Set amongst a four-acre reserve with room to roam, the old sandy roads and hunt trails extend into 65 miles of marked trails across the 2000-acre Hitchcock Woods.Sounds simply marvellous and pretty affordable too; Stalls with light bedding are available for $25 per night.

Email tcinn@bellsouth.net for more details. It’s just a shame that it’s on another continent.

For hotel style equine luxury a little closer to home, why not pamper your pet with one of these 100% high quality non-porous rubber stable mats?

Far comfier than a cold hard floor and providing additional warmth and insulation in the winter months, this quality stable matting offers an embossed top surface for additional grip to reduce slipping and provide underfoot cushioning too.

At £33.99, we think it’s worth the saving of a few airfares! For more options, visit www.stable-mats.com.

A new steaming product is on the market called Haygain, which kills the spores within hay instead of simply soaking them as a way to control the toxic bacteria.

The Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester helped develop and test the product, finding 7.75 million spores on a single gram of untreated good-quality hay and on an equivalent weight of hay treated by Haygain there was found to be none!

Impressive stuff, but you can improve conditions further by ensuring a ventilated environment and by using a rubber stable mat.

Stablemats are dust-free for a healthier stabled environment, and this 100% high quality non-porous rubber mat provides an embossed top surface for additional grip to reduce slipping. Pretty handy for only £33.99.

By using stable matting, you’ll find several key benefits; whether it’s the long-term cost savings from reduced bedding costs, or the reduction in labour for speedy mucking out sessions.

Furthermore, fitting rubber equestrian bedding provides great support for standing horses, while being soft enough for underfoot cushioning. For more information, visit www.stable-mats.com.

The family of travellers owned Spindle Farm where 32 horse carcasses were found, with some having been burnt on a bonfire.

Horses stood crammed, terrified to move, malnourished and ankle deep in faeces while carcasses of dead horses surrounded them when the RSPCA intervened in January 2008.

In total 114 horses had been subject to neglect at the hands of the family, for which the son James Gray has received an 18-month supervision order and has been banned from keeping equines for a decade.  His father, also named James Gray, is awaiting sentence.

“This case was distressing beyond measure. The smell of rotting flesh was overpowering. It’s really distressing to see dead and live horses together, quite horrific“, said RSPCA inspector, Kirsty Hampton.

In what the RSPCA are calling the worst case of animal cruelty they’ve ever encountered, the 12 week long trial appears to be allowing justice to prevail. It is due to the extreme nature of the case that the court saw fit to lift the anonymity restrictions imposed due to James Gray’s age.

Be kind and keep your horse’s stable environment in tip-top condition, with the addition of a hygiene friendly rubber stable mat. An array of options is available from www.stable-mats.com, but this one’s a firm favourite.

A quality non-porous 100% rubber surface, that’s designed to withstand heavy-duty wear and tear, and is easy to clean and install.

Suitable for stall floors, ramps and stable walkways, the ribbed surface provides additional grip for increased underfoot safety, and offers a comfortable ‘anti-fatigue’ standing surface that provides a supportive environment for horses.