The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Marketplace => Topic started by: tonka236 on November 09, 2011, 10:12:55 pm
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Not for me but for a female friend (obviously I'm a sucker and try and help out a girl with a pretty smile)
She's after rubber matting for her horses stable. Ideally around the Staffordshire-ish area
If anybody has or knows to a good contact that would be fantastic
Cheers
Ben aka Tonka236
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The proper stuff is so expensive ....I know having looked myself. At a sale recently, the prices were nearly as they would be new!! There is a place near us, that sells single sheets, and I think some are £25 and thicker ones a bit more. Not really equine mats, but our local place sells a lot of them. - not really sure what they are,. but not the posh named version anyway.
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cow mats would they not do the same purpose :farmer:
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cow mats would they not do the same purpose :farmer:
We have been using old cow mats in the stables for a while. They do give a comfy surface; the ponies are happy to lie on them without any other bedding on them - but they have a smooth surface so fluid sits. The 'pukka' horse mats are much thicker, much more sturdy, and grooved so that fluid runs away more readily.
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There's a place called Country and Leisure in Ruthin here in north Wales, who definitely sell these mats although it might be too far away to be of any use. I do know there are quite reasonable in price because my OH has bought some in the past.
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Rubber stable matting 6' x 4' sheet is about 38 quid a sheet. Available from most farm/equine supplies places.
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In this week's Scottish Farmer, a company called Quattro is doing 25% off rubber matting. You'll find them via google.
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Oh, thanks for that Rosemary - they're in Penrith so I can go see what they've got. :thumbsup:
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Oh, thanks for that Rosemary - they're in Penrith so I can go see what they've got. :thumbsup:
Let me know what you find :)
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We have been using old cow mats in the stables for a while. They do give a comfy surface; the ponies are happy to lie on them without any other bedding on them - but they have a smooth surface so fluid sits. The 'pukka' horse mats are much thicker, much more sturdy, and grooved so that fluid runs away more readily.
Cow mats, otherwise known as Mayo Mats, are the best ever. That smooth surface means you can sweep them with the minimum of effort and their combination of lightness with stiffness means they're easy to pick up or move around. We used to use "proper" horse mats until we saw the light. It also means the floor underneath sees the light too!
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Cow mats, otherwise known as Mayo Mats, are the best ever. That smooth surface means you can sweep them with the minimum of effort and their combination of lightness with stiffness means they're easy to pick up or move around. We used to use "proper" horse mats until we saw the light. It also means the floor underneath sees the light too!
Do they have to be tight fitted then to stop them being moved by the animals?
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They spread slightly over time so they don't need to be tight. The cow mats differ from the horse version (horse version is thicker), but cow stalls also differ so cow mats are usually bolted down at one end.
Mayo mats are much easier to cut (with a Stanley knife) than any of the rubber mats we used previously so fitting them to the stable is straightforward. I fitted them in our previous stables because the floors were cobbled, irregular and drained the wrong way. I used to lift a couple every week and lean them against the wall while I put a hose in to wash underneath - try that with rubber mats.
After a year we moved them to the newly-built stables at home. Since you can pick up a 6*4 mat single handed and they stand up by themselves we just lined them up inside the Ivor Williams. Despite the poor surface they'd been on they remained flat so we installed them in the new stables without problem.
Although the new stables drain properly I still like to lift the mats from time to time and jet wash underneath. Its still a one person job, so it happens more often. But its also easy to lift a corner and shove a hose in.
Last week we took a new and unused rubber mat over to a friend's stables. To move it we had to roll it and tie it up, then it took two of us to lift it into the car. Just a different world, but this is all getting away from the main point - we don't use much bedding and mucking-out is easy and quick, every day.