stableite

Stableite's rubber flooring was certainly given a thorough testing by YH reader Sue Cook from Kent.She was keen to try it as her large two-year-old Warmblood spends a great deal of time lying down. As he moves his bedding around a lot, Sue found that he often ended up lying on the oncrete and getting cast - but not anymore: I have found that with Stableite my gelding can easily get a firm foothold when getting up and he does not have to roll over and 'kick off' the side walls which was how he used to get cast before. Other advantages of this bedding are that because the floor area is 'clean' it prevents food and hay wastage if you've got a messy eater like mine! He also tips his water bucket over which used to waste bedding like mad - now the water just soaks away.Although you do not have to use any other bedding with rubber flooring down, I prefer to put a small amount of straw down to prevent urine splashing over my horse's legs, but after two weeks the two sections of straw I used are still there and still dry! Stableite comes in one metre square mats which have drainage channels on the underside.The urine seeps through the mats and then drains out of the stable.

Droppings stay on the surface. Sue said: It is essential that your stable floor has a slight slope to it so that any liquids can drain away - I drilled a few small holes in the brickwork level with the floor
to maintain sufficient drainage to the outside. It is recommended that Deodoriser is sprinkled onto the floor prior to laying the mats and then dusted over the mats once laid. This stuff really works in neutralising ammonia smells and fumes from urine so I can heartily recommend it. To fit the flooring I needed a jigsaw with fine cutting blades, something to rest the mats on whilst I cut them and a willing helper to help me lift and manoeuvre the mats into lace. I found the mats easy to fit - they are laid just like carpet tiles and with someone helping, only took me 30 minutes to fit out my 12ft x 12ft stable.