Stall mats can be extremely useful in temporary stalls, horse trailers, showers, walkways and other applications. However, when considering their use in a permanent stall, there are a number of specific advantages and disadvantages which must be carefully considered.

One advantage is that the amount of bedding required is reduced. This is due to:

  • The stall mat performs some of the functions of bedding (e.g. soft, insulating surface). Conseqently, one can use less bedding, and still achieve the same results
  • Urine can drain off without soiling bedding (see topic ‘Drainage’ above), reducing the amount of bedding to be mucked out and replaced each day.
  • Horses do not like to urinate or defecate on a hard surface. If you provide litte bedding on top of the mats and the horses have free access to a paddock area, over time most horses will reduce the amount they urinate and defecate in the stall, and some horses will stop completely.

This reduction in bedding results in a large time and money saving, which many people find pays for the cost of the stall mats in less than a year. In addition, there are all the other advantages discussed at the top of the page (better insulation, traction and so on).

Problems with stall mats mainly focus on:

  • Drainage. As discussed in the topic ‘Drainage’ above, urine can build up under stall mats, resulting in Ammonia (which is unhealthly and unpleasant for both horses and people) and odours. If you have good drainage under the mats and well ventilated stalls, this may not be an issue. However, if you have a traditional stall floor (i.e. concrete) which does not allow drainage and inadequate ventilation, you may have unacceptable issues with ammonia and odours.
  • Mental Stess. Although a rubber mat may meet the physical requirements for a horse (e.g. soft, insulating, good traction) it does not meet its mental needs. Bedding such as straw provides mental stimulation as it has complex visual and physical texture, provides the opportunity for horses to root around for food and feels much like their natural environment of grass fields. A rubber mat meets none of these criteria, resulting in mental stress for the horse. The longer a horse is on a rubber mat instead of normal bedding, the greater the stress. If a horse has free access to a paddock, it is not as bad, but if they are locked into their stalls for long periods it is an unacceptable situation. To avoid this issue, one must put bedding on top of the rubber mat rather than treating the rubber mat as adequate bedding on its own (a mistake many horse owners make).
  • Quality. Low quality mats are cheaper, but have a number of potential issues which can lead to dissatisfaction. They are more likely to curl at the corners or rip or absorb urine (resulting in ammonia and smells).
  • Wrong Choice. As discussed above, there are many different types of mats. Dissatisfaction can arise when one chooses the wrong type of mat for a given application. For example, one should choose a heavy mat for a permanent stall (so it stays in place) and a light mat which rolls up for portable applications. It is important to consider exactly how one will be using the mat and then select the appropriate type of mat accordingly.