We are almost ready to bring the horses home, and I’m stuck on a final decision (ok, probably not the final one, but getting close). We have two in/out stalls that open directly into the pasture. At some point, the pasture area right outside the stalls may be converted to a dry lot area that will then open into the pasture. But for now, it is grass outside the stall doors. The stalls have concrete floors, and I was planning on putting down mats and a decent amount of bedding…this is how it is done in the stalls at our current boarding barn. However, those stalls do not have access to a pasture or run. I’ve had a few people at the barn tell me the bedding, and maybe even the mats, aren’t necessary since the horses won’t be shut up in the stalls and can come and go as they please. My biggest concern is making sure the footing in the stalls isn’t slippery as the horses come in and out, especially in the winter (we live in Iowa, so lots of snow and ice). It was also suggested that if I only have mats and no bedding, the horses will pee and poop outside instead of in the stalls. That sounds awesome, but will it really happen? And if not, then I have a huge mess with pee in the stalls and no bedding to absorb it. Thoughts?
You may have to play it by ear.
With horses being able to go outside, you probably don’t need to start them with bedding and so make the stall a perfect bathroom spot.
I would add mats as they do help give horses a less slippery floor and if one were to fall, a little cushion.
We have mats under the dirt floored shed, because we feed on the ground and it is best to keep that as clean as we may.
Our current two older geldings use the designated bathroom spots outside for a bathroom.
One of them will urinate inside as a marking behavior, at meal time, on the edge of bare mat, but not that much and it evaporates quickly, so we don’t do anything about that.
You will have to play it by ear with each horse, accomodate whatever they need, for some that may be bedding.
We have a sand pile outside where they love to nap, so they don’t need to lay down under the shed, on the mats.
If one would like to do that, we would bed for him, but we would not encourage it, when they have the whole outdoors to pick their own spots to take naps we don’t have to unnecessarily manage, as bedding stalls would be.
My barn has a concrete floor and there is a portion they use as a run-in from the paddock.
One of my mares didn’t get the memo that horses don’t like to pee on hard flat surfaces with no bedding. She loves to pee in there. So the lack of bedding doesn’t deter some horses.
They don’t poop in there too much, except for now when the bugs are horrible and they rarely venture out during the day.
Vote here for mats & bedding. If you don’t want them using their stalls as bathrooms don’t give them free access to them.
I would prefer mucking the stalls if they happen to use them then risk an injury from the bare floor. I’m sure plenty of people have no issues with unbedded concrete, but I think it’s best to err on the side of caution.
We have in/out at will. We use mats in the stalls and shavings on the mats. Some horses only pee/poop outside. Some horses claim it wasn’t in the brochure. Some are quite tidy and have a spot for each. Some are “Sir or Madam Walksinit.”
I always use bedding. They can get sores from lying on solid ground/cement. We go from hot/hot to snow. So, slipping on ice would be an issue too.
Mats and bedding. You’ll want a threshold to help keep the bedding from walking outside. I use an open bar holder with a 2x4. This is one style, but I went with this type for easier install.
Yes to the mats. :yes:
You’ll probably want some bedding, but play it by ear. My horses live out 24/7 with free access to their stalls. I like to have a little bit of bedding down for traction and prevent pee from splashing. But I don’t go crazy because it seems to just get wasted or dusty and gross over time. I almost always have to strip it all out and put down new if the horses are staying locked up inside for an extended period of time.
My horses were stalled just like this, only their connected paddock was limestone. Their stalls were matter for saftey. Concrete can become very slippery for hooves when wet, and also cause hazards if the horses walk on it with snow packed in their feet. I put bedding in my stalls since my mare would spend a lot of time inside, and would exclusively lie down inside. I prefer to put some bedding in incase they do urinate inside.
I can’t quite picture how you use either style for holding a threshold, do you have a photo?
My horses certainly pee and poop in their unbedded run in sheds. Would be easier to clean if I kept it bedded.
