"Stall Skins" vs. Rubber Mats

[SteveH_CT]

\"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

Hi Folks - I posted this over in the Country Living Forum a couple days ago - however I'm hoping it gets more traffic here.

I'm about 3 weeks away from actually having a small horse barn (finally). In regards to the stalls themselves, I wanted to get some input from folks who currently have horses, and how they feel about the Stall Skins, versus using rubber mats.

My stalls will have about 8" to 10" of 3/4 stone topped by landscape fabric, then another 3" to 4" of pea stone (no pun intended ). I was planning on adding the mats right over the pea stone, and then add shavings or pelletized bedding.

I know the skins allow liquid to pass through, leaching out into the lower layers. With the stone base that I have in, plus soil with very decent drainage below it, perhaps the stall skins would be a good alternative for me.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve Mann

 

[SteveH_CT]

\"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

Hi Folks - I posted this over in the Country Living Forum a couple days ago - however I'm hoping it gets more traffic here.

I'm about 3 weeks away from actually having a small horse barn (finally). In regards to the stalls themselves, I wanted to get some input from folks who currently have horses, and how they feel about the Stall Skins, versus using rubber mats.

My stalls will have about 8" to 10" of 3/4 stone topped by landscape fabric, then another 3" to 4" of pea stone (no pun intended ). I was planning on adding the mats right over the pea stone, and then add shavings or pelletized bedding.

I know the skins allow liquid to pass through, leaching out into the lower layers. With the stone base that I have in, plus soil with very decent drainage below it, perhaps the stall skins would be a good alternative for me.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks,
Steve Mann

 

[MarkLeininger]

Re: \"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

Haven't used Stall Skins but we use rubber conveyor belt material. We get it used for almost free at the local quarry, they come in rolls about 3-4 feet wide and up to several miles long, just in case you have really big stalls. The quarry will cut them to any length, they have a killer machine that cuts them like butter even though they have steel wire in the core of the rubber. We lay them down 3 wide in the stalls, leaving about 3-4 inches between each row and around the edges. The urine drains through those open slots.

Our horses have the choice of using their stall or being outside, so about the only time they come in the stall is to go to the bathroom. Keeps the paddock nice and clean. The only other time they use the stall is when the flies are really bad. For reasons I don't understand, the flies don't seem to go in the stalls. Maybe they don't like the smell.

 

[MarkLeininger]

Re: \"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

Haven't used Stall Skins but we use rubber conveyor belt material. We get it used for almost free at the local quarry, they come in rolls about 3-4 feet wide and up to several miles long, just in case you have really big stalls. The quarry will cut them to any length, they have a killer machine that cuts them like butter even though they have steel wire in the core of the rubber. We lay them down 3 wide in the stalls, leaving about 3-4 inches between each row and around the edges. The urine drains through those open slots.

Our horses have the choice of using their stall or being outside, so about the only time they come in the stall is to go to the bathroom. Keeps the paddock nice and clean. The only other time they use the stall is when the flies are really bad. For reasons I don't understand, the flies don't seem to go in the stalls. Maybe they don't like the smell.

 

[SteveH_CT]

Re: \"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

Thanks Mark - just out of curiosity I'm wondering what you use for bedding on top of the old belts.

 

[SteveH_CT]

Re: \"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

Thanks Mark - just out of curiosity I'm wondering what you use for bedding on top of the old belts.

 

[MikePA]

Re: \"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

We have three, 12' x 12' stalls that were originally filled with 6 inches of clay on top of the soil the barn was built on. We have tried, in order;

A single rubber mat - Trapped moisture and other nasty things underneath
4 mats that hooked together like a jig saw puzzle - Same problem
Stall Skins - Horses pawing made holes plus the clay did not drain well.

Nothing worked until

1. I dug out each stall (by hand) to a depth of 12 inches.
2. Sank a 30 gallon plastic barrel (big holes in top and bottom) in the center of the stall.
3. Covered the dirt with geotextile cloth
4. Dumped in 4 inches of stone, tamped, 4 inches more, tamped, etc. topping it off with stone dust and tamped.
5. Topped that with Groundmaster mats.

No problems since. We use wood chips for bedding.

 

[MikePA]

Re: \"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

We have three, 12' x 12' stalls that were originally filled with 6 inches of clay on top of the soil the barn was built on. We have tried, in order;

A single rubber mat - Trapped moisture and other nasty things underneath
4 mats that hooked together like a jig saw puzzle - Same problem
Stall Skins - Horses pawing made holes plus the clay did not drain well.

Nothing worked until

1. I dug out each stall (by hand) to a depth of 12 inches.
2. Sank a 30 gallon plastic barrel (big holes in top and bottom) in the center of the stall.
3. Covered the dirt with geotextile cloth
4. Dumped in 4 inches of stone, tamped, 4 inches more, tamped, etc. topping it off with stone dust and tamped.
5. Topped that with Groundmaster mats.

No problems since. We use wood chips for bedding.

 

[SteveH_CT]

Re: \"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

Thanks for all the info - Do the home stores carry the geotextile fabric... is it just heavy landscape type fabric?

 

[SteveH_CT]

Re: \"Stall Skins\" vs. Rubber Mats

Thanks for all the info - Do the home stores carry the geotextile fabric... is it just heavy landscape type fabric?