I have a 2001 Sundowner straight load ramp gooseneck. For 10 years, no problem with the rig, then I got a horse who pees every time he trailers. I had to replace half the floor 2 years ago with diamond plate because the pee corroded holes in the floor. Now I have to clean up pee every time to prevent more corrosion and it’s getting hard - I’m 55 and those trailer mats are heavy. Any recommendations. I looked at rumber before the diamond plate, but was told it was too heavy for my aluminum trailer. Do I need a new rig - this one is actually in excellent shape. I’m too old and tired of my hands smelling like horse pee when I’m done cleaning up. Thanks for any advice.
Are you bedding the trailer with sawdust? I try to mound where the boys pee. And I try to remove it pronto. Are the mat cracks near the target area??? I would fix that. I have also been known to collect pee in a coffee can, farrier uses that trick. Maybe attach it to a stick. The race tracks teach the horses to pee on command with said containers for urine tests. You could try that so you could get him to pee when you can collect it.
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I feel for you. I had a mare who would pee EVERY time. Even going 5 minutes to my friend’s house. And then again on the ride home. It was absurd. For her, because it was in the back, I bedded the back of the trailer with shavings, and then just hosed it out every trip. Geldings are harder because they pee in the middle- my mats are split crossways right about where they pee which makes it harder, I think to clean as the urine can get under the mat more easily.
If your mats were split lengthwise, it might keep the urine on top of the mats better, and then be easier to peel his side back to hose underneath. Or get one big mat with no seams, and then you would only need to worry about the edges.
My technique is to remove the bedding then hose the mats off, then hose the seams, and then peel back the mats to hose underneath. You can leave them peeled back to dry and then put them back before the next trip.
I only remove my mats a couple of times a year and my floor is in good shape - my trailer is a '99 that I bought in 2003.
I was very happy when I got a horse that did not feel it was some sort of civic duty to pee in the trailer.
I’ve been using flake bedding so I should switch to sawdust - that might help. And the mats are not split lengthwise, so the seam is right where he pees. I should try length wise mats - anyone can suggest a source? Thanks
I wonder if pulling the mats and having a rhino lining sprayed would work? Then just hose out when you’re done for the day.
Or teach him to pee before he’s loaded? 
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Perhaps switch out your heavy mats for the lightweight EVA mats, to make clean-up easier? I’m seriously considering this for my own trailer.
I have a 2003 Exiss and I only pull the mats once a year and hose it out really good. And I haul somewhere every single weekend (except during the winter). My trailer floor is great. No corrosion.
But I do put down a very good layer of shavings. I like to use the larger flake shavings to help minimize dust as much as possible. In my mind, the shavings are supposed to do their job of absorbing urine so it shouldn’t even reach the trailer floor.
So maybe you need to use MORE shavings?
The Rhino Lining is what I would do! Or Linex!
I have a trailer pee-er. 2 thoughts:
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put unexpanded bedding pellets in a layer where he pees. Cover them with shavings so they won’t get dusty and they won’t be slippery. They absorb the pee and keep it from getting under the mats.
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work out a signal that gives him several minutes warning that you’re going some where. That way he has time to pee before you halter and load. For my guy I call his name and then start the truck. Then I walk slowly to the barn to get his halter. He likes his privacy so I make sure I don’t make eye contact with him until he’s done. He’s only peed in the trailer once in the last 20 hauls and we trailer out 4-5 days a week.
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Peeing in the trailer must be really annoying for you, but most horses do NOT like to pee in the trailer. They only “go” if they really have to. But I know each of my horses poops as soon as I put up the butt bar 
Even though they are well-seasoned travelers, it still makes them anxious, excited, whatever because they are doing something different. Otherwise why would they poop every single time?? In your horse’s case, maybe that little bit of anticipation makes him pee?
What if you loaded him up and stood around a bit and put a small bucket on a stick to catch most of it. Maybe put a couple inch layer of clumping cat litter in the pail so it doesn’t splash all over or make a loud noise. If that doesn’t work, then I would do what was suggested earlier, spray the under floor of the trailer with a protective resin, put back the mats and bed deeply under his belly. Not much else you can do…
I sympathize. My gelding pees every time he has to ride somewhere. I have a atell bumper pull with a wood tongue and groove floor. It has to sit outside so also takes a beating from the rain.
We are 69 & 70 with a lot damage to moving parts, making it very difficult to pull those heavy mats out.
DH has talked to the guy that does spray-in liners for truck beds. We will replace any boards that need replaced and then have that spray-in lining sprayed on the floor and two inches up the wall. When the lining stuff dries, we will put the mats back in.
