What is your stall floor (material, mats)? Recommendations?

[Mukluks]

Dirt, concrete, pea gravel. with or without mats?
Currently my horse is on dirt (not clay like dirt) plain dirt.
I use wood stove pellets for bedding (pine only).
Stall floor is uneven. bedding does tend to get dirt in it.

Considering upgrade to concrete sloped to a drain (WITH mats). Apparently can then use less bedding.

Or gravel bed with 2x4s on surface spaced so that there is a 2x4 on it’s end and then 2" of gravel etc. (I think someone did this for their run in shed). It’s a big stall 12 x 16 and there are two stalls though only one horse at present). Possibly could use mats on that or just bedding.

Feedback, opinions welcome. Also I didn’t know how to do a search as I imagine this may have been discussed before (though there are new innovations/products every year).

[Scribbler]

@Mukluks

Dirt, concrete, pea gravel. with or without mats?
Currently my horse is on dirt (not clay like dirt) plain dirt.
I use wood stove pellets for bedding (pine only).
Stall floor is uneven. bedding does tend to get dirt in it.

Considering upgrade to concrete sloped to a drain (WITH mats). Apparently can then use less bedding.

Or gravel bed with 2x4s on surface spaced so that there is a 2x4 on it’s end and then 2" of gravel etc. (I think someone did this for their run in shed). It’s a big stall 12 x 16 and there are two stalls though only one horse at present). Possibly could use mats on that or just bedding.

Feedback, opinions welcome. Also I didn’t know how to do a search as I imagine this may have been discussed before (though there are new innovations/products every year).

Concrete with stall matts. I have the green interlocking cushy kind. As a kid I had concrete with very deep bedding, like a foot of sawdust. Now on the cushy matts I make a shavings bed on one side, leave the rest bare, she almost always poops in her runout paddock so the bedding lasts for months.

Our climate is very wet. I’ve only ever seen one barn here that had dirt floors. It was an old barn that had been rebuilt for horses. I only saw it in summer.

[clanter]

@Mukluks

Considering upgrade to concrete sloped to a drain (WITH mats). Apparently can then use less bedding.

In two of our stalls when we built the first barn we installed drains. This was nearly 35 years ago, to date we have never had need to use the drains.

Flooring is concrete pavers over road-base with a four inch bed of sans to set the pavers then 1 inch stall mats. (this barn is just a 24 by 36 structure but has over 100,000 pounds of material in the flooring )

Bedding depends upon the horse (or animal) in the stall, the geldings get unwetted pelts mixed in heavily in the center of their stalls (primary bedding is medium flaked pine shavings), the mares get some dry pellets added in the perimeter. We have had one horse who was allergic to pine who was bedded on shredded straw …insert Expensive here (which was sort of pain in the butt as the volume of waste removed in that stall would equal that of three other head)

I can says that every veterinarian who has been here in the last three decades has commented on “your barns do not smell like urine”

Stalls are cleaned twice or more per day if the horses are stalled all day otherwise they are cleaned when they horses are put out (currently due to heat they out at night until about 10 or 11AM then stalled under their personal fans until evening)

While on this subject, after many years of not using our overhead fly spray system we started using it again (sucked up the cost to replace defective nozzles and get the system back to 100%)… Nearly zero flies now, at least 99% are gone. We had fallen back for a long time of buying the bottles of various fly sprays, then spray the horses Then this last winter we were reviewing costs with an intent of finding Where We could reduce the expense… fly sprays by the bottle are convenient but very expensive in the long run and with little relief for the horses.

[Equibrit]

@Mukluks

Considering upgrade to concrete sloped to a drain (WITH mats). Apparently can then use less bedding.

/\ This.
Your horse’s legs will also benefit by not being forced to stand on uneven ground.

