My horse slipped on our concrete aisle last night, fell down, and smacked his face on a door latch on his way down. Emergency vet visit and a dozen of so stitches later, he’ll be okay, but realizing I need to invest in something for our aisle to make it less slippery.
Thinking stall mats would work? Any recommendations? Thanks in advance.
My barn came with concrete floors and in a few areas it’s mixed in with rocks so it has traction. In the rest of the areas I added stall mats. You don’t need thick ones since they don’t live/paw on them. We were lucky enough to have access to some conveyor belt mats that are about 20 feet long.
You are by one of the largest recycling center in the nation.
See what they have that would fit your needs:
https://www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com/used-conveyor-belt-used-conveyor-belting
Many barns use their belting for just that.
Basic stall mats would work.
I personally found that conveyor belts could get slick if they get wet.
I think @gumtree posted about a product on another thread that you could add to the top of the concrete to make it rough so there was better traction. Or maybe it was @clanter.
I like the mats in my aisle! Far less slippery than the concrete. I cut them to fit tight wall to wall, and it really looks classy. Highly recommend!
I recommend speaking with the folks at Linear Rubber. They have “alley way” (aisle) mats as well as stall mats and offer larger sizes which, while heavy, minimize the number of seams/pieces and will not shift.
http://rubbermats.com/horse-mats.php
At my prior farm, we used interlocking mats on the aisle but frankly I think regular 4x6 would probably be fine too. The main issue with these is that they can shift unless they are laid wall to wall or are bordered by a curb (or recessed). They can also be bolted down if needed.
I’ve found regular smooth stall mats to be outrageously slippery when even slightly damp… They’re meant to have a good portion of dry bedding on top.
get textured mats. Best if you can see what they’re like when damp bwfore buying.
We had stall mats in our barn aisle, worked great. If you have the money buy the interlocking ones to keep them from moving around. Ours moved around but not a lot, like and inch or two.
As noted in another thread perhaps you can “roughen” the concrete surface to provide better traction. Our concrete areas were done that way when installed and we’ve never had any slippage problems.
G.
I have mats from Tractor Supply in the aisle way. I put the rough test side up.
during the summer they can get wet from humidity and I will toss shavings down for the day.
On those rare occasions in the winter,mwhen the mats want to ice up, I keep a bag of children’s play sand in the barn, and lightly sprinkle the mats with sand.
OP I am so glad your horse did not get more seriously hurt and is on the mend. I hate cement around the livestock. I saw enough milk cows fall, going into their stanchions (in the really old days:). That I knew I would never have cement anything, near my horses:)
My husband insisted on packing all the stall mats into the bottom of the PODS when we moved across the continent beginning of this year. I was so glad he did, as they fit almost perfectly into the concrete aisle of the new barn, wall the wall and end to end. They are textured and hence a bit difficult to sweep but I love them. Sound-deadening, safe footing, can be hosed down. I’m another one who feels livestock, especially horses, and concrete are a really bad combo.
The only “heartburn” I have with mats on concrete (other than cost) is that mats can trap moisture and can lead to the aisle becoming a big “petri dish” if conditions are right.
G.
Well, eww!
That hasn’t happened to me yet. Maybe more of a concern with more horses, more water being sloshed around, than happens at my 2-horse stable. But good thing to keep in mind.
I have standard 4x6 stall mats in my barn aisle. Started with a single row down the center, and expanded as money allowed. Have found some deals on gently used ones through FB Marketplace, usually from people who thought they needed a home gym, lol.
Thanks everyone for all the great ideas! I loved the recycling belting idea especially, but seems everyone else around here had the same idea, as they only had the skinny stuff left.
We decided to go with these interlocking tiles: https://www.rubberflooringinc.com/interlocking-tile/foam/portable-stall-mats.html
Found on sale so they were only a smidge more than regular stall mats. Fingers crossed these will do the trick…
Let us know how they worked for you.
we stripped Mulligans stall where the mats have been down since 1992, here are few photos to show how well good quality stall mats will hold up under constant wear. Our horses are up in their stalls each night and during rain/snow
the white stuff on these mats is powder PDQ
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[ATTACH=JSON]{“alt”:“Click image for larger version Name: 20181024_094242.jpg Views: 1 Size: 6.0 KB ID: 10255000”,“data-align”:“none”,“data-attachmentid”:“10255000”,“data-size”:“full”}[/ATTACH]
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Has anyone used the anti-slip concrete paint available? I know it works well, just not sure if it’d hold up to horse traffic (compared to just humans).
I need to get a picture, but I really liked how easily these tiles went together!! The barn aisle looks great and horses are much more secure on the floor. The kids helped me put them together which they thought was great fun. The pieces were easy to handle and easy to trim to fit perfectly around things with my little Dewalt jigsaw.
One downside (and this would be true of any rubber, non-condutive flooring) is that there is a definite increase in static electricity here in dry dry dry Colorado. I have to be careful to ground myself by touching a wall before I pat horsey on his nose or he gets a nasty shock.
Also true of any black rubber flooring, they don’t look as clean when swept as my old concrete floor. Oh well.
I also freaked out a little at first because when the big WB walks on it, he leaves indentations of his horseshoes… I thought well CRAP, this is not going to last AT ALL… but the hoofprints poofed back up by the next day. That may be an indication that these won’t be as durable as other mats, so I think I will order a few extra tiles to have on hand for the spots that get those most wear. But the slight squishyness also means that the traction is excellent, even when wet, so I figure it is a reasonable tradeoff.
Overall, really happy with them!
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