Kyalami horse hotel trials revolutionary stable tiles from tyre recycler Mathe Group

The South Lawn Horse Hotel, essentially an Airbnb for horses and riders, not only provides accommodation close to South Africa's premier equestrian venue, the Kyalami Equestrian Park, but is trialling a revolutionary flooring system made from recycled radial truck tyres.  

“We call it a horse hotel where well-behaved humans are allowed,” says owner Mark Lloyd-Fox. In addition to providing elegant suites and stylish amenities for riders and owners, South Lawn also accommodates grooms and offers spacious stables for steeds – a significant improvement on the small, noisy and stressful facilities at the nearby show grounds.

A stable solution

Unlike in countries like the United States where stable floors are frequently sand and easily drain away fluids like urine and water, local stable floors are or tend to be hard concrete which can be cold, unhealthy and even potentially dangerous for horses. The conventional rubber sheets that are used – sometimes made from used conveyor belts – are expensive and easily damaged.

As Lloyd-Fox explains, horses weigh up to 900 kilograms, have high centres of gravity and rest on just four metal shod hooves. This level of pressure, plus the fact that the more conventional rubber coverings are easily pawed up by animals that spend up to 16 hours inside a stable, make upkeep extremely expensive.

Within as little as two to three months, they can become damaged beyond repair.

Dense rubber floor tiles, made from rubber crumb produced by Hammarsdale-based truck tyre recycler Mathe Group, offers a far more durable solution.  

“The Van Dyck rubber tiles have a dense molecular structure where each tile is molecularly intertwined and extremely durable resulting in a premium product for this purpose. They are much like the original tyres which can handle tens of thousands of journeys over very abrasive surfaces at speed before wearing down,” Lloyd-Fox explains. 

The tiles are heavy with the 20 mm ones each weighing 19kgs and the 25 mm versions, 23 kilograms.

Mathe Group had been producing pavers and rubber flooring tiles for gyms, use in playgrounds and in other agricultural applications when Lloyd-Fox discovered the nearby company five years ago.

Coming unstuck

Plentiful amounts of expensive contact adhesive were used to stick the original tiles to stable floors.

The gaps between the 1m x 1m tiles were then filled with rubber silicon – but they lifted within two or three months as horse urine and faeces penetrated the gaps and degraded the adhesive.  

Together with Nicholas Morgans, known in the industry as a natural horseman, Lloyd-Fox began working on alternative ways of installing them together with Mathe Group CEO, Dr Mehran Zarrebini.

“We’ve welded one tile to the other using a process called cold vulcanising. This entails the application of a rubber solution to the sides of each tile. The substance penetrates the rubber and creates a bond, joining one tile to another. I've tried to break this apart, and I can't,” he says.

The tiles do not have to be stuck down any longer as gravity holds the heavy welded tile combination in place on the stable floor.  

In addition, he recommends that the vulcanizing solution is applied along the length of the join in the tile, once the entire floor is laid, the different values and gaps become evident, and an application of a water-based enamel sealant can be applied.

The sealant covering the floor can be renewed every 3 to 5 years.    

Basically, we have made the product to fit the use and taken how it has been manufactured and laid.

Although it is still early days, the partnership is investigating setting up a design and install service that will enable people to purchase the tiles and then hire fitters to tailor-make them to the size of their stables. The tiles can be cut to fit with bespoke elements such as rubber skirtings and rubber wall tiles available to offer further protection to horses that risk injury should they kick out whilst inside their stables.

During this initial research and development phase Lloyd-Fox says the new installation technique is proving to be less expensive in consumable products and has much improved the adhesive based alternative.

The business proposition – becoming known as Van Dyck Design and Install or VDDI – will now investigate the training and appointment of expert fitters. 

Already the fledgling operation is receiving numerous enquiries. “People want to purchase the product but also want to know how to put it down. As long-standing users, hopefully we’ve addressed that and come up with a solution that makes a lot of sense,” he says.