means we can lift the mats in bits but they fit together well again.

We also considered the ones that drain through so you don't need bedding but the tales we heard of maintenence needs put us off those.

Bear in mind however we did go into this in the very early days when not many people made mats so our choice wasn't so great as it would be today, however we have always had excellent service from the company.

[Gay]

Mason's mats took a hammering when he was ill on Tuesday - he literally fell over and was fitting and they did provide enough protection for him. The only mark on him was where he took some hair off above his eye when he hit his head on the walls. His mats were 16mm thick ones and there is not a mark on them I would definitely recommend them.

[MelanieD]

Rubber matting is fantastic, its saved me a fortune in shavings. Even my reasonably clean one uses less shavings on matting, and I still give her a decent bed by dumping a whole bag in and then just taking a little bit out every day its just nowhere near as deep as her bed needed to be without mats. The little minger used to use stupid amounts of shavings even deep littered, its amazing how much poo she produces and is on a mission to mash up her bed as much as possible so rubber mats have paid for themselves with her pretty quickly. Both of them are happy to lie down, fatty tends to lie down in the middle and most of her shavings are towards the back so she isn't even choosing to like on the bit with a decent depth of bedding.

[Bebe]

I love my rubber mats. I've had them for almost 6yrs and wouldn't part with them now. They still wash up like new and the stable is warmer for them.

I like big, thick beds so whilst I use less bedding than I did without mats I don't just use a bucket or sprinkle of shavings. It does still save money as I use less than I would otherwise.

What the mats do save me is time, a full muck out takes less than 15 minutes and that includes sweeping a decent length of corridor and going to the muck heap.

[Big Ears]

I have fieldguard mats and have had them for more than 10 years, still on the same set. they sit up on legs and then are held together with plates underneath.

This type of mat the pee drains down between the gaps onto the floor, so you need to have a slope to the floor and a drain otherwise it accumulates all around the door, they need lifting every few months to wash the floor but that's about all the maintenance.

I only use a thin layer of shavings on them as the mare i have is very messy and if you give her a deep bed you have to take it out daily. However they tend not to lie down on them as much as with a conventional bed.

A lot of folks use the mats and then put a full shavings bed on top, but they are not designed to be used that way, the mat should be the surface and all they really need is a bucketful of shavings on top every day to mop up the surface pee. You can just brush the manure to a corner then skip it out, it is very quick and easy.

I have two very very dirty mares - one box walks the other buries and also pees an enormous amount every day so with a conventional bed she goes through a bale of shavings every two days.

The mats sometimes stretch a bit in use but i have had mine for almost 15 years and they are still going strong.

A lot of folks however put them down and don't like t hem so you can sometimes get them second hand.

[Frog Flob]

I've had my Matta mats for 4/5 years. They are as good as new and used every day for at least 12 hours on & off. They link together jigsaw like are light and manouverable they also have a bright yellow wedge shaped strip that fits in to the doorway so no tripping or lifting of mats. They rest on the concrete ground via little integral legs, for want of a better description! which leaves an air layer under the mats, once linked together they do not seem to let liquids through so no smelly build ups. I then use a generous layer of Woody Pet in one corner which they lie in quite happily. My horse is a 15.1 h Arab so I can't guarantee that the same wear would be of a Shire or heavier horse! :)

[Yann]

I love mine, they're still good as new after 5 years and my stable drains that well that there was nothing to disinfect last time I lifted them. I don't need to use much bedding, and that combined with two fastidious mares makes mucking out a breeze.

[Trewsers]

I got some really heavy thick ones from REdmire - not sure what the brand is but it says made in Canada on the back! They are good but jolly heavy to lug about - takes two of you (or one strong person) and they break if you roll them or store them unevenly - ie, not flat. I discovered this - so now have a couple broken..........

[artemis]

I have had my mats for over 10 years now with not a mark on them. I got them from Godricks in Yorkshire. I wouldn't be without them. They are a bit heavy to move though - so I am going for smaller size next time.

