Feature: Stable Flooring

FEATURE

Innovations in stable flooring

When it comes to stable flooring, optimising the health, comfort and safety of your horse is paramount. CHRISTINE ARMISHAW investigates the new, the innovative and the downright desirable.

No matter how lux your stables, it’s what’s under your horses hooves that counts.

Of all the components that can be held accountable for horse health in a stable, flooring is pretty close to top of the list. A suitable base provides comfort and encourages a horse to lie down and properly rest. While standing, your horse’s precious legs and joints need to be adequately supported by means of suspension and a level of ‘give’ underfoot. The floor should be easy to keep clean and dry, while offering enough traction to prevent your horse from slipping.

Good drainage and preventing odour retention are important factors. Strong smells are unpleasant and high levels of ammonia in the air put your horse at risk of developing respiratory conditions. And finally, there’s affordability. There

are certain items on which you may wish to cut costs, visual stable trimmings for example, so you can redirect your funds into the more important area of providing comfort and safety for your horse.

With this battle plan in hand, combat begins. But first, here are some fundamentals to ponder to help set you on a clear course for stable glory. Consider how long you plan on keeping your horse indoors. Will it be intermittently, or will he be stabled most of the time? If your needs are more short-term, like housing your steed overnight before a competition to keep him clean and handy to catch in the

The floor should be easy to keep clean and dry, while offering enough traction to prevent your horse from slipping

morning, then a stall with basic flooring and a deep covering of shavings may suit your needs. But for horses who will be spending a lot of time in their private quarters, what they are standing on becomes even more important. Over the long-term, stable flooring will impact a horse physically and contribute either positively or negatively to his way of going.

Softer floors, less sores

At a base level you have a couple of choices, dirt or concrete. The former is hard to keep clean and horses may dig holes or walk wear marks into the ground. Traditional concrete ticks a few boxes: it is relatively cheap, durable, hard to damage and can be fairly easily cleaned. However, it offers no give to your horse’s joints, it’s cold, and it simply cannot be used on its own. It needs to be partnered with a whole lot of bedding to offer cushioning, some warmth, and to provide protection between its hard grey exterior and your horse. Any savings made at the outset may be outweighed as time goes by, in the form of time spent mucking out barrow load upon barrow load of dirty bedding, not to mention the cost of copious amounts of whatever your bedding of choice happens to be.

But there is an entry-level flooring product which offers a straightforward solution that decreases the difficulties of dirt and saves you from pouring concrete. Diamond Grid mesh provides drainage, remains even, and is kinder than plain terra firma on your horse’s joints when they’re standing for long periods of time. It’s easy to lay and can be used straight on top of a level dirt surface.

If you’re working with an existing concrete stable floor, covering with rubber is the way to go. Interlocking rubber mats are a starting point in creating that desired cushioning effect. They’re easy to move around due to the small size of each component and fairly easy to install as they simply lock into one another. However, the drawback of these puzzle pieces is that urine and muck get in between each square, making the area rather hard to adequately clean. This is unhygienic and can potentially lead to a smelly stable if the mats are not hauled out regularly for a proper scrub.

The novelty of mucking out barrow loads of dirty bedding usually wears off pretty quickly. BELOW: Red Barn’s rubber flooring, a sensible addition in any equine wash bay. BELOW RIGHT: This thick, padded flooring system significantly reduces the amount of bedding you require.

Going one better

The next option is to go big and get the floor covered in rubber sheeting. Fewer joins mean less potential for liquid leakage. Of course, as is the way in this world, not all rubber covers are created equal. Killahy Equine’s Business Manager, Charlie Hay, who has a degree

in chemical process engineering, shares his insider tip on how to test the quality of rubber: “Get a piece and bounce it on the ground. If it doesn’t bounce and it just kind of thuds, you know it’s got volatiles in it and is not a full, compacted kind of rubber.” Basically, if it has no bounce, it will have no spring under hoof for your horse either.

Once you’ve found bouncy rubber, the thickness required depends on foreseeable usage. Thinner rubber may not offer as much comfort as other coverings, but it can be combined with shavings. This may be a perfectly suitable option for ponies coming in off the grass for a couple of hours, or for other occasional use.

Need a late checkout? If you plan on keeping horses inside for longer periods, there are other solutions that may suit. By the time you factor in the cost of all that bedding you end up shovelling, thicker rubber that costs more at the outset may actually be a more economical long term option.

Jason Carter, Director at JDC Flooring, explains the benefits their Red Barn equine rubber represents over standard rubber matting. “Ours is a very heavy-duty rubber mat of 19mm thick, compacted rubber,” says Jason. “It offers your horse suspension for their joints and is quite comfortable.” And this is where your savings come in; the more padding and suspension you cover your concrete with, the less bedding you need to keep your horse comfortable. The thickness of JDC’s Red Barn rubber makes it stand out from the crowd. “You’re still using shavings, but you’re down to just a quarter of what you would normally use, just to soak up any spills,” says Jason. “That way, you can be paying for a new stable within two to three years with your savings on the shavings.”