[NancyM]

Well, I’ve had a few different types over the years. Each has it’s strong points. And each individual horse may influence how well anything works… plus of course, how much it all costs. I’ve had rubber mats over concrete, and rubber mats over gravel with a wood framework under the mats. I’ve had compact dirt/clay with no rubber mats. It depends a lot on whether it’s a stall where the horse is locked in for multiple hours, or an “in and out” situation with a paddock attached.
At this farm, I have a four stalls- I don’t use them much. Two are 20 X 20 with attached paddocks which I’ve used for foaling stalls, and to isolate two horses who can’t eat our alfalfa hay, must have grass hay in late winter/early spring when we feed hay. The two of them share one of those big stalls/paddocks with the dirt floor. They get along well. It’s been good.
My other situation is two box stalls at the arena. These days, I don’t use them much, I did use them through winter at times past. They have wood planks, 2 X 12s, on a gravel back filled with 4 4X4s under them. No mats. Bedded with sawdust. Stalled overnight. I liked them, they worked well. Softer than concrete, the floors have some “give”. The planks were locally milled, rough cut so a full 2" thick. And they are just laid in there, fit tight up against the walls. They don’t go anywhere- there’s a door sill across the entrance of the stall. This was cheaper than anything else other than just plain dirt or compacted gravel type of options. I like them, the horses seemed comfortable on them. They spring a bit at first, but less as they adjust to the role. Could be something for you to consider, if you like. It’s an “old time” solution… we had wood floors in the first “stable” we had when I was a kid… that was an “in and out” situation, paddocks attached. When that farm sold (to be subdivided), one of our boarders took all those old floorboards out of the stalls, and moved them to the barn she was building. They were oak, and they were “used” when my dad put them in there. As far as I know, they are still in use in her barn. My dad built that barn and sourced those “old” oak boards for the floors around 1960.

[Simkie]

Mats that fit don’t have gaps to allow urine to drain. A open drain in a bedded stall will clog with bedding.

Mats over screenings (or concrete) is the way to go. Concrete is $$$ but tamping and leveling screenings is a JOB. Very much worth putting in the time to do it right, but a workout nonetheless.

You’ll probably use more bedding with mats than without. Right now, urine can drain through the floor of the stall. That won’t happen with mats. I was surprised with how much less bedding I used when I pulled the mats (in prep of redoing the stall floor, which hadn’t been done right by previous owners.) The advantage is a level stall floor, that needs no maintenance.

[clanter]

@Simkie

Mats that fit don’t have gaps to allow urine to drain. A open drain in a bedded stall will clog with bedding.

Concrete is $

the two stall that we put drains was under the thought of periodically pulling the mats to wash down/clean under the mats… but as noted tight fitting mats do not allow urine to get under the mats

as for concrete, we are about seven miles from one of the regional PaveStone manufacturing sites, I stopped in there asking if they had any deals… they had what they called off color product that they sold me for a faction of the cost to have concrete put into the barn floor. Even with all the costs of the bedding sand for the pavers and delivery of the pavers the floor cost under a dollar per square foot installed.

As for the off color, I could see no difference in the pavers

[JB]

@Mukluks

Considering upgrade to concrete sloped to a drain (WITH mats). Apparently can then use less bedding.

If they spend much time at all on a regular basis, in the stall, that’s a hard surface to be standing on all the time. IMHO, concrete needs MORE bedding

Why not level the current ground, add a few inches of something like screenings, wet and tamp with a vibrating tamper, and add mats? That would be cheaper and less labor-intensive than all the 2x4s which you have to level anyway. You couldn’t use just bedding on top of the 2x4 + gravel, as wet bedding will start sitting down in the gravel, never to be retrieved

[Ghazzu]

I have rubber matting over concrete.
Barn was here when we came.
If I were building, I’d do packed stonedust with rubber mats.
(Which is what I did when I buil a barn.)

[Calvincrowe]

I’ve had the best luck with mats over compacted gravel- horses in overnight, bedding with pellets. My trainer’s barn is mats over concrete. That’s hard on horse’s legs/bodies over time. Concrete is unforgiving even with mats and bedding. I prefer the gravel base because it does drain in case a bucket gets tipped or the hose accidentally runs or there’s a flood of some sort. Less expensive than concrete, too which you can always upgrade to if you put down gravel…harder to rip up concrete if you hate it.

We just put in 5/8s minus, compacted then 1/4 minus and mats on that. We didn’t build a frame, just placed 4x6 mats and cut them to fit. Yes, I’ve needed to ‘resettle’ them over time, but not a big deal. Easy and doable in a few hours.

