Building new barn and wanting to know the pros & cons of finishing the stalls with concrete or with the dirt/rock draining system. Both will have stall mats. Please share what has worked best for you. Thanks!
Having done the base and installed mats over screenings, I’d give a limb to have concrete in my next barn. Getting screenings perfectly level and tamped hard is WORK. And if your base isn’t perfect, the mat edges lift and catch your fork when you clean, and risk accumulating bedding and crap underneath.
Concrete is one and done and good forever.
Also, you don’t get drainage with a screenings base. Mats are installed tightly, base is packed hard. I’d much rather have a surface that I could powerwash, anyway.
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We are sort in between as our barn has concrete pavers which are set on roadbase and sand. Surface is concrete with joint gaps of about 1/8th inch. Any moisture that does get under the mats can seep into the base. Two stall we did out center drains in, but in 39 years have never had a need to use the drains.
The floor in all intents and purpose is concrete (there pavers are made with 10,000 pound psi concrete so are about 2.5 times harder than most concrete floors.
But dirt, the saddlehorse farm I worked while college had dirt… and holes that had to be repacked constantly. Even the good horses who took care of their stalls would wear the surface down making the stall a Step out that required adding clay to the stall to bring its elevation back up
We have mats over packed dirt in our small quarantine barn because that is what was there, but concrete with mats for our main barn.
Every vet clinic has concrete because it is easiest to maintain and clean and disinfect.
When it comes to horse comfort, concrete is said to be harder on their legs, but centuries of horses kept on concrete and rock stalls tell a different story.
No matter what you use for base in stalls as far as horses is concerned depends on two antagonistic goals.
Horses left to their own devices will prefer to stand on hard, even ground.
We had an old concrete slab in some pens and that is where they loved to stand and snooze.
When it comes to laying down, then horses prefer something soft.
Our horses would walk off the concrete pad and lay down for their naps on the dirt around it.
We eventually added a sand pile there, that they absolutely loved for their naps, but would still rather go stand resting on the concrete pad.
Many horses over many years.
Now, when it comes to a horse in a stall, well, you could use concrete with mats and have part of it deeply bedded.
Horses then can stand around in comfort on the level ground with little bedding, like by the food, but have the rest of the stall bedded to their comfort.
Here is an article I had bookmarked, that has all kinds of ideas and suggestions:
https://extension.psu.edu/horse-stab…s-and-drainage
Now, remember, horse’s legs and supporting apparatus, that is their structure, is very different from that of humans.
Try not to think what we would like and then expect that to be what horses like.
Doesn’t work like that.
People will have opinions and do what is best for their horses and that is how it should be.
Still, our opinions need continuous revision and checking with the horses, to be sure we are truly doing what is best for them, not what we think is best, but may not be after all.
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I am another one who prefers concrete(with deep bedding).
When I had dirt floors, even with mats over them) the floors got very uneven, the rats dug tunnels under them, the mats shifted.
With concrete floors (with or without drains) I have none of those problems. and no other problems.
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I am in a wet climate. If we had dirt floors the stalls would get damp. In winter even indoor arenas get wet spots from seepage. Concrete plus good stall mats.
Another for vote for concrete. I installed mats over concrete at my old farm. Once and done and didn’t shift in 10 years. My new place has mats over very carefully leveled and tamped bluestone. Had one stall shift already (just over a year).
I also recommend concrete. We installed concrete and have rubber mats in our stalls. We bed with shavings and have no issues.
I have dirt/sand floors and I like them. I put stall mats over the dirt floor, the floors packed down really well so the mats don’t shift much.
I can hose down the walls, hose down the mats in the stalls, and pretty much flood the stalls. Within 24 hours, the stalls are dry. Now that is good drainage.
Concrete is so much nicer. There is nothing more infuriating than a mat shifting and you getting your pitchfork stuck on it.
Another option is wood. It was popular where I grew up as lumber was cheap. It also provides a level surface, and drains really well. You will have to replace the boards every 10 years or so.
