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Rubber mats can cushion your horse's limbs in his stall, in the wash rack, and on board a trailer.
Here's how to choose the best ones for you.
Where would we be without rubber? Make all the jokes you want; rubber's indispensable stuff, especially in the barn. The tire on your wheelbarrow, the handle grip on your longe whip, your two year-old's first snaffle bit, that flexible curry comb, the feed tubs and buckets in your stall - chances are, they're made of rubber. But one of the most popular uses of rubber in the barn is underfoot.
Rubber floor and stall mats reduce the chances of a horse slipping on a hard concrete or asphalt floor, or on a wet surface such as a wash rack. They help cushion his limbs when he has to stand for hours in a stall or a horse trailer. They make it more comfortable for him to lie down and rest. And they make cleaning stalls less of a chore, and ammonia fumes less of a problem. Choosing to use rubber mats in your barn isn't the tough part. The tough part is choosing which ones are best for your purposes! Although at first glance they all seem to be basically the same - big, heavy slabs of black rubber - on closer inspection there are dozens of brands of rubber mats available, each with its own selection of features. Do you want a pebbled surface, or a smooth one? Flat bottoms, or grooved ones? Pure virgin rubber, 100% recycled, or mats with nylon fiber centers? Do you want mats with smooth edges, or one that lock together like a jigsaw puzzle? Which of several different thicknesses is best? Which is softest, which is the most durable, which best handles extremes in temperature, which provides the best traction, and which is likely to fall apart with heavy use? Who knew plain old rubber could be so complicated? Let's have a look at rubber mats, with a focus on what's safest for your horse, and safest for the environment.
MANUFACTURING SECRETS
Most of us think rubber comes from the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis,
a native of South America) - and sometimes it does. But there are a vast
array of synthetic rubbers that are widely used in industry. Of these,
styrene-butadiene rubber, or SBR, is by far the most common, and makes
up most of the rubber products we encounter every day, including the majority
of car and truck tires. The type of rubber mat you choose will depend on
what's safest for your horse, the area of installation, and the environment.
Natural rubber is a renewable, sustainable resources, and as such, it's quite environmentally friendly - it even will degrade in the environment (through oxidation and/or microbiological attach) if given enough time. But the manufacture of synthetic rubbers also has a minimal impact on the environment.. SBR is cheaper than natural rubber, and it's quite abrasion-resistant, which is a plus. And it has no detrimental environmental impact that I know of.
Many rubber items, are made of a combination of natural rubber and SBR, each of which contributes some qualities to the finished product. In its natural form, both natural and synthetic rubbers form a plastic-like mass. in order to be converted to the familiar solid, but resilient form we recognize, it needs to be "vulcanized," which is a chemical process that encourages cross-link in the complex rubber molecules so that they can stretch and give without breaking. There are a number of different "vulcanizing agents" but the most common is elemental sulfur, which is usually combined with an "accelerator" chemical to speed the process along, and an "activator" made up of zinc oxide and stearic acid. The exact ratio of sulfur to accelerator will determine the final product's number of cross-links, and thus its flexibility, its durability, and its thermal stability. Each company has its own special receipt. The sulfur and other chemicals generally are added to the raw rubber, then activated by applying heat. (New stall mats will sometimes have a "rotten egg" smell, which is a by-product of the sulfur bonding system; the odor usually fades in a few days.) Vulcanization, is an irreversible process, despite the fact that many companies that make recycled mats describe their products as "re vulcanized."
(Revulcanization) would be like crumbling a cookie, mixing the crumbs with milk, and trying to restore it to its original state," "You can't really go back to the 'dough' stage." When rubber is recycled, as it often is for stall mats, the rubber is broken down into crumbs and persuaded to bond by one of two methods. What's called "revulcanization" is really the application of heat and extreme pressure to the rubber crumbs, which activates its remaining "cure factor" (the qualities in the rubber that allow it to form cross links) and helps press it into a new shape. More sulfur usually is added during this process, and some companies use the term "sulfur-cured" rather than "revulcanized." The other method is to bond the rubber crumbs together with a urethane compound (essentially, glue). These "bound" mats also are heated and pressed into shapes, but don't require the extreme pressure that revulcanized mats do.
