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Post by bramblesmum on Dec 7, 2011 19:33:00 GMT 1
I don't save masses but certainly a bit as the wee does drain through mine, I still do a big bed as my Stally is a stroppy sod and really does get cross if not a nice bed (literally goes in and sulks at back) but does stop him getting rubbed hocks as he tends to knock his bed around a lot.
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steve
Grand Prix Poster
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Post by steve on Dec 7, 2011 20:06:56 GMT 1
I have Kraiburg mats for my 4 - they cost a fortune and haven't saved us a penny as I cant do small beds Lol!!! But as others have said they do stop the horse scraping themselves should they end up lying on the stable floor rather than the bedding - and you certainly notice how much warmer they are under foot.
We had the same dilemma last winter as shavings here were £6 a bale for dusty crap, or £9 for Snowflake, and I was using anything between 6 and 8 bales a week!!
So we took the plunge and went on to wood pellets, with straw on top - this looked AMAZING!! We had the biggest beds in the world (15x15 stables) I would've happily slept in them!! Then after a few weeks, the horses managed to mix the pellets and the straw up and making a right royal mess!! Then we found straw pellets that are a lot cheaper and just as or more absorbant! Then this year we ditched the straw and just went for the pellets. We bought 2tonne bags in September, laid new huge beds, and we still have some left and barely take any wet out. The beds look nice, but the horses lay down every night and mucking out is very quick and easy. I can do Max who is the messiest horse in the world in less than 10mins!!
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Post by jen1 on Dec 7, 2011 20:44:44 GMT 1
ive just taken all of my mats up, i sont like them, how many do you need,
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Azrael
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Post by Azrael on Dec 8, 2011 0:01:26 GMT 1
I've saved a fortune since I've had mine because Mia is a minger in her stable. The lying in wet bits thing is minging but even on a big straw bed she'll find a way to give herself a poo facepack so not much difference really. Not so much difference with Roxy since getting the mats because she's quite clean anyway but I have noticed she tends to choose the mats over the bedded bit to lie on anyway so she's been on a thin bed since I noticed that as well.
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Post by julz on Dec 8, 2011 0:27:39 GMT 1
Rubber matting is great.. it's warm for them to lie on, it provides a good grip for when they want to get up, it's long lasting, it doesn't absorb anything hence the need for a bit of bedding in which to do the soaking up, it's easy to muck out, it's easy to sweep over.... and it reduces the need for a big bed.
The only time we had a full big bed on it was when S went down with full blown lami in all four feet. he needed the bed to support his feet. even then it was wood pellets which was fab for mucking out.
the only downside to them is that they can move a bit, and that they need to be picked up and have the box floor cleaned every so often, but that's not every weekend, or even every month
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Post by 2 bays & a grey:D on Dec 8, 2011 10:41:03 GMT 1
Jen I have PM'd you.
I am going to do some research on wood pellets me thinks!
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Post by wabuska on Dec 8, 2011 19:19:56 GMT 1
I can't stand the smell of stables with mats with any sort of joins..... they stink and snuffle the horses and they stink, most especially without bedding added. I know most of you add bedding and this doesn't apply, but you know what I mean. Lifting smelly dripping mats is the sort of work a convict wouldn't do.
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Post by donnalex on Dec 8, 2011 19:38:43 GMT 1
The Fieldguard mats are amazing Kanga. All the pee drains away and it goes straight under the mats even in summer there is no smell. I have one stable with them in and I wish I could afford more. The others are just normal mats and I agree they ca small but not mow Im deep littering their beds are brilliant
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Post by taklishim on Dec 8, 2011 19:41:36 GMT 1
I can't stand the smell of stables with mats with any sort of joins..... they stink and snuffle the horses and they stink, most especially without bedding added. I know most of you add bedding and this doesn't apply, but you know what I mean. Lifting smelly dripping mats is the sort of work a convict wouldn't do. sorry but they don't. I can only comment on the fieldguard system but they only smell if the mats are badly laid, if they are not properly fitted to the edges of the walls and if they are not laid on a sloping floor going into a trap which then drains outside the stable. I use bedding in the way that you would sprinkle icing sugar onto a cake through a seive. There is no smell whatsoever. I know as I have spent nights sleeping on a camp bed on my stable floors. I often go and sit by the horses when they are lying down so I get down to ground level on them very frequently. My shavings beds used to smell which was one reason I went onto mats. When I first started researching mats we were given addresses to visit by fieldguard. The first one was dreadful. The rugs a soggy shitty mess and smell atrocious. I was ready to walk away. It was OH who examined it in detail and showed me how it could be made to work. I clean out once a year. It is not that bad a job as I adore pressure washing things. ;D ;D ;D It is infinitely better than mucking out a deep litter bed or having to muck out a shavings bed daily.
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Post by julz on Dec 8, 2011 19:57:18 GMT 1
They shouldn't smell.. if they are then check the rubber isn't faulty in some way, or been nibbled by mice.... The only smell we got was when lifting them up and it was the pee and what bedding had got underneath them that was smelly, not the mats themselves.
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Post by specialized on Dec 8, 2011 22:22:20 GMT 1
With the heavy mats laid on a sloping floor there is no smell, and there is no need to take them out to clean as,if they are fitted tightly, there is no reason for anything to get underneath. Ours will get a pressure wash once or twice a year and maybe a swill with disinfectant, but never taken up and no smell. If there is a smell it will be due to urine pooling underneath if the mats are laid on a flat or uneven surface.
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Azrael
Grand Prix Poster
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Post by Azrael on Dec 8, 2011 23:13:18 GMT 1
The smell when we take the mats up can be pretty bad but while they're down there's no smell or at least no worse than any other stable. If it does get smelly it's time to take mats up and hose the stable out.
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Post by highlanderpony2002 on Dec 9, 2011 0:09:29 GMT 1
I am with Kanga I cant stand the smell mind you I am latex allergic so can smell rubber from yards away, Every stable with mats I have ever been in has stunk. rugs have been stinking unless the horses have been bedded well with a normal bed and mucked out properly daily so no saving on cost or time. They are much warmer though and less injuries if you have to use a stable so proper beds and mats would be a good way to use them if I could or needed to
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naturalneddie
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If all is not lost - where is it?
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Post by naturalneddie on Dec 9, 2011 1:17:23 GMT 1
if you are getting rid of mats Jenny, can I have the ones I bought of Gina back? thanks.
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Post by julz on Dec 9, 2011 10:56:58 GMT 1
I think dead flat floors are few and far between..... our stable was flat but it wasn't level and all water would pool in a corner furthest from the door meaning we had to sweep it uphill and out the door. it was better when we had mats put in.
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