For those of us who have an eye for the bigger picture, this product is also right in line with the ever-increasing need to protect our environment. A great example of clever recycling, the big, thick, non-absorbent Red Barn rubber mats are made in Canada from 100% recycled truck tyres. That’s a potential tyre mountain going to much better use! Plus, it’s such a tough product that the company offers a 15-year warranty.

Less shavings also means less dust in the air, a positive contribution to keeping your horse’s respiratory system in a healthy state. While this is a particularly serious consideration for racehorses and performance horses, it’s equally important for any and every horse being kept indoors.

Of all the components that contribute to horse health in a stable, flooring is pretty close to top of the list.

To help prevent unwanted seepage, interlocking rubber mats should be fitted together with as little gap as possible.

A completed rubber floor installation with plastic skirting board locking the matting in place.

While shavings are often used as bedding, the dust they produce can be detrimental to your horse’s respiratory system.

New innovations for happier housing

Killahy Equine have a few more tricks up their sleeves with German-made Belmondo rubber flooring solutions. If you have horse with a proclivity to paw, their rubber topped with a 4mm Tefloninfused wear layer may be just the ticket. “It’s got a hardened, engineered rubber compound over the top. It’s designed for shod horses so it doesn’t wear out,” explains Killahy Equine’s Charlie Hay.

Keeping in mind how important underfoot suspension is for joint protection, the next type of flooring Killahy offers is thick and cushioned with air pockets under the rubber, providing even more give and pressure relief to the stall inhabitant. Like the Red Barn mats mentioned earlier, this product also reduces the quantity of bedding you require.

Finally, there’s the King Duo, a flooring system to trump all others. This option is so comfy they don’t even refer to it as rubber flooring. “It’s like a mattress,” explains Charlie. Comprised of two different layers that have been bonded together, the base is a compilation of rubber cups, not dissimilar to the design of an egg carton, with a blanket of 18mm thick rubber spliced on top. A special system is used to etch and frame your stable floor during fit-out so that there are no gaps – making it easy to clean and preventing unwanted seepage. Finally, a plastic skirting board locks the mat down, so there’s no need for additional glue or sealant. “It’s kinda the ducks nuts,” grins Charlie.

With options aplenty in the evolving realm of stable flooring solutions, you can wave goodbye to the days of painstakingly spreading half a truck load of shavings over a cold concrete floor – cleaner, affordable and more manageable alternatives are ready and waiting.

This option is so comfy they don’t even refer to it as rubber flooring. It’s like a mattress.

B-COMPLETE BY BANANA FEEDS AUSTRALIA- THE GUT HEALTH REVOLUTION

Banana Feeds Australia has developed ‘B-Complete™, Nature’s Elite Equine Supplement’.

100% Australian owned, 100% Australian made, and a family business, Banana Feeds Australia has made waves within the equine supplement market in a truly short time. A 100% natural supplement focused on Equine Gut Health, and indeed a world first has resonated with the masses.

The patent protected product, consists of whole dried green bananas, including the skin, the pulp, the stem and the flower ends, and horse owners across the country are expressing disbelief about the positive results they are seeing.

WHY GREEN BANANAS AND WHY B-COMPLETE™?

Green bananas have long been the subject of intrigue, from use in the Sydney Olympics, to consumption in space, but with correct dosages of B-Complete™ the true benefits become obvious.

EQUINE GUT HEALTH -The health benefits that derive from supplementary feeding of dried green bananas are broad and include:

Green bananas have been shown to have antiulcerogenic properties, an area widely accepted as needing a solution in the equine industry, other than expensive medications.

The insoluble fibre act as prebiotics to favour the nourishment of microflora in the gut (particularly the hindgut) to stabilise the microbiome.

This stability in the gut promotes immune competence allowing horses to counter bacterial, fungal, viral, or parasitic challenges whilst also improving digestion, feed utilisation and temperament. Other reported benefits include: Antimicrobial, Hypoglycemics, and Anti-lithiatic (prevent kidney stones).

GENERAL WELL-BEING Active compounds like dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin all act to calm the animal and promote a sense of well-being, helping to make the animal more relaxed and easier to manage.

ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY Green banana is recognised as antioxidant rich, with a wide spectrum of antioxidant compounds (phenolics, carotenoids, ascorbic acid or Vitamin C, tocopherols or Vitamin E, dopamine, flavonoids, norepinephrine) which are primarily located in the peel. All improve gut health.

“B-Complete is widely used in our stable. It has had a profound impact on the performance of our horses. I consider it a game changer. Our horses are working better, performing better, getting better results - particularly the ones we know are ulcer-prone. Very happy.”

- David Tootell

“Since I have been using B-Complete, our racehorses have better gut digestion, are healthier & maintain their condition easily. Their coats are amazing. We also found it extremely beneficial for highly-strung horses, making them safer and more manageable.”

- Rob Wilkinson

Banana Feeds Australia Pty Ltd: 14 Ponzo Street, Woree, Cairns, QLD, 4868