Is this alright to do in my stable ?

I love questions like this - it shows you are cognizant of the fact that simply riding for years and helping Mom does't mean you know it all. isn't it strange that you can be around them riding for many years, you can help your family for all your life care for horses, yet when you're on your own, it's like you don't remember anything? I think there's a select few who really soak up what they learn and apply it when young. We just hit a certain age where we think and learn differently than we did when young. It's also strange to me when things "click" in my mind - they make sense, then I understand and what I learn sticks with me.

I cannot view the links you provide as my computer is too slow.

But I assume you're talking about the conditions of the stall the horse is kept in? If so, a set of rubber mats on the floor is a good thing - if the mats are on dirt floor, they will move and need to be picked up and the floor cleaned and leveled underneath them once in a while - maybe once a year. The horse's movement of their big body still has an effect on the dirt flooring underneath. If the floor is cement, the mats are really helpful to keep the horse's legs healthy - either way, watch for turned up edges and corners, they cause stumbling and discomfort for the horse - trust me, tripping on the edge of a mat when carrying hay is NOT fun.

Hay and straw are common things to use for bedding - while they do provide an certain amount of cushion, their main purpose is often to soak up moisture - you remove it periodically to remove the moisture. The 'wee' moisture not only is dirty, uncomfortable and nasty, the smell of ammonia can damage a horse's respiratory system - it's said by the time you can smell urine, the horse's system has sustained damage. it's important no matter what you use to keep it clean and dry. I prefer wood shaving or sawdust - you must be cautious if buying from a sawmill to ensure there's no walnut dust - this can kill the horse. If you're buying in bags from a distributor like TSC or a feed store/elevator, it's safe (usually pine). The reason I like shavings better than straw is that shaving are actually absorbent whereas straw will not actually soak up moisture. I find it easier to clean and on rubber mats, provides more traction. I used straw one time on rubber mats and found the horses had a slippery mess - a small amount of sawdust, however provided better footing and was easier to clean.

The horse shouldn't need anything around the bottom of the stall - like hay "barrels?" (not sure what this is) - however, ensure there are no nails or other objects the horse can get hurt on or can get cast on if he should lie down in the stall. If you're unfamiliar with the term 'cast' - it means that a horse can lay down or roll - they can roll and end up against a wall with their feet against it so they can't roll back over or get up - they get stuck. When this has happened to me, I have taken a soft cotton lead rope - not nylon or hemp soft cotton rope - carefully place it around the horse's forelegs or hind legs - which ever are easier to get to - just loop it around the legs do not encircle the legs with it. Give a gentle pull - what you are doing is giving the horse something to push himself back over with, you are not pulling him back over. It's easy to break a leg doing this, so you must be careful. And stay out of the way of his legs - just give him enough support to roll back over and get up.

An idea that might work better to ward off such a circumstance is to use enough sawdust or shavings that you can 'bank it up' around the edges of the stall floor where it meets the walls. Putting a bunch of it in the stall and banking it up will help insure the horse can't cast itself and also you can take out the dirty stuff, pull the clean away from the wall and when the stuff banked around the edges gets used down, put more in around the edges. A big horse farm I once knew of used this method quite successfully.

Congratulations on your new horse! I like the rubber mats, and the wood chips, but I would NOT use the hay bales, at least not in the baled state. The horse could put a hoof through them (and probably WILL) and then have his hoof trapped with a hay bale around it. He would likely panic and hurt himself badly. Why do you feel he needs the bales as bumpers around his stall? Horses have lived in stalls for hundreds of years, and, except for the odd one that likes to roll and get cast, rarely get hurt. If you really feel this horse needs some protection for this, I would either put a lot of the wood chips ( I use shavings) in the stall and bank them up next of the walls. This keeps the horse from rolling over next to the wall and getting caught. if you want to use the hay the same way, that would work too.

I personally would not use hay for bedding. Hay is for horses to eat. Some people use straw for bedding, but even then, I think they have trouble with the horse eating it. You don't want the horse to be eating hay that they have pooped or peed in. Again, the wood chips or shavings would be a bedding that the horse would not be interested in eating.

I'm glad you decided against the hay bales around the walls. As long as your wood shavings are not from a toxic wood, they are fine to use. If the walls of the stall are not reinforced with sturdy wood planks, they should be. You don't want the horse kicking at anything that could break through. There should be sturdy wood planks at least 4 feet up from the floor for ideal safety. Even thick plywood can be kicked through.

Some people put rubber mats on the walls of horses who do a lot of kicking, but it usually isn't necessary. Congratulations and welcome to horse ownership !

It seems fine, but I wouldnt do the thing with the bales. If you bed enough, and actually check to make sure no nails are sticking out of the wall, he should be fine on his own. Although if you are really worried you could put a sheet of that hard plastic stuff, like in trailers, on the wall. But overall he'd be better without the bales. Besides, he'll eat them, hay or straw.

I don't think that you should use the hay bales at the side instead I would use banks at the side. This is where you pile up your bedding at the side. Good luck with the horse.

Hope this helps

I wouldnt do the hay I heard it gets all moldy!its gross lol but everything you wrote sounds!except for the hay bales like the lady said

i would doubt weather the hay bales are necessary you can take them out i don't think he will hurt himself. unless you used corral piping for his stall where his legs could get caught,then my aunt put chip boards on the outside so her horses wouldn't get caught in it

congratulations:>

It sounds like your doing everything right. Make sure that you give him tons of love.

Good Luck :)