Horse Loose boxes

Loose boxes managed in the full bed system (taking out muck and wet bedding on a daily basis and maintaining the bed at around 8-10 cm with shavings) and looseboxes with soft rubber horse mats beddings (Approximately 3 cm profiled rubber) on which the bedding material is reduced to 1 cm. In the latter the rubber mats offer softness and heat insulation, therefore the bedding is merely necessary to absorb fluids.

Reduced need for bedding material in boxes

How many times have you noticed dust motes dancing in a shaft of sunlight spilling through your barn window? Those particles can be a constant source of airway irritation to the horses in that barn. Soft rubber horse mats reduce need for bedding material in boxes

Horse Barn Mats

Inadequate ventilation, dusty bedding, stall cleaning, hay fed in hay nets or raised feeders (instead of at ground level), closed or small windows, closed stall fronts, overhead hay lofts, sweeping and blowing of aisle ways, and indoor riding areas can all contribute to poor air quality in the barn.

When horses are exposed to this kind of stable environment, they can develop respiratory disease. Inflammatory airway disease is among the most common problem and can over time progress to heaves (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) in some horses. Poor air quality can also lead to increased mucous in the airway; coughing upon initiation of exercise, even if coughing subsides shortly; decreased stamina. A horse coughing whenever it goes into a stall or an arena may be common, but it isn’t normal. Coughing when a horse starts to exercise is usually a sigh of underlying respiratory disease. Lower respiratory illness is well documented in horses, and the amount of dust in barns is typically considered the reason.

The dust to determine the presence of endotoxins, which are the toxic substances found in certain disease-producing bacteria and liberated by the disintegration of the bacterial cell.

The particulate count in the barn increased dramatically when people were sweeping or using blowers in the barn aisle, throwing bales of hay down from the loft and shaking hay out at feeding time. Cleaning stalls also raised the particulate level when workers tossed and/or sifted the bedding to separate out manure and soiled areas.

“Barns are very high in endotoxins, which are found in hay, manure and grain,” “There are gram positive and gram negative bacteria, but it doesn’t matter whether the bacteria are alive or dead; it can still cause inflammation.”

Soft rubber horse mats

Bedding is often a source of significant dust. Avoid sawdust, which has a heavy amount of fine particulate matter compared to shavings. If you use shavings or straw, purchase the cleanest you can find.

Stall and barn flooring can also be a source of dust. For example, clay floors can have a significant amount of dust because the clay is ground up due to the horse’s weight. You can use rubber mats atop clay, but an even better option is to use mats over crushed rock or popcorn asphalt. Better still, although more costly, is a seamless rubber flooring system.

  • Always take horses out of the stall before cleaning them. You may even want to lightly dampen bedding before bringing horses back in
  • Use the cleanest possible sources of bedding
  • Use rubber horse mats in stalls under bedding
  • Don’t blow or sweep in the barn when horses are present
  • Feed hay at ground level instead of from wall racks or hay nets to keep horses from inhaling dust and hay particles
  • Promote good ventilation practices in barn and avoid a warm, closed-up barn at all costs.

Storing hay or straw in an overhead loft is not only a fire hazard, but is a major contributing factor of dust and also inhibits good ventilation.

Horse Facility ventilation and cooling

Having a cool barn and arena can help you and your horse stay focused on the ride ahead. Having a cool horse stable and take away a lot of stress for the horses that spend their days there; it keeps the dust down and the flies at bay. Put the enjoyment back into riding this Summer by making an investment in Horse Facility Cooling Equipment

RESULTS FROM NÜRTINGEN-GEISLINGEN UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF EQUINE MANAGEMENT.

Air quality & stable hygiene Overall, the management system using rubber mats plus reduced bedding material was drier, which
constituted conclusive evidence for all results:

  • Concentration of ammonia: in both systems very low (far below the critical value of 10 ppm)
  • Particulate matter: both systems more than 150 times lower than the critical value of 4 mg/m³
  • Germs (enterobacteria, yeast, mould fungus): rubber mats tend to result in lower pollution

Source: Prof. Dr. B. Benz et al. (2013): Weniger Einstreu bei gleichem Komfort. In: Pferde Zucht & Haltung 1/2013, S. 66ff

Horses react sensitively to new floors and substrates

  • After only a brief period they resume their usual lying positions confident lying behaviour
  • Littering height does not determine the deformability of the flooring system for Horse Loose boxes
  • In nature, horses select their lying places more for their dryness and less for their softness
  • Heat insulation and slip resistance are also important factors.

Source: Project report Prof. Dr. B. Benz et al. (2014): Comparing the use of “straw mattresses” to “rubber mats with straw pellets” on the experimental farm Jungborn

RESULTS
  • To what extent do horses change their lying behaviour because of the flooring system?
  • How much deformation and littering height do both systems have?
  • At the end of the test the horses lie slightly longer on rubber mats with straw pellets than on straw
  • Rubber mat + straw pellets: consistently high deformation

Working hours needed for maintenance of the Horse Loose boxes

  • Working hours needed for maintenance of the loosebox
  • rubber + reduced bedding
  • full bed 8-10 cm
  • winter & summer

Rubber + reduced bedding full bed 8-10 cm winter summer. Savings on working hours up to 28 %! Leaving more time for your horse!

Profitability

The study compares horse loose boxes managed

  • in the full bed system (taking out muck and wet bedding on a daily basis and maintaining the bed at around 8-10 cm with shavings) and
  • loose boxes with soft rubber matting (approx. 3 cm profiled rubber) on which the bedding materials reduced to 1 cm.
  • In the latter the rubber mats offer softness and heat insulation, therefore the bedding is merely necessary to absorb fluids.

Savings on Horse Loose boxes bedding by rubber mats

  • Material 2062 kg / box / year without rubber mat –
  • 1440 kg / box / year with rubber mat
Annual cost- EuroFull Beddingkauçuk + 1 cm sap
Rubber mat depreciation 10 years72-€
Financial interest rate 5%18-€
Labour cost 5-€/ h645-€484-€
Bedding liter cost ( straw 7,5-Euro/20Kg) 773-€540-€
TOTAL1418-€1114-€
=622 kg less / box / year = Cost benefit of approx. 300 € per box per year!

– 28 % – 13 % + further advantages such as reduced manure storage and disposal not taken into account!
Full bed on concrete flooring Rubber mats + reduced bedding Cost benefit per year in EURO – 304 €
Depreciation allowance rubber mats (10 years) + Interest rate rubber mats (5 %) Labour costs (15 €/working hour) Bedding material (shavings: 7,5 €/20 kg)

RESULTS FROM NÜRTINGEN-GEISLINGEN UNIVERSITY, FACULTY OF EQUINE MANAGEMENT

Air quality & stable hygiene

Overall, the management system using rubber mats plus reduced bedding material was drier, which constituted conclusive evidence for all results:

• Concentration of ammonia in both systems very low (far below the critical value of 10 ppm)

• Particulate matter in both systems more than 150 times lower than the critical value of 4 mg/m³

• Germs (enterobacteria, yeast, mould fungus): rubber mats tend to result in lower pollution

Source: Prof. Dr. B. Benz et al. (2013): Weniger Einstreu bei gleichem Komfort. In: Pferde Zucht & Haltung 1/2013, S.