Anyone turn out on a concrete yard

[Polos Mum]

My new place has a huge (0.1 acre/ 3600 2feet according to google maps) concrete yard onto which the stables open. It slopes gently and has a drain in the middle
As it looks like winter is finally on it's way, I'm debating whether you could turn horses out on the yard, hay in piles around the place, water trough out there.
3 of my 4 are over 20 y/o so staying in stables doesn't really do their joints any good, but then again neither does sloshing around in deep mud (and I don't want to trash the fields) so just mulling over whether it could be a large outdoor turnout.

Any pros or cons? I've seen indoor barns work really well for barn turnout but not sure outside would work as well?

 

[Abby-Lou]

I turnout on to scalpings no problem haynets and water and get urned out on to grass 2hrs a day

 

[BraidedTail]

I do -only daytime though - only thing i can think off offhand is there's nowhere for them to wee if they don't like doing it on a hard surface. Mine has a grassy bit on it but you could put some straw/shavings down if that's a problem, or leave stables open.
Edit - probably should add; mine are out at grass overnight.

 

[Spring Feather]

On my old yard back in England I built pens coming off each individual stable onto the concrete turnout area. I used them when we had days and days of rain. The horses all still had access to their stables and it worked well for temporary periods throughout the worst of the winters. I personally wouldn't put more than one horse out on concrete though unless they were in individual pens as concrete can be slippery, even if like mine it is laid ridged, and horses being horses would be bound to bicker and fall and injure themselves

 

[Meowy Catkin]

I'd get a hay feeder and put the hay in that rather than put piles of hay out.

ETA - SF is right, concrete can be very slippy, so be aware of that. The area might be too big to cover with stable mats.

 

[dollyanna]

A yard near me does, though they have a barn as well so can be in or out, but you do have to stay on top of keeping the concrete clean otherwise it really gets mucky and manky. I would do the same as you and put hay either in piles or feeders around the edge so they can choose where to stand and move around more - standing on concrete for hours eating won't do old bones any more good than standing in a stable. And make sure they have good shelter somewhere, even just leaving stables open for them to wander in if they wish.

 

[GinaGeo]

Part of my boys winter turnout is the concrete yard, they also have a hard cored bit of yard, a road planed track a mud patch and fully bedded stables. They often opt to stand in the mud patch The concrete is ridged though and they can't get any speed up on that bit of the yard!

 

[Ceriann]

My older mare was kept on one for a short period a couple of years ago when I was between yards - she hated it and seemed quite sore but I think combined with grass turnout it can be a godsend.

 

[bakewell]

Just a quick point that if the concrete doesn't have the additive to prevent it, animal urine can cause serious degradation of the surface.

 

[Booboos]

I have hard standing for my lot so they can get off the mud (they live put 24/7 and they hay feeders and shelters are on the hard standing) but it's make out of hardcore with a sand blinding layer so it doesn't slip. I would worry about concrete being too slippery to be honest.

 

[Polos Mum]

It was the slipping that bothered me, there is loads of cover, along one side the stables have a huge over hang and loads of places to tie up hay so that's no issue I hadn't thought that hard concrete would be so uncomfortable - but of course it would - maybe I'll roll out a round bale of straw down one side and then just let them out one by one for a leg stretch so there is less silliness.

The fields may hold up - not been here for a winter yet so no idea about the ground, just thinking ahead. It's probably pointless because if three are in the stables the other one will just stay with them!

 

[Wheels]

Mine are out in the field most of the time but when it's very wet they come into the yard, they have access to their stables with rubber mats and full shavings beds and haynets and then several haynets at various parts around the yard too. This set up works for us but after a few days they do need to go and let off some steam so they either go into the field every couple of days for a blast or I turn them out on the school for a short time. Usually by the time they've had a bit of a chase about for 20 mins they're ready to come back into the yard for food and a snooze.

The last few winters it has been an absolute godsend, I don't know how I would get through winter without it. My field was waterlogged on Thursday so they came in but they're back out today

Edited to add - mine are all happy to share the concrete pad, I've even found the three of them all in one stable before lol. They don't tend to slip on the concrete, horses have a great sense of self preservation

 

[Honey08]

We turn our two out on a road planings turnout alongside the concrete yard. I don't mind them trotting around on the chip pings, but would be a bit worried about slipping on a large expanse of concrete. Usually they're pretty sensible and are aware of slipping. Your yard does sound huge, so I'd perhaps section it smaller initially and put big bales around to be stood around perhaps? A decent winter hard standing is worth it's weight in gold when you've got it all worked out.

 

[Slave2Magic]

Ours are turned out on a hardcore yard with open stables. We have large boxes for haylage and they go on the field when its dry. It is actually really good with the fields so wet at the moment and the horses are really chilled.

 

[catroo]

Did this last winter, not such a large area and my four aren't shod. I left the stables open which were fully matted with a small bed down, haynets in various places inside and out and then I put a chipped bark down on half the yard so somewhere soft to stand if they want to be outside.