Tenderfoot mats are produced by this method, because the company thought that it produced a softer, more elastic mat that maintained its integrity better under hard use. "The revulcanization process is superficial," It only penetrates to a certain depth; really, it acts as a top-dressing for the rubber, bonding the top layer (of crumbs), but not necessarily going all the way through the mat. The thicker the mat is the more this is a problem. Once you get under the 'skin,' you may find the interior is brittle and won't stand up. Another problem is that unless the rubber crumbs are heat-dried before they're revulcanized - and not every company does this - moisture may get into the mixture and you'll end up with air pockets in the center of the mat, like a piece of pita bread. So you're not really getting the thickness or the durability you've been promised.
In contrast, mixing the rubber crumbs with urethane allows each particle to be thoroughly coated with the bonding agent, producing a more solid seal that goes all the way through the mat. using another baking analogy, "The urethane is like the egg in a cake mix. It's the liquid element that binds it all together. What cure factor is left in the rubber will help, too, but we don't rely on that for bonding). The result is a chemical bond which has elasticity and maintains its integrity."
Where To Use Rubber Mats
Stall floors and aisle ways aren't the only places where rubber mats can be useful. Consider placing them:
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
Rubber mats installed on stall floors can save mucking time and bedding, and cushion a hard, unyielding concrete or asphalt floor. If your floors are dirt or clay, stall mats can help reduce the ammonia fumes and bacteria and mold growth caused by urine and manure soaking into the floor. In either case, the idea is to keep liquids on top of the mats, where the bedding can absorb them. When you muck the stall daily, you're then able to remove virtually 100% of the urine and keep the stall fresher and more hygienic.
Installing stall mats
First, the floor must be level - which might take hours of labor and many wheelbarrows of gravel and stone dust if you're dealing with old stalls full of holes. Even if you have a pristine concrete surface, you're going to need help: rubber mats are heavy. Although at first glance it might sound like a good idea to eliminate seams and gaps by blanketing a stall with a large, one-piece mat, such as a chunk of rubber might take six strong men and a Clydesdale just to budge! If you're short on help, choosing mats that are smaller is a good idea
It's not necessary to have the mats line up exactly next to each other; a quarter to a half inch of space between each section will allow for expansion and contraction with the weather, and bedding will tend to pack down into the cracks and form an effective "caulk" so liquid can't seep through. It's a good idea, though, not to have any seams near the door, where your horse might paw up the edges.
Grooves on the bottom surface of the mat are supposed to help let any liquid that sneaks underneath evaporate without a buildup of mold or bacteria. But unless all the grooves are perfectly lined up across the length of the stall, they'll do little good. And if they are placed on a dirt or stone-dust floor, the grooves simply will fill with the flooring material. The whole benefit of mats, is supposed to be 100% water-proofing, so (grooves) are an oxymoron!
Textured surface can make the mat difficult to sweep if you're using it in an aisle way or wash rack. textures don't add to the traction a mat provides. A mat won't be slippery unless it's hard and brittle,. Keep in mind, however, that very soft mats might not be very durable, especially if your horses wear big caulks on their shoes. It's best to find a happy medium. With any luck, laying down mats will be a one-time chore in your barn - although a back-breaking And sweaty chore it certainly can be!
The long-term benefits of rubber mats, however, are well worth the effort. They can make almost any surface in your barn safer and more comfortable for your horse, whether he's resting in his stall, holding up a foot for the farrier, or getting a bath before a show. As with anything else, it comes down to this: buy the very best you can afford, install it properly, then reap the benefits.
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New Century
NORTHWEST LLC