Stall Savers

[taylorelaine]

We’re bringing our horses home on the 31st, and I’m just trying to make sure we have everything ready for them. I’m a little worried about our stall setup. We installed Stall Savers last year in all our stalls, and I just realized we used play sand underneath when we should’ve used base sand.

I checked the website, and they recommend base sand or any sand that drains well. I don’t think play sand is meant for drainage, which is concerning. The horses will be here in about a week, and I really want to make sure we take care of this before they arrive. I think this could become a problem, and I’d rather fix it now while the stalls are still empty.

Should we remove the Stall Savers, take out the play sand, and replace it with base sand? I’m not sure what the best solution is or what would be the least difficult. I’m not just worried about drainage issues—I’m also concerned about the overall foundation. Over time, with the horses walking around, I think the play sand might shift and create uneven spots in the stalls.

We already ordered 30 bags of fine flake shavings, and I’m hoping those are okay to use with the Stall Savers as well. Any suggestions or advice would be really appreciated!

[Willesdon]

Suck it and see. You are in a new situation, lots of unknowns, lots of adaptions to come after trial and error, lots and lots of fun with your horses at home, close to hand. Most stable systems eventually fall apart because horses can be very hard on them and how the stables are used will be varied and variable. Don’t worry too much.

[taylorelaine]

Thank you for your response Yeah, you’re right, trial and error is the best way to see if something works and I’m looking forward to figuring it all out. The only thing I’m worried about in this situation is that I think it’s already set up to fail, because the website specifically says to use limestone or crushed stone or any material that drains well—and we used play sand.

The first thing that comes up when you look up play sand is: “Play sand, due to its fine texture, does not drain well and can actually hinder drainage.” I’m just wondering, since we already know this isn’t the recommended sand or even a well draining sand, if it would be best to take care of it now before the horses arrive.

[NaturallyHappy]

I’d do it now…

[taylorelaine]

I guess what I want to know too is before we take them down and go through all that work, should we just use something else for the stall floors? Someone mentioned that stall savers don’t work with fine flake shavings and that’s what we have.

[NaturallyHappy]

I saw that post, too. I don’t remember where, but the recommendation was to use straw…maybe call the stall saver manufacturer for guidance.

[Simkie]

When we bought this place, there was play sand in the stalls and god it sucked. It was under mats, and because it didn’t provide a solid level surface, the mats were just a mess. The very first thing I did was pull the mats, and over a month or two a good deal of the sand came out as I cleaned stalls. Then we redid the base entirely, and installed all new mats properly.

Since you’ve got skins, you’re not going to have that mat shifting problem, but your base won’t stay level. Your skins may tear or take unusual wear if the base beneath shifts away from high traffic areas. I’ve also seen a lot of reports of skins being very hard to remove after use, because the fasteners rust out over time.

How much is this going to bother you? It would bother me a lot, so I’d yank it all out now and do it right. Otherwise just expect that you’ll be yanking it all out at some point, likely in the nearish future, and your skins may not be reusable at that time.

[taylorelaine]

Thank you for your response! What would you suggest to use for the stall floor? Just regular rubber mats?

[Simkie]

If you wanna have stall skins, do stall skins, but set it up the way they advise.

Mats can’t go over your play sand, either, so you’re redoing the base (at some point) really no matter what. IIRC even the stall mattress solutions say no to play sand.

Personally, I don’t really get how draining pee into your base works long term, since it’s not like you’ve got rain to flush it through…? So I go with mats, over a very carefully prepared base.

But if you’ve seen skins work and you like that solution, go for it! (Just follow their directions!)

[taylorelaine]

Thanks for your response! I should’ve clarified that when I take the stall savers out I’ll also be taking out the play sand - I don’t intend to put any kind of mat above it when I redo them it’ll be the right way with well draining materials. I’m just hoping it’s not going to be too big of a project to get all done in a week.

[Simkie]

Redoing the base with stall skins is probably easier/faster than if you switch over to mats, since they’re one piece and having a perfect base isn’t quite as important.

You might reach out to the skins guys about what, exactly, you need under them. Maybe septic sand? A lot of various “sand” type products aren’t going to drain very well because the particles are small.

(And it’s so damned hard to order rock products from the quarry because different areas use different names! So frustrating!)

How many stalls?

[taylorelaine]

I have 4 stalls total, but I only need to do two of them, since I only have two horses at the moment. I’m wondering if it’ll be difficult reinstalling the stall savers. I think someone mentioned they’re almost impossible to reinstall once taken down. Also, I already ordered 30 bags of fine flake shavings and not even sure if that’ll work well stall savers now

[Simkie]

Yeeeaaah fine flake, or shavings at all, might not be the best choice with skins.

But hey here’s an opportunity to poke around and really evaluate how you want to manage your bedding/stall surface! Silver linings!

