What are the benefits to mats over dirt floor in horse stall?
lisa t asked:
I was considering cementing our stalls -but after research will not. I currently have dirt(primarily ) with some flat stone floors. I tend to use alot of bedding for plenty cushion but would it be better with stall mats and will it make easier or harder to clean? My horses come and go as they please so are not in there a great deal of time.
I was considering cementing our stalls -but after research will not. I currently have dirt(primarily ) with some flat stone floors. I tend to use alot of bedding for plenty cushion but would it be better with stall mats and will it make easier or harder to clean? My horses come and go as they please so are not in there a great deal of time.
Mats are nice because they are easy to hose off now and then, but if your horses aren’t in the stalls much, it may not make much of a difference. If you keep the stalls pretty clean, either way would probably work just fine.
Using stall mats is a great idea. It cuts your use of bedding down by about half, and in some cases close to two thirds, of what non-matted stalls typically would require. Mats also prevent horses from digging, keep the floor level, and prevent dangerous, unsanitary holes from developing. Mats are easy to clean- but they can be heavy and awkward to move around, so make sure you have someone to help you install yours when you are ready.
One thing you will have to remember to do when you clean with mats in place is to sweep the wet bedding off the mat and let it dry so that odors don’t accumulate. Otherwise, you may have issues with ammonia fumes from wet bedding, depending on what you’re using as bedding material. Mats provide cushioning, and are great for horses which have arthritis in their backs and hocks- but you still need to bed fairly deeply with these horses.
I hope this helps.
They are easier to clean adn they keep the horse from falling which is often why people use mats.
The problem I have with dirt floors is that the horses pee, and some of it goes into the bedding, but some of it always soaks through to the floor. And then it takes FOREVER to dry out. If your horse is in there a lot you end up getting a big wet spot that not only smells, but will turn into a hole in the middle of the stall. So that’s no good. The mats prevent that.
Since you’re already using dirt floors you probably know the advantages and disadvantages of that. The main advantage is price – dirt is dirt cheap (oh, I am funny!) and easy to replace. It also has some cushioning. The biggest disadvantage is how messy it is. Depending upon whether your ground is clay based, sandy or loamy you’ll have different issues. But all get muddy when wet, and can take a long time to dry, especially under deep bedding. All throw dirt up into the bedding and therefore make the bedding itself dusty. This might not be a problem much of the time, but if you’ve bathed a horse and want to keep him clean for a function, then the dirt under the bedding will make it difficult to keep white socks white. Also, dirt is easy to move, so horses tend to quickly get ruts, pawed areas and small lakes in the center of their stalls. Also, mucking out stalls really well when they’re on dirt is tough as the dirt tends to clump and be hard to clean right to the bottom. Mats provide you with a firm base that is easy to fork off of. You’ll get more of the wet and dirty bedding when you clean on mats.
Mats are certainly more expensive than plain dirt. And unless you buy decent quality mats they can be a problem to keep stable if your base is dirt.
I too have two dirt based stalls which my horses use as run in and out stalls. They aren’t in there often, but I decided to try mats because I was tired of all the dirt in the bedding. I thought I could save costs by buying lighter weight and cheaper mats (they are still heavy, believe me, but not as thick as they should have been) What happened was – the mats kept shifting and I’d get mounds of dirt built up at the seams. Pretty soon the mats were worthless. The answer would have been for me to either put a different base down before the mats, or else to have used better quality mats, perhaps even the interlocking ones.
What are the disadvantages of good quality mats? The only one I can think of is – cost. Oh, and they are heavy and hard to move and to install. Otherwise they will save you bedding costs, provide some cushioning and traction, prevent dips in your floor, they’re easier to clean, and most important of all, keep your horse cleaner!
Dirt floors are better in terms of support – they are cushy enough they usually won’t hurt the horse’s legs like standing on cement. The negative to them is that they get wet from urine and traveling and eventually have to be dug out and shored up with gravel and sand.