Another for concrete and mats. I’ve always boarded where there was dirt, and I hated having to fix mats that moved, or were dug up. When I built my barn concrete was a MUST!
OK I am a vote of dissent. Back in the day I co-opped at a barn that had concrete floors. They were horrible. I bedded the stall in lots of shavings but the urine ran under the mats and had nowhere to go. It was gross!
When I built my barn I put crusher-run/ screenings/ stone dust in the stall floor and put thick interlocking mats ( Summit) on top of them. It has been 15+ years and they are as level as they were when I rented a compresser from Home Depot and compressed the base. No tunnels underneath, the mats are just as level as when I put them down. I have done NO maintenance to the floors in this set up. I do think that this works best if you compress the base really good and you use interlocking mats. The one stall that I have cheap mats in does not do this well but it is not the fault of the stone base. When I can find some more interlocking mats without a huge shipping fee I am going to pull out the cheap mats that move around and put in interlocking ones.
If you live in an area with humidity the concrete will sweat. Even if you have mats over it, it just adds to the moisture in the air. I have screenings as a base in my horse’s living areas and much prefer it to the barn where we have a concrete floor. My goats and cow are in there and it is harder to clean.
I have two 12 x 15 foot stalls and think putting concrete in would cost me an arm and a leg. At present the flooring is dirt and it is unlevel and lacks decent drainage. Planning to dig down and put in rock then gravel then something else and use blume farms idea of 2 x 4’s on their sides with space between.
To compare, here concrete for stall floors is running $4 square foot.
That includes digging out, adding dirt and sand and preparing site with reinforcing bars, hauling, concrete, labor, all of it.
For those two 12’ x 15’ stalls it would be rounded up $1500.
3/4" rubber mats would add maybe up to $1000.
So $2500 for your two stalls.
Digging out, screenings down, water and compactor rent, wood, labor to do all that?
You figure that and compare.
I would say there is not that much cost difference up front.
There may be in maintenance.
Concrete maintenance free for decades, other, it depends.
I think that what we choose comes down more to personal experiences, opinions and preferences than cost differences.
Concrete, hands down. Been in both, and if you have a horse that likes to paw, even just pee in ONE spot, that will eventually lift a mat edge and then you’re done for :dead: Pulling 100+ pound mats out of stalls, reeking of piss, then leveling as best as possible and reassembling the mats… Makes you want to give up horses and take up anyotherhobby. I remember about 10 or so years ago I said concrete was best and got tarred and feathered, I’m glad the tide has changed :yes:
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My BO went with dirt with mats. The only problem I see is that she uses sawdust for bedding. It works its way under the corners of some mats and should be cleaned more often. She did concrete in the aisleway with mats. Her uncle owns one of the largest sand and gravel operations that supplies concrete and anything else she needs. She and her ex-husband were still reasonably good friends at the time so his foundation business provided all the labor.
She packed the soil before the stalls were constructed. She literally packed the soil herself. There are 12 stalls on one side and 7 on the other. She didn’t pour the aisleway until everything was finished.
Anyone every put down concrete and then 5 inches of pea gravel or sand on top (in lieu of mats?) Just curious. between pouring concrete for my big 12’ by 15’ stalls and the mats it would be pretty pricey. There would be a drain so the pea gravel or sand could be hosed down to clean if need be (and drain would have to block those materials from going down so maybe sand isn’t the way to go? How about the concrete then Blume Farms 2 x 4 wood panels with pea gravel between. Then you wouldn’t need mats. Of course have to price the options which I have not yet done.
Pea gravel or sand will constantly shift under the horse. Think about walking on a beach above the tide line… it’s hard work. Not to mention the risk of ingesting that material. No, that sounds like a bad idea… :-/
Well I think the only way tit would work would be to do Blume farms 2 x 4 planks with pea gravel between (no shifting in that case) and then I would but bedding on top of that. I use wood pellets.