My trailer is 30 years old this year, we are old, the only place that trailer goes is to carry one of the horses to the vet, so we have nothing to lose with the experiment.
Will it work it work? I don’t know but I also don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t and neither does the guy doing the spraying.
its somwthing for you to consider or, I can report back, after mine gets sprayed:)
I’ve got one that pees every time he gets on the trailer to come home. Doesn’t pee on the ride there, no matter how many hours we haul. But at the end of the day, even when he has relieved himself outside already, he will pee just before I pull out. Weirdo.
Anyway, my mats are split lengthwise (straight load). If he pees a great deal, it does get near the center seam. I’ve found that excessive bedding is the best strategy, and I also really mound it up along the center seam and along the outside wall. As long as I keep a great deal of shavings and mound them up, I can contain the “pee spread.” As soon as I unload, I completely remove the soiled bedding and sweep all the dry bedding completely out of the way so that any surface moisture on the mats can dry.
Until I figured out that I just had to bed down the trailer excessively and accept that I’m going to spend more bedding the trailer than I do his stall, I drove myself crazy pulling the mats out to dry the floor. Now, the urine never gets beneath the mats.
When I bought my trailer used two years ago, there had been some rust along the seams between the walls and the floor, mainly because it seemed the previous owner never took up the mats and hosed out really well, so there was a lot of gunk accumulated between the mats and the walls. I took the mats up, sprayed everything out, and used a combination of nylon and metal brushes to get out every last bit of shavings and junk. Let dry for a week, mats still out. Then I used bedliner spray on all the areas that were previously painted metal, not somewhat rusty. Finished that off with Nashua Waterproofing tape. That’s the same stuff that one would use if you were to install a window to your house, and you want to get a nice waterproof seal around the hole you just cut in the wall. Or might be used in gaps on a roof. It’s like a thin sticky rubber layer. It won’t hold up against sharp or hard hits, but it’s doing just what I want it to, which is 1) keeping pee off the metal and 2) keeping shavings from getting down into the crevices.
Best of luck to you! Here’s a similar prduct… what I bought was definitely Nashua, but the exact package doesn’t seem available anymore. It was about 6" wide by I think 25 or 50 yards or so.
https://www.amazon.com/Nashua-Pro-Choice-681507-Waterproofing/dp/B018A1MOT0
He;s nervous when he travels, so he whizzes. Just put down more shavings for him to whiz on. Never complain about a horse whizzing or manuring. When they don’t, it is expensive at the vet’s. Mine usually just manure when they travel but I’d not complain if they whizzed. Cloudy used to run around his paddock when I’d get off work and go to the barn, and then he’d whiz and come to the gate for our lesson. He’d manure in crossties while I groomed him and tacked him up. Callie took care of all of that in her paddock while I rode Cloudy, before her lesson.
definitely get the pelleted bedding - I put down some regular shavings, then about 1/2 bag of pelleted bedding split between the two stalls, dead center then add the rest of the flake shavings on top. Works like a charm (for geldings)
Thanks everyone - I definitely am not using enough bedding and will try the pelleted along with shavings. I was only putting the bedding on the side he was in - guess I need to bed the entire trailer. Simple enough.
Ever notice if a horse in in the stall and you dump a load of fresh shaving in the first thing they have to do is pee on them. You don’t even have time to get the fork and start spreading them out. Maybe something about the shavings in the trailer, which I am going to assume are fresh, stimulates his need to pee. ?? Just a thought.
My current horse pees in the trailer a lot. I had rhino liner on the floor but once it got a small hole in it and urine got under it I had to pull the whole thing off of the floor. Now I put a extra heavy large tarp over the floor under the mats and just clean it after every two or three pee episodes. I use shavings but tried pellets. They seemed more difficult to clean out. I also put baking soda under the tarp on the floor just in case hoping it will neutralize any urine that manages to get to the floor.
Bold is exactly why I do NOT recommend using a spray-on liner type for this purpose. It’s more of a pain than it’s worth when you get your first hole. Plus, you are covering a material that once corroded, do you really want it hidden from view so you learn there are weak spots and holes by your horse going through the floor? No thanks. I don’t want any hidden surprises under there.
I scanned thru the responses kinda quickly, so if someone DID suggest this I apologize, but I was very surprised that I did not find anyone who referred you to http://www.wermflooring.com/ trying to spray in a liner not meant for horses weight, hooves, shoes (!) and scrambling will not work in the long run. I had mine put in aftermarket, when my aluminum floored heavy matted and always heavy bedded trailer finally got too much for me to pull mats in and out. And bedding will not eliminate the issue. water, pee, any liquid will always drain down. the WERM system really does work.
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