You install either in the doorway, on the floor. To hold a 2x4. The horse steps over to exit the stall.
Matted run ins have no bedding my two won’t pee on bare mats . They don’t need to be using shelter for their toilet or their bed.
Stalls in barn have just enough bedding to cover mats in back half of stall. I don’t give them access to barn stalls. Doors are kept closed.
My stalls are matted and bedded deeply, but I sweep the shavings back about 2’ from the door and have a lip that prevents them from dragging shavings out of their stalls. One of my two is completely “potty trained” and goes in his paddock and uses his stall to sleep. My other gelding is also pretty good about just using his stall to sleep unless it’s super hot/cold/wet/whatever and I’ve fed them hay in their stalls. Then he’s a pig.
You’ll definitely have to play around with it and see what works best for you and your horses, but I like giving my horses a deeply bedded stall to sleep in and the way they’re both covered in shavings when I feed in the morning tells me they appreciate it too 
Midwest here, so plenty Frigid Winter & Hot Summer weathers to deal with.
My horses - TWH, Hackney Pony & mini - have free access from stalls to pasture 24/7/365.
No mats, stalls are floored with compacted stonedust & pelleted bedding over that.
2 12X12 stalls have Dutch doors directly out to the sacrifice area that then opens to pastures.
The mini’s stall (a later addition) still needs an outside door cut.
Doors are closed only if I need them in for the shoer or vet, otherwise open year-round.
Rare exception made if we get a blizzard coming from the East < direction doors face.
IIRC, I have closed them in for weather less than 5 times in 14yrs.
Absolutely install a threshold of some sort to prevent bedding exiting - I have a very simple arrangement of synthetic 2X4 (leftover decking) screwed into the metal frames of the Dutch doors inside the sill so doors can still be closed/locked.
Before I put these up bedding created a boot-sucking mess just outside the stalls.
This herd has designated 1 stall the Toilet - I routinely have to pick manure from that in all 3 sizes - more or fewer piles depending on if the weather is nice so they sleep outside or if they come in during the day for shade.
Pee happens in both stalls, but in “designated” (by horses) areas so easy to pick out the wet bedding.
Lately I find all 3 sharing 1 stall if they decide to come in from pasture for shade. a nap, whatever.
They come in by themselves for feeding - hay & grain - 2X a day.
I also do a 10P nightcheck & CookieTime & toss more hay if they have finished what was put down earlier.
Mini used to bunk in with the pony, but now shares with the horse.
All 3 do occasionally sleep in stalls - flat out as bedhead proves.
Your horses will let you know what they think is best & you can work around that. 
Yeah, see how it goes. :lol:
My OTTB (20 years old, so not recently OTT) is a pig. Always has been. He will pee and poop in a bare stall, although lately he’s started going outside to poop more often, so slightly less messy. I bed him generously with fluffy shavings, because he is old and likes to nap.
The mare I just sold (not a track horse) would not pee in an unbedded stall, and rarely pooped inside. So, I just left hers empty. She was a tidy mare and kept a clean stall, even bedded she only ever peed in one corner and pooped along one wall.
Prepare for bedding wastage; horses going in and out, even with a barrier or lip at the doorway, will drag copious amounts of bedding (always the clean stuff, never dirty!) out with them.
I have in out stalls. Right now, they stay in next to the fans all day and graze all night. I have a Miss Tidy Pants who pees so discreetly in her shavings it’s hard to even find it. Never poops in there. Then I have a Pig Mare From Hell, who not only pees and poops but then churns it into cookie dough. She goes through a lot of shavings. However I rarely begrudge it to her, because I’m a sap.
Thank you everyone! I think I’ll definitely put mats down in the stalls. And if I decide to put bedding down, adding some type of threshold sounds like a good idea. There is a chance I’ll need to close the two in their stalls for a while in the beginning while they transition to full pasture. In that case, I’ll definitely bed nicely in the stalls while they are in there.
