[Liren]

At previous boarding facilities, the stalls were clay with shavings on top. Horses were kept in half of the day, with the other half being turned out. Over time, the horses wore down ruts in the clay from walking the stall and peeing in the same place over and over. Adding mats helped some, but if the stalls weren't bedded with enough shavings, the urine would seep through the gaps between the mats and puddle under them. Shavings would also work their way in to the gaps and cause bulges. We had to be aware of managing thrush in their hooves, too.

Our barn's stalls have a gravel base with landscaping material then mats then shavings. The stalls have a slight slope from the back to front, as the barn is a shedrow barn. We've also added gravel base to some of the lower stalls so that they sit above the surrounding ground level. This allows any water that may get in to drain out instead of puddling in the stalls. The landscaping material keeps any shavings from getting into the gravel while allowing moisture to pass through into the gravel (unlike a tarp). It also makes it easier to fully strip the stall if needed. It's easy to flip back a mat and the material to even out dips in the gravel as the horses compact it down over time. Cutting the mats to fit tightly does minimize them shifting and allowing shavings to get under them. A utility knife does a good job cutting them.

There are some products out that look like a honeycomb that you lay out and fill with gravel or sand, then top with shavings. A friend is using this and swears by it. Redoing 10 stalls is cost prohibitive for me at this time, especially since I already had all of the mats needed.

I keep my horses in only when it's really nasty weather (20s or below and wet) these days. They're much happier outside after they adjusted to the routine. However, most of my boarders use the stalls for half the day. They all like the stalls the way they're now configured with the extra base gravel and landscaping material.