Stall Floors

[ktm_here]

Hi!

My barn was built before I bought the property. The barn aisle is concrete and I have nice thick rubber mats put down and it’s great. The two stalls open up to a run and my two horses share the stalls and run. The stalls have no base and are just dirt. My horses pee in one spot and there is a nice hole growing in one of the stalls. I am having it leveled and concrete poured in the stalls to match the aisle way. I will then put down rubber mats and use shavings but wanted to get thoughts on this. Any benefit to having the WERM flooring sprayed in there? Is that even possible? Alternatives to rubber mats? Should I just have it leveled and bring in pea gravel to the stalls? My horses are in at night and then out on grass during the day.

Many thanks!

[Simkie]

I’d give a limb for concrete and mats in my stalls. Congrats, that’s a great option!

Leveled and pea gravel would be A NIGHTMARE. Def don’t do that. If you want to save the $$, bring in screenings, tamp with a vibrating plate tamper, level to perfect, and then put in mats. Its a bear of a job (and why I’d love concrete!!)

WERM could be possible, but I bet it’s crazy money. Email those guys and find out…and let us all know

[clanter]

WERM flooring sprayed in there

it is poured in place

https://www.wermflooring.com/about/

[SusanO]

There have been a bunch of threads on this. I HATE concrete floors even with mats. When I built my own barn I put down crusher run/( screenings), watered them, tamped with a vibrating plate from Home Depot. Then I put down interlocking mats. All by myself and I am not young or really strong either. The mats have been in the stall 18 years and are perfectly flat and the mats have not shifted. The key words are interlocking mats and completely flat floors tamped down with a vibrator. Yes it was a pain doing it myself. Ever try to drag a 250 pound vibrator up a steep ramp onto a truck bed by yourself? But I did it right and it has been maintenance free.

I suppose concrete would be easier? I guess it depends who was pouring it and how good they were in getting it level and flat. And I know they do it in Europe but I still hate it.

The WERM sounds interesting. The link suggests one half inch depth and that sounds like it might not cushion concrete since most mats are 3/4 inch thick. I too would like to know the cost ( just for curiosity sake). I wonder how well it would hold up under horse’s hooves.

[clanter]

@SusanO

The WERM sounds interesting. The link suggests one half inch depth and that sounds like it might not cushion concrete since most mats are 3/4 inch thick. I too would like to know the cost ( just for curiosity sake). I wonder how well it would hold up under horse’s hooves.

once installed it is part of the structure where as mats that are loose laid are furniture… so if a person is not assured the place is their’s forever it may be wiser to use mats since they are onetime purchase.

Another point would be installation of the WERM flooring makes the building a near specific use structure (I would think the product would be nearly impossible to remove).

Our main barn was designed for alternate use as a garage … the building as a garage is worth well over twice the value of a barn

[NancyM]

Stalls with dirt or clay floors are the most comfortable for horses, far better for horses than concrete, even with rubber mats over the concrete. If you are a small, private barn, and have dirt or clay floors, and have horses who are not into major stall excavation and destruction in their spare time, I’d leave them as they are. Dirt or clay floors will need maintenance every year or so, leveling them with some fill into the low or worn spots in the floor. Doing this isn’t that difficult or expensive. Run in stalls with rubber floors can get slippery when horses enter and turn with some speed. Better traction with dirt or clay. Also far warmer and more comfortable for laying down without concrete. Concrete floors may be a necessity at large commercial stables, or if they are already in when you move in, but they are not what horsemen would usually choose. Another option you could consider are wooden floors, though again can be slippery with paddocks attached to stalls, but warmer and softer than concrete. Rough cut 2 X 10 hardwood, laid onto 4 X 4 support beams, filled with gravel between the 4 X 4s. You don’t even need to nail them down, just fit them tight between the walls, and a blocking plank across the doorway thresholds.

[Bluey]

What kind of flooring is more of a preference, each human has their own, horses are fine either way, as long as managed properly for whatever kind of flooring we humans choose for them.

After over half a century with horses in all kinds of flooring, concrete is my preference any day and, for what all those years, centuries really have shown us, so do most professional trainers, that can tell horses are fine with the right management.

Horse’s legs and feet are made to stand in place and flat hard ground is ideal for that.
When it comes to lay down, they prefer a soft place.

With opposite needs for standing and laying down, horses can choose where to stand, where to lay down when turned out.
Watch your horses and you will see, if there is a concrete pad they can access, like some pens by the water trough, they will choose to stand there, not on the nearby to us humans softer dirt.
When laying down, they will go to that soft dirt for their recumbent naps.