[vjwuk]

I have the green jigsaw equimat, and have had it for 3 years now. I love it but a few things I have found out since buying for various reasons.

1. if you have a heavy horse invest in the thicker version, it does spread under their weight and I got the thinner one and have areas where it is not as "joined" as it was but it is still brilliant.

2. For anyone with a "not 100%" horse in the leg department, I have found that since my mare was diagnosed with nav & coffin bone osteo, if I bring her in for half hour to three quarters of hour before riding she is much better if ground has been hard outside in her field (vet seen and working to prog before anyone critiques xx).

Other liveries have the square black mats and are happy, I have used a mates rubber matting fork and that was a good investment too ifyou use shavings

[colettybetty]

I have Kraiburg mats for mine and they are great.Never smell and look like new after 4 years and being chopped about several times for different stables.
Keep the stable warmer and if your stables drains well the urine will run out into the drainage channel at the front if you have one. I just use a small amount of shavings (or straw) at the back to mop up the wet. My gelding is very clean and mucking out involves lifting out the poo and a broom to sweep up the wet. Takes 2 minutes. Mares have more bedding but still takes minutes (apart from messy foalie !)
Try dismounting onto a mat instead of concrete after a long ride, you'll see just how comfortable they are.

[Jamey]

I have had my equimats for two and a half years and they are brilliant. Some other folk on the yard have the thinner black mats but these are forever moving (to the point where we have had to 'no nails' them to the floor) and buckle really easily so you end up with ripples instead of a level floor.

Cossack has a thin base on 1/3 of his floor and one bank along the wall where he sleeps. Takes me so little time to muck out nowadays (he box wallks first thing in the morning anticpating going out, so can be pretty vile).

[Mikal]

I'm also in the process of getting some rubber matting for our stables. Does anyone know how well this will go down on a chalk base? Of, course with this type of surface it isn't very level and quite pitted so I am concerned about it not fitting well or breaking up.

Also how thick is the good quality matting ?
T

[Tini]

Hey, I've been doing some research, and I would say 18mm is a good quality thickness. As for the chalk base, ring round some of the companies, they're all really helpful!

[Bebe]

Mikal, the best thing to do would be to phone around companies who supply rubber mats and ask them about using their product over a chalk base. That said, if you were to go with the thick (mine are 18mm) rubber mats that are haevy but also bendy, they should mould to the shape of the surface under them. They're also so heavy that they're unlikely to move.

I didn't want to cut all my mats to size so a few of them are folded up the walls of the stable. They've been like that for 5yrs without any problems at all. It just means that if I ever want to move them into another stable for some reason they're the original rectangular shape vs cut into various different sizes. Makes them easier to fit.

[Wally]

I too have thick heavy mats down in all my boxes, the cows had them too. They are a devil to move and are a two strong man or three weak man job to move them. Once they are down they don't move and are a Gosdsend.

It takes me 20 minutes in the morning to muck out 6 horses and get them ready to come back in again. Saves time and bedding. And if, for whatever reason, the boat cannot come in with any straw or shavings, it really doesn't matter as we can manage with no bedding in emergencies.

[Mikal]

Thanks for the advice. I purchased some of the thicker mats yesterday and I was amazed with how easily they went down. Thanks for the tip Bebe about not cutting them but letting them run up the wall a little. It's now so warm and snug in the stable that my little girl (daughter not horse) curled up in the corner!

[Stormin]

OK, from what I've read, there are 2 types of rubber matting - one type that drains (from the surface to underneath) and the other that doesn't (which is like a carpet for your boxes).

I just don't understand what happens to the wee patches. :o
I mean many of you put a bucket or 2 of shavings down but surely this isn't enough to be mopping up all the wee ?
For those on the draining type of rubber - don't the shaving block up the draining bits and make a big soggy mess in the matting ? If not, does this mean that you have to hose under (and over ?) the matting daily to clean and avoid smells ?
For those on "non-draining" types - I can't see how reduced bedding can be absorbant enough and cost efficient.

