saudi turf team Horse Stall Mats - Different Types

saudi turf team Horse Stall Mats - Different Types

Horse stall mats are becoming increasingly popular, due to the advantages they provide over other stall floor surfaces:

    Yielding. The traditional concrete floor is very hard. Unless you provide a thick layer of bedding, this hardness can stress joints, possibly injure feet, and cause sore points where the horse lays down to rest or sleep. Mats provide a softer and more yielding surface which is more comfortable for horses and less likely to result in impact stress injuries.

Warmth. The materials used to make horse stall mats are naturally insulating. This is both more comfortable and healthier for horses, especially in winter.

Traction. Concrete and wooden floors can be slippery when wet; mats provide better traction and reduce this risk to horses.

Smooth. Many mats have a smooth surface, which is much easier to clean than concrete or wood surfaces. Sterilization. Stall mats can be easily sterilized with a disinfectant, which is difficult with absorbent surfaces such as wood or earth. Especially in the case of a horse contraction a contagious disease, the ability to sterilize the stall floor is important. Drainage. Unlike concrete, mats allow urine to drain off. Usually this happens at the joints between mats, although a few types of mats allow the urine to drain through the mat itself. Bedding. Many owners find that less bedding is required with stall mats, partly because the mats perform the function of bedding (insulation, soft and comfortable surface, shock absorption, traction) and partly because the ability to drain off urine means that less bedding is soiled. This saves not only on bedding costs, but also in terms of the time and money associated with stall cleaning.

A mat floor can be laid on top of any hard, non-moving surface such as concrete, asphalt and wooden floors. As such, mats are more a floor covering, rather than a stand-alone floor. Some mats (the thicker and stronger ones) can also be laid on compacted stone, provided that that stones do not exceed a certain size (large stones can cause bumps or even tears in the mats). Soft surfaces, such as earth or sand, are unsuitable as they can move under the mats, resulting in depressions in the mats. Eventually, this can lead to separations between the mats or even tearing of the mats.