[taylorelaine]

Thanks I’m also wondering if I should even use stall mats at all now maybe?

[Simkie]

That is certainly a consideration! Mats will be “harder” to install. The base needs to be as perfect as possible. Cutting mats isn’t exactly fun. But there’s probably a lot more “success” out there with mats.

What made you go with the skins? If you’ve seen them work well, and can replicate those conditions, and you’ve got them, so there’s no more $$ outlay…it’s certainly not unreasonable to stick with them.

If you’re unsure about any of that, I would personally use this opportunity to revert to mats. But I’ve done two barns in mats and zero in skins, so definitely have a bias!

[taylorelaine]

I think my dad chose the Stall Savers because he liked what he read about them online. Even if we fix the base and improve the drainage, I think we’ll still have issues using the fine flake shavings.

It doesn’t say anywhere online, as far as I can tell, that they don’t work well, but someone else mentioned from their experience that they don’t—and that only straw works well with them. We definitely won’t be using straw.

What kind of mats do you recommend? And what do you do before putting them down? How do you set them up?

Thanks!

[Bluey]

@taylorelaine

I think my dad chose the Stall Savers because he liked what he read about them online. Even if we fix the base and improve the drainage, I think we’ll still have issues using the fine flake shavings.

It doesn’t say anywhere online, as far as I can tell, that they don’t work well, but someone else mentioned from their experience that they don’t—and that only straw works well with them. We definitely won’t be using straw.

What kind of mats do you recommend? And what do you do before putting them down? How do you set them up?

Thanks!

No experience at all with stall savers, but plenty with mats.
We got our mats when, NOT Tractor Supply, but Gebo’s, had them on sale, the 4’ x 8’ x 3/4" ones, enough for 9 12’ x 16’ stalls and they delivered.
We installed them over concrete and have been working great, although horses have runs off the stalls and also turnout, so don’t stand there all day.
We have bedded with shavings and pellets, some horses with both, using pellets under shavings.

Bet others will have more to say about what you can do there, so close to getting horses home, not many choices for a quick change.
Since you are this far along now and is only two stalls, why not try first with what you have, then later change the other stalls if you want to try something different?
What you have may just work fine for you and your two horses right now.

[taylorelaine]

Thanks for your response!

Yeah, I’m not sure how much we can realistically do before the horses arrive, but I’m pretty sure our current setup is going to be no good from day one. We were hosing down the aisles, and the water got into one of the stalls—it just sat there and wouldn’t drain. It eventually did, but I can’t imagine how that will go with horses peeing on it all day, especially since my one horse pees a lot.

I’m more worried about the play sand being used as the base than I am about using fine flake shavings instead of straw for bedding. The website didn’t say it mattered what bedding you use, but it did say it was important to have well-draining materials underneath.

I’m trying to stay hopeful and just go through a trial-and-error process with it, but I think it’s already off to a bad start with the sand.

[NaturallyHappy]

We have the interlocking mats. Most are over tamped down screenings but two are over sand. We used gorilla glue in the seams. They’ve not moved in 14 years. I’m wondering if heavy mats placed over level sand might work. The weight of the matts might hold the sand in place. We do have one stall that is not interlocking, but the seams are glued. We bed deeply w shavings. Good luck!

[Simkie]

@taylorelaine

What kind of mats do you recommend? And what do you do before putting them down? How do you set them up?

Whatever 4x6x3/4" rubber mat you can get locally. I’m not a fan of tractor supply in general and we recently had a thread about some very slippery mats sourced from there, so I’d take a look at whatever local feed & supply store you’ve got around. For me (I’m in CT) my local place is also quite a bit less $$ than TSC, especially ordering a pallet.

For the base, strip out the play sand and replace with screenings. Whatever type of screening you have locally. Order it from the quarry.

Rent a vibrating plate tamper from United Rental or whatever your local equipment rental place is and tamp the snot out of the screenings. A hand tamper won’t do it.

Pick up a VERY STRAIGHT piece of lumber and use that to scribe across the top. It doesn’t have to be perfectly level but it does need to be perfectly flat. Any dips or rises in your surface will mean your mats don’t butt into each other perfectly.

Retamp/rescribe until you’re happy that it’s hard set and FLAT.

The mats themselves should be installed very snug to each other. I cut them 1/4" - 1/2" longer than the measure and then pound them in with a rubber mallet. You want them tight to the walls and each other.

To cut, I use a utility knife, a clamp on cutting guide, and a 2x4 under the mat to “open” the cut. Swap out the blade every 2-3 cuts.

Doing two stalls over a week is totally doable depending on how quickly you can get a truck of screenings in. It’s not fun work, but a lot of attention and precision on the install will mean not touching it again for a LONG while. Not having the base perfect or not having mats cut to fit tight will mean more work sooner, and more day to day frustration when cleaning.