Rubber stable mats - to buy or not to buy!
For many years I read all of the articles on rubber stable mats and liked the idea, but couldn’t decide whether to invest in them. Although many people suggest that using mats can cut down on bedding costs, other people suggest this isn’t really the case. However, having read various articles on equine health, specifically joint problems, I decided to go ahead and buy some mats. I haven’t found that I particularly use less bedding, although I no longer deep litter the bed, I take out all of the wet shavings daily and so the bed is cleaner and doesn’t smell as much! My horse is only stabled at night and I still use on average, 1 bale of shavings per week. The main benefit as far as I’m concerned though, is that it is better for the horse’s joints, creating a level, warm, cushioning surface for the horse to stand or lie on. This is of course beneficial for all horses, but especially those with injuries, joint / bone disease and those standing in the stable for long periods. In addition, if you have a horse that likes to roll or lie down (having first scraped the bedding down to the concrete), as mine does, the use of rubber matting can reduce the occurrence of capped hocks. I believe other benefits include the possible reduction of wind problems due to less bedding required, so with less wet bedding (than you would inevitably have with a deep litter bed), there is a reduction in ammonia (from the urine soaked bedding), which I believe can only be helpful! There are no doubt countless reports about the pros and cons of stable matting, but a straightforward article on stable management (including a mention on stable mats), can be found on the BHS website. back to Horse Building
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