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Stall floor question

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  LuckyRVT 
#1 ·
I'm making a stall in our shed and the floor is concrete. My horse will be in the stall every night for at least a month and also inside if its raining. So I want it to be comfortable for her to stand on for long periods of time. On top of the concrete should I put rubber stall mats? The ones i'm wanting to buy are from Tractor Supply and are 4ft x 6ft and 3/4 inches thick and cost $40.00. I was thinking about putting the mats down over the whole stall and then putting straw or pellets. I don't have any experience with a horse being stalled.

My questions are....
Is 3/4 inch think rubber mats think enough?
If now how think should I get and where do you suggest i buy them at?
Do you think straw or pellets are better?
 
#2 ·
I am not all that knowledgable, but I can tell you how it's done where we currently board our horses. She has concrete floors as well, and has the entire stall covered with 5/8 rubber mats. She then puts about 6 inches of shavings down over the whole thing. I'm going to follow this thread to see what people say ... when we move (in 3 weeks - yikes!) we've got concrete floors as well, and the rubber mats. I was planning on doing shavings (it's all I've seen) but will be curious to hear if there is something better.
 
#5 ·
I use the 3/4" thick mats from TSC. They are very durable and don't slip a lot, YAY! I've used others that were horrible for slipping. I'd vote for shavings if you can buy them in bulk or pellets if you can't. Reason I say shavings in bulk is because I can buy a year's worth of shavings in bulk for what 1 pallet of the bagged shavings will cost me. If you can't buy the shavings in bulk or if you have no place to store them, then I prefer pellets. Put down several more bags than they recommend and pick every day. They last a LOT longer than shavings before you need to strip and rebed, so they're more cost effective.

STRAW SUCKS, IMO! I use it when I'm foaling but as soon as the baby is a month or so old, I go back to just shavings. Straw isn't very absorbent and it can weigh a TON when it's wet as well as being stinky. I just put down my last bale of straw for the new foal today, and when that's done he'll be a month old and I'll be back to just shavings. YAY!
 
#6 ·
I think i'm going to use pellets because i don't have any where to store the shavings in less i buy them in bags. (still don't no where i'm going to store hay yet) I did hear to put down a lot of bags the first time. I have a funny question tho...She she pees in her stall will her pee just get soaked up by the pellets or will it sometimes go under the stall mats?
 
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