The best thing I’ve ever seen are rubber mats on top of dirt floors. A level, solid dirt floor with those mats that lock together with puzzle edges are really great. The mats disallow the horses from digging up the dirt, it also keeps them off a wet floor while allowing the urine to pass through and somewhat dissipate. Adding sawdust or shaving bedding on top of them soaks up any urine or wet before it gets a chance to soak into the dirt – and the addition of mats requires less bedding than bedding on top of dirt floor. My mother has this arrangement and it’s worked very, very well. When she has to bed the stalls, it takes 1/4 the shaving or sawdust without the mats. The stalls are quicker and easier to clean due to the rubber floor. the horses stay cleaner, their stalls are always level. She did not use the interlocking mats though as they’re more expensive than the regular ones. After a time, the dirt does move around or the edges flip up and wear out. She did take a strip of rubber belting, screwed two mates together with carriage bolts and simply scooped the dirt out under where the belting attached the two mats (because that seam was thicker and the little ‘trench’ kinda made them lay flatter). It was kind ofa pain in the rear to do though.
The only negative I’ve had with rubber mats is that when they get wet, they are slipperly. I have an old QH gelding who’s suffered EPM. His nervous system is nearly shot – when he gets excited and he can’t control his hind legs properly, if he’s on those wet mats, he’ll slip easily and fall.
I personally have a barn with cement floors and mats on top. The horses wouldn’t be on cement without mats. They can’t get enough cushion on that hard floor from bedding alone unless it’s about a foot thick – which is hard to keep clean and costly. I don’t have the mats that interlock either, and I wish I did. The stalls are a bit odd shaped, so it’s not possible to cover the entire floor with them without cutting little bits and pieces in – which would just bounce around and do no good. The corners of some of the mats have become worn right in the center of the stall. When they wear, the tend to pop up, then the horse steps back, bends them over and eventually they ***** and break so you no longer have a 90 degree corner, you have a corner that doesn’t **** up to another mat – the problem grows from there. My mats are about 6 or 7 years old now and the problem has only begun about a year ago, so they did last a while. I did purchase some different brand of mats called “Tenderfoot” which are heavier than the standard ones sold at TSC. These have lasted longer and for a long time didn’t move with the horses movement in the stalls. Now they’re getting a little broken down and move some – they get ‘bubbles’ under them from the horses driving manure and bedding under the edges, which only serves to add danger of stumbling, primarily for me not the horses. My horses also are allowed to run in and out of their stalls which does affect the performance of the floor and mats. With my filly who runs in and out of a dirt floor, she’ll slide in and stick her feet right down thru all the bedding and tear up the floor. About once a year, no matter the horse in that stall/turnout, I have to dig and re-level the floor. Last year I dug it down and put gravel in it then sand. It’s helped but it won’t last forever. The other horses run in and out of a cement floor with mats area. there are 4 horses with 4 stalls they can get into and out of. Their charging into the stalls plays heck on the mats driving the dirt under the edges which lift, then I have to roll the heavy buggers back to scrape out the crap under the edges.
All in all though, I think the mats a good investment no matter what kind of floor is used, even for the headaches keeping them cleaned under and in good shape. If I had my druthers, I’d chose the interlocking ones.
If your horses are always out, why use bedding at all? It is a lot of expense and difficulty in cleaning. Horses would always rather be outside if the weather is acceptable. I can’t see the reasoning for “cushion” if they are out 24/7. I prefer dirt floors to mats or any other flooring. I had organic soil put in my new barn and it is great for the horses (also can be out 24/7 if they like). I do not use any bedding but keep it immaculately clean (and my stalls are 14 x 24). To me, mats and bedding present many more cleaning problems and both the mats and the bedding are a breeding ground for bacteria and fungus. Even if you are very diligent about your cleaning, this is a labor intensive and unnecessary step to take – just my opinion. You have to regularly sweep all out and bleach to keep things under control. If your horses were to lay down on the mats, it can really cause bad scrapes without substantial bedding at all times. Then there is the expense of purchase and fitting them and moving them around if they are not totally wall-to-wall. I used to have mats in my stalls, and now they are stacked outside the barn. Good for you that you are avoiding the concrete. Even with mats, concrete is very hard on a horse’s feet, legs and body in general and the slipping and falling can be horrible. Even wet mats are a hazard and horses are messy with dropping food and splashing their water, not to mention the **** and urine. Dirt floors are more natural and I think my horses like it better. They only come in for inclement weather or to eat. I just think the more natural their environment, the better off they are.