[walkinthewalk]

IMHO concrete belongs in a dairy barn, in my husband’s workshop, or someplace in a bigger horse barn where the horses aren’t. I -just-don’t-like-cement-and-horses-in-the-same-sentence.

I have 10” - 14” of limestone crush in the stalls with restaurant thick grid mats on top, Yes the holes fill with shavings but the urine still drains thru. In 19 years, there has never been any urine slopping around like there would be with seams between solid mats — nor is there any knock your face off your head ammonia odor. The mats don’t need picked up and cleaned either.

~4” of shavings in the stalls but I let the horses bank their stalls with shavings to suit themselves. The rest of the barn is limestone crush with solid mats on top.

[fourfillies]

I’ve had rubber mats over concrete and mats over compacted stone dust over dirt/layer of road base. Installing over concrete was easier and no shifting. We dumped, leveled and rented a compactor for the stone dust prep. As @Simkie says it’s a lot of work to do right. Done right the mats shouldn’t shift (or allow urine to drain). There are some great threads here with install tips on fitting and cutting mats. Not fun work but rewarding. My last project is in 3 years, no shifting. I ran mats contiguous with the aisle so have a matted aisle as well.

[JB]

Keep in mind that “gravel” as a mat base needs to be fine enough to compact HARD, and still be porous. Pieces that are too big won’t allow a truly flat base, and will shift under the mats, which will cause problems with mat fit over time.

[sparkygrace]

@Calvincrowe

We just put in 5/8s minus, compacted then 1/4 minus and mats on that. We didn’t build a frame, just placed 4x6 mats and cut them to fit. Yes, I’ve needed to ‘resettle’ them over time, but not a big deal. Easy and doable in a few hours.

We did the same. It works fine but my horse does like to play with his mats and displace them. My stalls have an attached run and I would love if my horse would poop and pee outside, but he prefers using his shavings.

I bought some clips that are used to keep mats in place and will put them in this fall when we do a little mat rehab.

https://www.bigdweb.com/product/stall+mat+klips+regular+-+15+pack.do

[clanter]

@JB

Keep in mind that “gravel” as a mat base needs to be fine enough to compact HARD,

which is similar in hardness as concrete

[2DogsFarm]

@JB

“gravel” as a mat base needs to be fine enough to compact HARD

No mats here, but stalls & aisle are floored with stonedust, compacted over a 9" gravel base.
Tamped by the Excavator who installed the flooring.
Initially it was like beach sand in both stalls & aisle. After several years it compacted to Very Hard in stalls & Hard in the aisle (horses still leave shallow imprints).
18yrs on, I can sweep & even hose the aisle.
Stalls drain great - never any ammonia smell.
I bed with fine shavings now, switched from pellets as I got a hella bargain for the shavings about a year ago.
Only Fail is completely my (lazyass) fault:
Horses prefer to pee along the North wall of each stall.
My lack of discipline & strength (Old ) means I never get completely down to the stonedust base to remove wet bedding.
Resulting in a raised mound on that wall of the stall.
Still, no smell, so I’m calling it Deep Litter Method until I can hire someone to dig them out.

ETA:
Horses are Out more than In, by choice (theirs).
Stalls are open to drylot & pastures year-round.

[JB]

@clanter

which is similar in hardness as concrete

But it’s really not. There’s a difference between tamped stonedust, and concrete. It doesn’t need to be able to take a truck on it without denting

@2DogsFarm

stalls & aisle are floored with stonedust, compacted over a 9" gravel base.

Yes, that can work, as the stonedust settles into/over the gravel, and then you have the flat hard but still permeable stonedust for the mats to sit on.

[clanter]

@JB

It doesn’t need to be able to take a truck on it without denting

but if tamped correctly it will support a truck without distortion

[2DogsFarm]

Right you are
My Hayguys regularly back a loaded wagon into the aisle (from the attached indoor).
100+ 50# squares, unloaded & stacked & never a mark on the aisle floor.

[DoubleDown]

I built my entire barn is concrete, with rubber mats in the stalls. I use pelleted bedding, and horses have 24/7 access to runs. No soreness or ammonia issues. Would do it again. I was so over fixing mats & gravel/stone dust in the barns I boarded at over the years. I’ve had my barn 5 years now, and only fixed mats in one stall once.