Barefoot horses and hardstanding - HELP please!

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Spanish Eyes

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Sorry, yet another "what's the best hardstanding" thread.

After 5 years of almost constant rain, I have thrown in the towel and started building a turnout area to winter the horses in. I need an area for them to dry their feet off, and for things like Farrier visits.

So far, we have had a digger dig out the mud, down to a solid sub-soil level, and had tonnes of stone laid on top - we now have a gloriously dry area:D

What would be best to lay on top?

I have read numerous threads, and the consensus seems to be MOT Type 1 or road planings. When I contacted the local supplier, he thought MOT Type 1 would be too hard for horses' feet (it looks pretty rubbish too as its the crushed concrete type), and suggested laying sand instead (approx the same price) Road planings seem to be more difficult to get hold of, and I am concerned that as the horses are barefoot, the tiny stones might cause abscesses.

If I went for sand, I presume I would need to put a membrane down first, but can that be done over the rocky stone:confused:

Honestly, I am going round and round in circles with this one - I just really really want to get it right..................HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
You would need to put a fair bit of sand down ontop of the membrane, We have a hardcore hardstanding, not road planings but not the big chunky stones either, laid it then rolled over it with the JCB to flatten it about 5/6 years ago and its never moved but you can dig at it and the horses still seem to trot over it :) Not slidey at all either. only thing is you cant really sweep all the hay up so does look messy sometimes, Id imagine sand would be the same :o
 
Tiny stones are not an issue. I have some fairly large areas of hardstanding with 2mm grit on it. It used to be my arena surface. If I was making an area from scratch I would use road planings as they are not only really good on the feet and drain really well, but they are also the cheapest aggregate you can get. If you see any roadworks being done near you, you can go directly to the work gang and ask them to deliver straight to you.

MOT makes into almost concrete in summer and can be very dusty. I use it for paths, but nothing else.

I would definitely not use sand - dusty in summer, freezes solid in winter.
 
Sand is awful when it freezes, you get a really pocketed uneven surface. Another vote her for road planings-having tried both and just removed the sand!
 
Pea gravel would be my first choice - road planings second :) Id be using double membrane and thinking about making a carport type affair - if you use the clear corrugated plastic its ace as lets the light in so easier to work under if its raining.

Sand would defeat the point for me as its wet and messy just a different colour to mud!
 
I wouldn't use sand myself, it can soon get compacted, boggy and yucky. Small round gravel (preferably pea gravel) but deepish is good but make sure the stones are round and small enough to fall through a shavings fork. :D I don't know what MOT is but I've used crush and run in the past and that worked well as it compacted and left a level firm surface. I haven't used road planings myself but have heard the bitumin ones can potentially cause problems.
ps. Smallish stones on a hard surface are the most difficult surface if not deep enough to 'give' imo.
 
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