Mine are on pretty deep shavings beds. I'm lifting 2 to 3 wet patches for an overnight stay from 9 pm to 5.30 am. I notice that when I let the shaving run down a bit, they are mixed about much quicker and I end up taking out more shavings than usual.

I'm really interested in rubber matting from the economy point of view (+ size of muck heap at home !!) and for much less dust but just can't get my head around how it works :confused:

[eml]

We looked into both as I in theory preferred the draining type. Then I saw a yard with them. You cannot use any bedding so have to skip out as often as possible. The mats stop draining if mucky or greasy so need a spray of degreasing solution every day, you also need excellent drainage and preferable an automatic system to flush out under the mats every day.

We opted for the non draining ones but with a draining channel round the edge. We experimented with all sorts of bedding from sawdust though shavings to flax before choosing small flake shavings (with some dust preferably) We then adjusted the amount and the pattern in each stable until we arrived at the optimum, generally for mares a patch at the back of the stable is best whereas geldings are better with a patch in the middle. We aim to take out droppings as often as possible and in morning muck out take out really wet shavings and droppings, move slighly used shavings to the previous nights wet patches and put new into the space those were moved from.

We have 36 stables and average amount shavings used range from a bucket to about 1/2 a bale with daily top ups amounting to two bales over 36 stables. There is no fixed answer only experiment with your horses will arrive at the best for you. Our horse on 1/2 a bale with about 1/6 bale top ups is a grey show mare who stays clean!

Oh and we now only have to have our muck heap moved every three years as it rots down very quickly being mainly droppings.

[Big Ears]

the ones which drain between each mat = which is what we have = basically the bucket of shavings is enough to catch the surface urine and the rest runs down under the mats.

if you brush up the shavings each morning and remove and replace, the mats are clean and dry again - once a week you can wash them with Gloop disinfectant which will run down under the floor and neutralise the smell of the urine which is gathering under there and then every six months or so you spend an afternoon lifting the mats and hosing out the floors as the urine solidifies into a sort of jelly which you hose out into the drain.

if your floors slope well, the urine will naturally run to the back and the drain and run out of there, so it takes a while for anything to build up under the mats - with the donkeys I find i need to lift them once a year, Molly cob about the same, Rosie every six months as she wees a lot more.

So i spend about a weekend a year doing it but given the amount of time it saves me daily it isnt that much.

The key thing is that you need to put a drain at the back of the stable and then slope the concrete floor so that everything runs to the drain, then they drain daily and so there isn't much under the floors. You know you need to lift t he mats when you walk on them and they squelch as there is a build up under them but the Gloop will stop them smelling.

I haven#'t used the other kinds. At the moment we are in new stables and the fllors haven't been done and Rosie is getting through a bale of shavings every 2-3 days! A bale of shavings used to last us for the four equines about 2 weeks.

[Stormin]

eml, Big Ears - thanks for your experiences and your honesty.
I'm off to do a bit of maths ( :eek: ) to see what kind of investment is needed.

Thanks again ! ;)

[colettybetty]

Decent drainage is important, our mats have been great, we only flush them out occasionally by lifting a corner and hosing underneath. In the summer, when they are mostly out 24/7, we take them out and clean the stable floor and the mats. In winter I have a pump disinfectant spray which I spray over the wet areas twice a week (which I did before I had matting anyway).
We've just moved yards and re-fitted the mats again, new YO's were amazed at how nice and clean our Kraiburg mats were,still like new after 4 years and 3 re-fits to different stables.If the mats are fitted correctly, there shouldn't be a problem with bedding blocking the drainage.
Friend has has hers down for 10 years, never lifts or flushes them, but has a fairly deep bed for her elderly horse and her stable is beautifully fresh. We use just a small bed and flush occasionally, no smelly stables- brilliant.