Creating a winter turnout pen - what is the cheapest way to cover/reduce mud and create a decent 15 x 15m winter turnout pen

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amyjnes109

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Currently on a private yard with our own field. We had little grass this summer as the fields where used throughout last winter so we are looking to pen off an area at the front of the field to be used as a winter trash pen for our 2 cobs and let the rest of the field rest for next spring. the mud isn't too deep but obviously dont want them standing in mud 24/7 so i have been looking into ways to cover this area/some of the area.

I initially looked into woodchip but have seen that it requires a lot of maitenance and needs to be dug out eventually as it will create a mud pit. Grass mats are just too out of my price range for the area i'd like to cover. I saw a tiktok of someone using old astro turf cutoffs and covering the muddiest parts with this. I was also looking into road planings but i can imagine that wont be great for their feet unless covered up with something on top. I'm completely new to field management and just looking for some tips and tricks on what would be the best way to cover the surface whilst also keeping the price down. Any suggestions?

Thanks guys :)
 
I have planings. They’ve gone hard now so work really well and I can even sweep the area. The best time to lay them is probably in the spring, but they compact quickly in high traffic areas.

A friend got some and they were quite big and like stones, where mine was a big lorry load and more like gravel in size.
 
You could hire a digger for a weekend and organise a few loads of small rubble/hardcore/planings/slig - any hard stone bits that squash and knit together to form a flat packed hard surface when the digger is driven over it.

Or get a ‘man with digger’ who hires his machine out and does the work, if youre not comfortable operating a mini digger.

woodchip is good, but if its put onto already boggy muddy areas, will rot down faster. Its cheaper as you can spread it by wheelbarrow/shovel/rake without needing machinery hire.
Forestry operations/sawmills will supply large truck loads of large piece fir-tree wood chip - that takes much longer to rot down than willow/birch/oak etc small woodchip.
The TYPE and size of wood chip makes all the difference to how long it lasts. Fir tree large pieces last years but deciduous trees wood chip will rot within the year, form moulds etc.

I used 1 inch rubber mats, doubled-up so i had 2 inches of tough rubber mats 1mx1m size, interlocking laid design, as a pathway across muddy land. Within the first week horses walking or trotting over it caused the mats to bend and become poached, and flipping over, mis-shapen. I was astounded how quickly they got wrecked, laid on soft ground. I re-laid them hoping the horses would get used to being more careful on them, but no! Simply their weight combined with soft undersoil beneath the mats, cause the rubber path to be very mis-shapen, and ultimately dangerous, especially after rains and the soil beneath getting softer.
So i wouldnt use astroturf on soft soil prone to bogginess when it gets wet. Its no stronger than carpet and will just be twisted and mashed-in, flipped-up after wet weather or them hooning around on it.

If money is tight at the mo, i would go for 6-8 inch woodchip layer, with a view to saving a bit to get some hardcore laid for future winters if you plan to stay at the yard/and get owners permission.
 
When you say private yard, do you mean your own private yard, owned by you?
I know they are pricey but mud control mats are very good, and you can move them if you need to.
A friend had some plastic grid mats laid, filled with stone, but I don't think she uses it all the time, just for shorter turnout times
 
I used 20mm to dust over larger limestone chippings and a membrane. Then compacted woth a roller. I've got a 35m x 15m area and it cost about £6000 to do. So not cheap.
 
We love our mud control mats. You don't need planning permission, which you do for planings/hardcore (although many people don't bother,) and you can take them with you when you go.
 
Mud control mats count as temporary so no planning needed. Not cheap though.

We pulled a small section up at the weekend because that particular gateway isn't used now and the grass had grown well through them. They'd really protected the soil underneath

I'm not sure digging out the area and laying drainage and a surface would be any cheaper.
 
I have mud control slabs in a gateway but both boys find them a bit slippery even with earth over them. They have mostly learned not to gallop over them, though. If you lay them as a yard you're supposed to put a decent amount of sand on them, which adds to the expense. In an ideal world I'd dig out and put down limestone or crushed brick with sand over. I didn't get on with planings in the main yard (they balled up in one pony's feet and the flat-footed cushings boy found them ouchy at times) and have had to cover with rubber mats, which was a pain.
 
Depends how active your horses are, plus how removable the surface has to be. I have created a loafing area outside the old cob's stable just for him, using scaffolding mesh as a base (the stuff that is used to surround scaffolding at height) with a foot depth of bark chippings on top. The mesh stops it sinking, but it does need replacing every couple of years or so and wouldn't stand up to a playful herd. The path to our muckheap is across a field, which gets very muddy. Old carpet laid pile side down, with rubber mat offcuts on top has worked brilliantly, and stands up to horses plodding up and down it too. Tarmac planings are the best, but would be the devil to remove if you had to leave and restore the ground back to grass.
 
If you’re in a bind, carpet worked well for us. Does need lifting in the spring but can be used again the following winter. Bit slippery in frost (like mud control mats in that respect).
 
Probably rubber mats,can always be lifted and sold later,we stoned our turnout area and gateways,but on rented land its not cost effective. Mud control mats can be used but are expensive
 
Pearlsasinger said:
We love our mud control mats. You don't need planning permission, which you do for planings/hardcore (although many people don't bother,) and you can take them with you when you go.
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Landowners can legally use a certain amount of plantings and hardcore each year on tracks gateways and standings I don’t remember exactly but we can do all the stuff we need to do in gateways our small hard standing on tracks the tracks in the woods within this .
Planings although excellent are now harder to get as they can recycle them straight back onto the roads in many circumstances.
The question is more will the owner allow OP to do this as I would not in their shoes want a botched standing put in to deal with later .
15 by 15 is very small and it will need to be very well made .
The best thing might be in the circumstances to lay a cheap membrane with wood chip on top .
When and if it needs removing it would be easy enough to drag out the membrane scoop away most of the chips with a tractor bucket and compost them,
those remaining would disappear naturally over time .
I think grass mats are the best solution in this circumstance despite the higher initial outlay.
 
i have done 2 pens about 10 x 12m (only for small ponies) with mud control mats,surrounded by railway sleepers and topped with sharp sand and arena fibre.

cost me £1800 total from memory.
 
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