We have concrete stalls and sand piles and horses never stand asleep around the soft ground of the sand pile, unless others are napping flat out on it, but choose to go where the ground is hard and flat to nap.
Uneven and soft ground is a choice for some sore footed horses.
If they stand in a soft spot, may ought to check to see why.
Once at a friend’s place, I noticed one horse was standing on an uneven spot in their pen, looked a bit off.
Sure enough, horse was getting sore, navicular was becoming a problem, vet diagnosed and treated him for it.

Watch your horses, some may indeed prefer soft ground and be ok, but most here have always preferred hard ground to stand on, even bare concrete fine with them for that.

One good compromise is, have concrete and matted and well bedded stalls, where horses can have places where it is harder and still a soft place to lay down for naps.
Let your horses tell you what they prefer.

One human advantage of concrete is, no maintenance, don’t have to keep straighten and leveling the floor, ever.
If some believes concrete floor is bad for horses, then of course for them that leaves out concrete as an alternative.
For the rest, if not sure what you want, either way will be fine.

[lenapesadie]

I like concrete under mats best of every stall I’ve ever cleaned. I despise mats shifting. I think dust / screenings would be a close second but I’ve never actually mucked a stall like that myself (or installed it). Round here, clay is most common with or without mats. If I was going to have clay, I’d probably skip mats and just commit to topping up clay regularly and bedding deeply with a highly absorbent bedding product.

If you have an overhang on your stall doors to the run I think the slippery factor would be greatly reduced. If horses have access to run and aren’t locked into the boxes hours on end regularly, then I wouldn’t be the least bit worried about concrete being too hard.

I worked in a barn with the wood stall floors, had gravel under wood. They were ok, but not the wow factor I expected. No mats. If bedding wasn’t deep enough then I had urine covered wood, gross. Would have been better with mats or deep bedding.

No experience with WERM. I’ve never heard of it but am off to research.

[Goforward]

We have Stall Savers over compacted crushed concrete. Best stalls I’ve ever cleaned.

[Wyndwolfe]

There are obviously differing opinions on concrete in stalls. I appreciate that it makes stall cleaning easier. That said, I have always had large horses, and I think that even with good mats, the concrete is harder on their legs than other options.

[Garythesquirrel]

I’m curious about the WERM flooring. What happens to it if rats tunnel underneath it causing the base to become uneven?

[Garythesquirrel]

@Goforward

We have Stall Savers over compacted crushed concrete. Best stalls I’ve ever cleaned.

I also have Stall Savers and love them.

[Simkie]

@Garythesquirrel

I’m curious about the WERM flooring. What happens to it if rats tunnel underneath it causing the base to become uneven?

I assume WERM would have to go over concrete, exactly for that reason. If you look through the galleries on their site, it’s all over concrete or metal.

[Garythesquirrel]

@Simkie

I assume WERM would have to go over concrete, exactly for that reason. If you look through the galleries on their site, it’s all over concrete or metal.

Yeah, I saw the photos on their site and thought it looked like it was always over concrete but didn’t look into it any further.

I would love concrete floors in my barn but would want the option to pull the mats in a stall so I could disinfect/clean underneath if needed. But maybe that isn’t really a concern?

[Simkie]

@Garythesquirrel

Yeah, I saw the photos on their site and thought it looked like it was always over concrete but didn’t look into it any further.

I would love concrete floors in my barn but would want the option to pull the mats in a stall so I could disinfect/clean underneath if needed. But maybe that isn’t really a concern?

If you poke around on the WERM site, one of the selling points is it doesn’t absorb anything. Because it’s pourable, you have a continuous surface with no seam. If nothing can get under it or in it, there’s be no need to ever get to the concrete to clean. Kinda like rubber gloves for your floor.

NO clue how well it actually works like that, but it does seem like a pretty cool idea! Especially with just how much WORK it is to cut and install mats. :dead:

Here’s another (similar?) pourable product for stall floors: http://www.equiturf.com/index.html

That one does say it can go over screenings, but to your point–you’d really want to make sure that base was solid. Shifting or rodents could see a whole lot of $$$ going down the tubes.

[Garythesquirrel]

@Simkie

If you poke around on the WERM site, one of the selling points is it doesn’t absorb anything. Because it’s pourable, you have a continuous surface with no seam. If nothing can get under it or in it, there’s be no need to ever get to the concrete to clean. Kinda like rubber gloves for your floor.

NO clue how well it actually works like that, but it does seem like a pretty cool idea! Especially with just how much WORK it is to cut and install mats. :dead:

Here’s another (similar?) pourable product for stall floors: http://www.equiturf.com/index.html

That one does say it can go over screenings, but to your point–you’d really want to make sure that base was solid. Shifting or rodents could see a whole lot of $$$ going down the tubes.

Thank you for that info!! Sounds like it would be a good thing then! In my dream barn…