rubber matting as bedding for my horse

Question
hello Lyn. i cannot afford to buy bedding for my horse. here in India, rice hulls and straw is available. there is no one to muck out my stall and lay the few dry bedding. so, i would like to buy rubber matting where i need to change it. it lasts longer. how is my idea?

Answer
Rohit,
 
Sorry I can't go along with using simply rubber mats as bedding for a horse.  It has not absorbancy.  The urine will simply puddle on the rubber mat. You can get away with a lot less bedding on mats but you still need enough to soak up the urine. And all I can say about mucking is that it's your responsibility as the horse's owner/care taker.  Either do it yourself or you have to pay to get it done.  If it means getting up early or getting home late or giving up something else then that's what you have to do.  You took on the ownership of a living animal and it's up to you to take care of it.  And the animal deserves better than living in a disgusting mess.  I have taken care of my horses for many years even though they are boarded on a farm.  I have 2 special needs ponies, one is 30 and I have had him for 23 yrs.  He's an old, dear friend.  I also have a 25 yr. old Shetland.  Both of them can  no longer eat hay or grass so I have to feed them a mush of hay cubes, beet pulp and a high fiber feed three times a day.  It has complicated my life at times trying to find someone to feed lunch for me because I have something I need to do.  But it's a part of horse ownership.  

Sorry, getting a little preachy on you there.