To save grazing and prepare for another wet Winter I started it this time last year, they did 36 hrs on the yard then 36 hrs out, doing this early meant the fields never got too bad and I had very good grass in the spring with minimal re seeding needed around gateways.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

Just a quick point that if the concrete doesn't have the additive to prevent it, animal urine can cause serious degradation of the surface.

I have never heard of this, and I used to grant aid farm buildings, the concrete was all from ready mix, no additives were specified.

 

[Nudibranch]

You do need to watch for slipping when its icy or very frosty. We have a barn with attached concrete yard, but the yard is not a safe option if there is any ice at all. However its ideal for dry standing and easy to keep clean.

 

[Spring Feather]

Just a quick point that if the concrete doesn't have the additive to prevent it, animal urine can cause serious degradation of the surface.

Yes this is true. When I had my yard laid thankfully the groundswork company knew this and the concrete was laid to horse spec grade. Our yard was large and also had re-bars to reinforce the area.

 

[Sugarplum Furry]

I learnt my lesson about turning out on a concrete yard some years back. My horse had mud fever so I left him loose on a concrete yard with access to a barn so his legs could dry out. He had a silly 5 minutes, slipped on the concrete, went over on his side, all four of his legs went through the bars of the metal farm gate, he rolled over and took the gate off it's hinges and ended up on his back with the gate stuck on top of him. It all happened in seconds and took nearly an hour and five people to get him free. His legs were a complete mess, it took 3 months for him to recover and I completely blame myself. So no, I wouldn't ever turn out on a concrete yard without at least having first put down a thick layer of some sort of bedding..and boarding up the gate.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

Friends horse is on a yard where in the winter they only have four concrete areas to turn out on as feilds are bogs. The own opens up and lays out about three big bales of straw for them to walk on to minimize slipping etc.

 

[Polos Mum]

Thanks all, sounds like it's not really going to work - seems such a waste of a big area but no point them sliding over and there is a slope to it.

Back to the drawing board - a well made road plainings area will remain on my wish list !

 

[Patchworkpony]

a well made road plainings area will remain on my wish list !

This is my dream - but a bit worried about planning permission. I do wonder if all the people on this thread who use a hard base bothered to get permission or whether they just went ahead and did it anyway.

 

[Ceriann]

We are still waiting for planning for three bays and a decent sized hard standing area (hardcore etc as opposed to concrete) after applying more than 3 months ago. Planning isn't interested in the hard standing, just the bays (and they are suffering massive delays at the planning dep) and as we have already got to the point where we won't get this done this year we've had the gate way, round the fence and a small section done in the field. This will give us a small section for feeding and water etc which is dry (we're on clay so suffered badly last year). We were told we didn't need planning for the bits we've been done but it's probably worth checking before you do anything.

 

[BeingKate]

brilliant idea - much better than stood in stables all day and nice for them to have some air. Just be careful of ice in the winter

 

[Honey08]

Could you rope off some of it somehow, so it becomes a track round the outside and put obstacles such as big bales of hay for them to eat in the middle of long straits so that they can't run?

Ps, re hardcore planings, no we didn't get pp, they would have said no by default around here. It doesn't show up at all, it's the same colour as mud and grows grass on it in summer!

OP could a layer of road planings be tipped on top and spread at one end? It would clean off with a tractor bucket, I expect, if you needed it put back to concrete.

Another idea is if part of it is under cover put down straw and deep littler it all winter, let them out on that, then scrape out with a tractor in summer. The horses where I did my AI all went out in barns with a system like that at night, and were stabled by day.

 

[RunToEarth]

No, like other say it is very slippy, but also it would look a real mess.

 

[skint1]

My mare and her friend are turned out on their concrete yard, but they have free access to a massive double (or maybe triple) sized stable with straw down for weeing on etc. We tie haynets up around the yard and have water buckets at various points to encourage movement When it's icy we spread grit or straw down on the yard, I guess it does look a mess, but they're happy and not bothering anyone.

 

[Patchworkpony]

We are still waiting for planning for three bays and a decent sized hard standing area (hardcore etc as opposed to concrete) after applying more than 3 months ago. Planning isn't interested in the hard standing, just the bays (and they are suffering massive delays at the planning dep) and as we have already got to the point where we won't get this done this year we've had the gate way, round the fence and a small section done in the field. This will give us a small section for feeding and water etc which is dry (we're on clay so suffered badly last year). We were told we didn't need planning for the bits we've been done but it's probably worth checking before you do anything.

When you say they are not interested in the hard standing area and the small section in the field why is that and how big would that area be approx? It would be very helpful to know - thank you.

 

[horsefeed]

I have a herd of 5 that live on a yard with a double field shelter. Yard is 30x30ft, they have round bale of hay in feeder and self filling water trough, I poo pick daily and its much better then stabling works really well.

 

[TigerTail]

Id use it in a flash - horses aren't stupid they know how greasy a surface is.

I wouldn't use it with shoes mind as they will skid more than barefoot but Id kill for a concrete yard to dry their feet out on and help self trim!