Berbergestüt Al Ayur, Sörgerberg, Liebenfels, Österreich

Now, we do have an acquaintance who works at Hofmeister Pferdesport. We conversed over stable mats, as we wanted also to furnish Bommels stable below the house; however, we were not convinced about the hard mats.

She recommended to us the Equimat stable mats. The mats are approx. 1 cm (0.30 in) thick, very flexible and soft. She is on two sides intermateable and easy to install. Sceptical as we were, at first we only took 4 mats with us. We installed them directly on the cement floor in the stable and secured them on the sides in order to prevent any sliding with approx. 40-50 cm (15.75 – 19.69 in) long, 1 cm (0.30 in) high wood pieces which we simply pegged down into the floor. In that way we can take the mats away from above and clean them, while during the usage through the horses nothing slides.

A lying surface out of 4 mats emerged. Initially, I spread just like normal chippings over the mats. Two days passed without that the mats for sleeping were being utilized, and we became desperate. Then, Gazelle began to lie down on the mat with Galia copying her. We were happy. The chippings I cleared away with the dung bit by bit, so that at the end there was no more bedding left on the mats. They were being used anyway gladly. In that manner we furnished gradually further lying surfaces in our stables. A second one in Bommels stable, which Gazelle and Galia inhabited, one in front of the thick stable mats in the large open stable and one in the small open stable.

The horses love these mats. Their mid-afternoon nap they rather take on them instead e.g. in the sand or in our orchard. I believe that the pictures speak for themselves. Both, our two year old stallions lie even together on one lying surface. One morning I came into the stable and Chakir lie down under Panchir with his front legs and with his back legs on top of Panchir’s back – and both on one double mat! Chakir even prefers to lie down on the mats rather than in the soft sand at the riding area. Gazelle lied down on the mat in order to foal Eowyn (which, however, slide down toward the rocks). In my opinion, there is nothing better.

In the large stable there are the mats without fastening on the floor, they slide however almost not at all. The blood and the “mess” from the birth we simply rinsed off – and clean was the mat. We decided to create several singular lying surfaces rather than one continuous unit. The reason to that is that no horse lies down in the corner. Additionally, the horses urinate also on the mats; with this method it is easier to pick them up individually and clean them instead of taking apart the entire union of the installed stables.

In my opinion, the mats are comparable with the so called soft beds –just not as expensive. Although, they are not as thick, thy have a very good isolating effect, similar while going camping with an Isomatte. They yield easily and are gently to joints and tendons. The price range for one mat is by about € 80- 90 (depends on the quantity of mats); for the lying surface of a normal horse you would need 2 mats. After getting used to you can usually even skip the bedding.

Questions regarding to the mats I answer gladly and also initiate the contact to Hofmeister.