Access: Slippery railway sleepers

[GREYSMEADOW]

Can anyone recommend me something to put down on slippery railway sleepers which is used by two horses as a bridge to access the bottom fields over a narrow stream (which can flood at times).

I have run out of summer grazing so I opened up the bottom field, but my 26yo and 6yo have decided to gallop over it, so I have banned (before there is an accident) their access until I have found a suitable solution for a non-slip surface.

Was thinking about some sort of roofing felt stuck down but I think they will rip that up. Rubber matting will get wet and slippery. Bitumen and gritty/mot type surface perhaps.


Ideas would be really useful.

Many thanks.

 

[Gloi]

Chicken wire is sometimes used, stapled down to the sleepers.

 

[Clodagh]

Chicken wire? That is what I have seen on sleeper bridges out hunting. Although I worry that their nails might catch in it.
Or maybe those mats you put down in gateways, with holes for the grass to grow through? You could tie them on.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

sand as short term. we have a footbridge made from sleepers (and girders so strong enough for horses) and that has chicken wire over it which helps-they don't have free access to it mind and mine are all unshod but shod horses have been left over it. It can still be very slippy in the frost though.

 

[Sunshine]

Screw 1/2 in wooden batons along the top so that it looks a bit like a box ramp or use the same ramp carpet screwed down firmly?

Or could you frame the edges with timber batons and fill with sand or gravel?

 

[OrangePepper]

Roughen the surface of the sleepers by sanding with course grade sand paper.

 

[GREYSMEADOW]

Thanks for your replies. Was thinking about those grass mats too.
They are both shod and so chicken wire is a no no.
Was also thinking about the safety rubber you house cables for health and safety purposes in the office which could be stuck down like slats across the railway slippers.

 

[*hic*]

Mix floor paint with sand and paint on. Gives a surprisingly durable finish. Do not use ramp rubber, it's designed to give a grip on a sloping surface and can be terribly slippery on the flat and of course the foot is only stopped in one direction. Rubber grass mats would be a better bet.

 

[Fransurrey]

Chicken wire is sometimes used, stapled down to the sleepers.

Seen this used lots of times and it works very well. Have tried it on foot and on horseback.

 

[khalswitz]

This may be a stupid suggestion, but why not fence off the sleepers if they are slippy, and let the horses jump/wade through the stream? I have a reasonably wide stream running through my horse's field, and whilst we have some stepping stones, the horses just walk through/jump it when they're loose in the field.

 

[GREYSMEADOW]

This may be a stupid suggestion, but why not fence off the sleepers if they are slippy, and let the horses jump/wade through the stream? I have a reasonably wide stream running through my horse's field, and whilst we have some stepping stones, the horses just walk through/jump it when they're loose in the field.

The sleepers are there permanently as need tractor or emergency access to both fields. At the moment they have access to their stables 24/7 so don't want to shut them in the field just yet.

 

[GREYSMEADOW]

The batons are a good idea - thanks. Can't put sand or gravel down as when it rains heavily the sleepers can become submerged in water.