Rubber mats in horse stalls

[DDNON]

I have put 3X5 rubber mats in my horse stall. Have just a clay floor underneath. Does anyone have trouble with the urine going thru the cracks and making the clay floor yucky underneath. I fold the mats back every few days (a not so easy back breaking task for a girl) and sprinkle liberally with stall dry. This stall is 10X20 and used by 2 horses as a run in. They come and go as they please but use the stall as their litter box. (Guess I dont blame them). I use pine shavings as base bedding then spread straw on top. Am I doing something wrong ? Thanks for any advice

 

[Alice Acres]

I'm not sure how bad your clay is - but I would just skip the rubber mats. They are causing the buildup of moisture (urine, water, etc) and probably making things worse. And they are expensive and also making tons more work for you.

Our barn is a clay dirt floor and it wonderful.

We've had horses, ponies, llamas, sheep in ours. Not a single issue - except the time the water hydrant malfunctioned and flooded the barn ...but it all reabsorbed and in a few days it was like it never happened.

 

[DDNON]

Thanks....Im going to remove them then. I have another place for them anyway. Now that I think about it the floor was a lot drier before the mats

 

[currycomb]

and to help them decide not to use as the litter box, remove all bedding and place some soiled bedding where you want them to potty. keep removing the manure and place outside where you wish them to go. once they learn, you might try rebedding if you think it necessary

 

[Karma]

I would remove the mats and all the bedding for a couple days and put the horses somewhere else if that is an option to let it dry out really good. Drainage could also be the real issue and if it is it likely won't matter if there is a mat or not.

 

[DDNON]

and to help them decide not to use as the litter box, remove all bedding and place some soiled bedding where you want them to potty. keep removing the manure and place outside where you wish them to go. once they learn, you might try rebedding if you think it necessary

I have tried removing everything and just putting stall dry on the mats for odor control but they will still urinate on the mats bedding or no (both 4 yr old geldings). I have had other geldings that would not take the slightest chance on splashing their legs LOL. But these 2 dont mind a bit. And the manure pile is just a short walk for them outside the barn but no go on that either. My sister lives a mile from me and her 2 horses have the exact same setup except her 2 horses go outside to potty. Thank you all for your help. I will remove the mats and dry everything out before letting the horses use that stall again.

 

[goodhors]

Clay floor is designed to be hard, not draining because the bedding soaks up the urine.
With clay under the mats, the urine is not soaking into the bedding, not draining away
either so you get a mess.

I love rubber mats, use them in every stall. However our stalls were designed for drainage,
with various layers to take any wetness away that goes thru the rubber mats. The rubber
mats are soft to lay on, very easy to clean each day. I wouldn't have a naked dirt floor, too
hard to clean and keep leveled. Poop sticks to it in cold weather, so it is hard to clean well.

Clay is an old time stall floor, because it was not as slippery as wood, harder surface to keep floor
level and easier to clean that bedding out. Determined horses could still dig holes or get
the floor uneven, so you just planned to refill the stall floor as needed with more clay.

If you should decide you MUST use rubber mats as flooring, you will need to dig up that clay
and refill the floor with draining materials like crushed limestone and gravel mixes, stone
dust as the top layer. You will have a better floor if you dig down almost 2ft, to start
those thick drainage layers.

Rubber mats ARE very useful in other places, just not good on clay stall floors. I have
them in front of the barn doors so it is not muddy when driving the tractor inside. Under
gates where I catch horses to bring them in, so my boots don't get sucked off!

 

[DDNON]

Clay floor is designed to be hard, not draining because the bedding soaks up the urine.
With clay under the mats, the urine is not soaking into the bedding, not draining away
either so you get a mess.

I love rubber mats, use them in every stall. However our stalls were designed for drainage,
with various layers to take any wetness away that goes thru the rubber mats. The rubber
mats are soft to lay on, very easy to clean each day. I wouldn't have a naked dirt floor, too
hard to clean and keep leveled. Poop sticks to it in cold weather, so it is hard to clean well.

Clay is an old time stall floor, because it was not as slippery as wood, harder surface to keep floor
level and easier to clean that bedding out. Determined horses could still dig holes or get
the floor uneven, so you just planned to refill the stall floor as needed with more clay.

If you should decide you MUST use rubber mats as flooring, you will need to dig up that clay
and refill the floor with draining materials like crushed limestone and gravel mixes, stone
dust as the top layer. You will have a better floor if you dig down almost 2ft, to start
those thick drainage layers.

Rubber mats ARE very useful in other places, just not good on clay stall floors. I have
them in front of the barn doors so it is not muddy when driving the tractor inside. Under
gates where I catch horses to bring them in, so my boots don't get sucked off!

Thank you ! That is why I put the mats down because I was digging the floor uneven when cleaning the stall. But this is definitely worse. The mats just hold every bit of moisture as well as creating their own. Glad for the cool weather so I can work a solution out without sweating to death. Funny about the boots-gosh I had forgotten about ruining a few pairs of socks years ago