Stall Floors

[Jean]

We are building a new barn and wondering what makes the best floor for stalls. They dig up clay and dirt, Mats don't drain and they flip them up, cement is too hard, planks rot. ANy ideas or what has worked well for others on this forum

[clh]

We built our barn BEFORE we knew what kind of horses we were going to put in it... so we have concrete floors with drains (drains are in each stall). We put down those fit together stall mats and they were terrible! Urine seeped through the cracks of the "puzzle" and we had to tear them apart every weekend to mop under them....nasty job. We then put down the soft stall mats - which is a solid piece of matting (with a round tube like mattress underneath it filled with crumb rubber). The solid piece attaches to the stall walls so it is completely sealed. We love them - no more pulling mats up and mopping under them.

[clh]

As I was mucking stalls for the upteenth time this week I thought about this post and wanted to amend my comments. Get doors wide enough for a small bobcat to go in and scoop up the stuff and a floor that can handle it

[Diane]

The barn had been neglected when we bought our home. It has concrete center aisle but dirt stall floors in bad shape from horses that didn't get out enough. We removed dirt, leveled and put a layer of cold patch asphalt down. I used ~20 60lb bags per stall. Hand packed about 2 inches deep. Mats went over that. I use shavings. The mice don't tunnel under. It's not as hard as concrete. It's not cheap but I sure was tired of dealing with dg or what they call dg here.

[Caper]

Most people I know level the stalls and put down limescreens. Then they level and pack them. It hardens somewhat and they put down fitted heavy mats. It actually drains nicely and there is no smell due to the limestone.

[Shammy Davis]

Asphalt! This subject has been discussed before. Joe Taylor, of Taylor-Made Farm in KY, recommends asphalt that is moderately compacted as a great surface for horse stalls. I've seen barns with asphalt surfaces and they are very easy to clean and the abrasive surface give horses excellent footing. Joe's recommendations are found in his book. I forget the title, but I'm sure you'll have no problem finding it. I think Russell Meerdink published it.

[freshman]

My floors are concrete, stalls and aisles, that are very, very slightly sloped to drains that are in between every two stalls. After 30 years, only two or three stalls floors have cracks (none of them major, just a surface crack that crumbles a bit), and there are just recently four stalls that drain into a bit of a pool in front of the doors. These will have to be sealed/patched soon, but no big deal.

I have a forklift with a scoop that I drive to the front of each stall to clean, but the floors would support something larger or a truck, etc.

I use rubber mats and any horse that has an injury that needs more cushion, has laminitis, etc, gets sand in the bottom of the stall. Just one load dumped outside of the barn every 2-3 years is plenty.

My only wish is that the floors were more textured and less slippery. The concrete is roughed-up but I wonder if a cross-hatch or other pattern like is on the side of the highway (to wake drivers up if they drift to the shoulder) is available. Never had a accident but have had a few scary slides.