Creating a small turnout area - questions re size and field mats

[little_flea]

We are thinking of creating two turnout pens as our winter fields occasionally shut with mud and rain. Although not ideal, it will be better than keeping the horses in.

What size do you think a pen for one horse would need to be? Horses are all ridden daily so it is more for them to stretch their legs a bit and maybe have a roll etc. Do you reckon 10x5m (50m2) would be at all sufficient? (I know that for them to canter safely it would have to be 30m long and we just can't do that).

Our fields are clay and get horribly muddy so I think we have to put something down to counteract this. However, rubber field mats for an area of 100m2 will be really expensive as they seem to be around £20 for 1.5m2. There does seem to be an option of grass matts/mesh which come on a roll and are cheaper - any idea if that would work? Do we need any underlay/membrane?

The pens would probably only be used for a few hours a day and we are not worried about a bit of mud - just not the really deep tendon-blowing type…

Any ideas, experiences, recommendations and thoughts of cost MUCH appreciated!

 

[nativetyponies]

i do this..2 times the size of their stables..so if yours is 12 x 12 then do 24 x 24

 

[Honey08]

We have thick clay too, and can't use the land in winter without chronic mudrash. We have a 30x15 area that has had hardcore put down years ago and it has grassed over. Obviously the grass gets eaten and scuffed up really quickly, but we put hay down for them to pick at, and some of it gets trodden in, so mixes in with the mud, and helps a bit. It keeps us going over winter, and we turnout two at a time in this. They love just having a buck about.

We do use grass mats in places on this area, but if the mud is deep they just sink..

Good luck. I know what winter is like with clay fields!x

 

[little_flea]

We have thick clay too, and can't use the land in winter without chronic mudrash. We have a 30x15 area that has had hardcore put down years ago and it has grassed over. Obviously the grass gets eaten and scuffed up really quickly, but we put hay down for them to pick at, and some of it gets trodden in, so mixes in with the mud, and helps a bit. It keeps us going over winter, and we turnout two at a time in this. They love just having a buck about.

We do use grass mats in places on this area, but if the mud is deep they just sink..

Good luck. I know what winter is like with clay fields!x

But surely they will still make the horses sink a BIT less than if the mats weren't there? Which type of mats did you go for and how much did it cost, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[*hic*]

IMHO you've left it too late for grass mats this year as they will work best if they are installed on hardish ground and the grass allowed to grow through them. When they are established they won't sink with every footfall.

I found mine on the internet for £10 per !.5m2 mat. They were "seconds" in that they were not up to scratch for cushioning in children's playgrounds - the "bounce" hadn't been checked.

If you end up going for a very small area - which is what mine used to have - then if you can obtain an offcut of Terram (weedproofing membrane) and about 10 inches of woodchips you can make a very serviceable playpen for them with little cost.

 

[mtj]

I've got grass mats on my gateways on heavy clay. Laid on hard ground and grass established.

They do help, but as the ground gets softer, they do not prevent mud and break with movement.

Personally, I would go for hardcore or the membrane and wood chip option.

 

[little_flea]

IMHO you've left it too late for grass mats this year as they will work best if they are installed on hardish ground and the grass allowed to grow through them. When they are established they won't sink with every footfall.

I found mine on the internet for £10 per !.5m2 mat. They were "seconds" in that they were not up to scratch for cushioning in children's playgrounds - the "bounce" hadn't been checked.

If you end up going for a very small area - which is what mine used to have - then if you can obtain an offcut of Terram (weedproofing membrane) and about 10 inches of woodchips you can make a very serviceable playpen for them with little cost.

Yep, I realise it is late in the year, but for various reasons it hasn't happened yet.. do you think it will just not work if we do it now? Could Terram or similar membrane be used under rubber mats? Maybe the cost would just be hideous.

I just can't bear another winter where my poor horse has to stay in because of the stupid rain and the stupid muddy fields being in a valley so they never drain!

 

[little_flea]

Don't think we'd be allowed to put down wood chip or hard core. What is the reason for needing wood chip on top of the membrane, does it not allow for any grass or mud to come through at all (so is slippery and plasticky)?

 

[*hic*]

Don't think we'd be allowed to put down wood chip or hard core. What is the reason for needing wood chip on top of the membrane, does it not allow for any grass or mud to come through at all (so is slippery and plasticky)?

The membrane is as slippery as woven plastic feed sacks, it should allow nothing to grow up through it but will allow water to drain away. It helps keep the woodchip out of the ground. The woodchip provides a soft surface that has a chance of being dry on top. I've got a smallish riding arena (17m x 35m) done like this. The advantage for me was the if the planners get arsey about it I can rip the whole lot up easily - it's all above ground, no drainage or anything.

If you are doing a small area (multiples of stables) it could easily be put down and taken up and the woodchip used as mulch somewhere if there was any fuss. I first did it with Easibed when I had a pony that couldn't be out at grass and couldn't be stabled - we made him an Easibed on sacks "stable" outside with sacking covered hurdles as walls. The Easibed woodchip kept him clean and dry when he lay down and it worked really well.

 

[little_flea]

Thanks for your advice.

 

[Honey08]

Sorry for the slow reply.

I'm not sure what type of grass mats they are - they were just called grass mats, and I bought them online when I ordered the mats for the stables. I guess they would help a bit perhaps, but not much. We just literally dug up two of the mats this weekend to move. They'd been in two years, and were inches down - right on top of the hardcore, so if that hadn't been there I don't know how far down they'd be! They were originally put on top of the grass, not the hardcore. We had some stable mats left over, and we use them for walkways, and they don't bed in as much, but would get slippy if a big area that horses would trot on...

We're not allowed to put hardcore down either according to planning, but to be honest they never check, and I can't see the difference in a field of unsightly mud, and black road planeings that go into the mud...