hard standing area for the wet winter ahead...

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lucy1984

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can anyone tell me what to use? is different size gravel ok? and where i could get it from?

So I don't have to dig any soil up, if it is layed thick enough straight onto grass, is this ok?

(I'm hoping that the lady who rents me the field will let me lay some around the field shelter, where they will be fed hay, and down to the water trough!)
 
i think you would be wasting your money im afraid. it will just go into the mud eventually with no drainage or terram (sp) what about rubber mats. there is a mat designed to go on grass to stop it getting muddy
 
China's right. Gravel will disappear into the mud, and can cause a lot of foot problems, esp in older or unshod horses. Try the grass mats or, if all else fails, we once used old carpet - not beautiful, but it worked.
 
As someone who keeps horses in a literal bog, I can tell you that the grass mat things don't work either. Well, not for me anyway!

Unless you have a thick carpet of grass now, and lay them on top, so the grass has time to grow through and settle.... they will just sink into the mire and disappear, which is what mine did! I bought the rubbery holey stuff, like which you can buy for door mats.

Next try was laying a material membrane and shop bought paving slabs. Slightly more luck with these, except they gradually sunk, and also, a random scattering of slabs was useless as if any horse moved at speed over them, they flicked up and/or snapped. They're very slippery too, so needed the holey matting stuff over the top, which eventually broke up and sunk once again!

This year I have dug the mud by hand from the gateway, and have laid 1/2ft - 1ft deep of stone. 'Type 1' I think it's called.... followed by a membrane, then sand, with slabs on top. I had 45 heavy duty ex-council slabs which weigh a ton and seem to be unbreakable, and have also made another 45 of a slightly smaller size, but thicker than you can buy in the shops, so that hopefully they won't snap.

Have concreted the whole lot in.... and am just waiting for the rainy season to see how it goes!!
 
hi, my two horses are kept outside in approx 2 acres divided into three grass paddocks and a large hard standing with open field shelter.during winter or wet weather they are kept off the grass.the hard standing is tar road plainings which i think was 7 pounds per ton delivered in 20 ton lorries.speak to any local authority road workers who will deliver them for you.once this is laid quite thick and rolled you have the perfect surface! i have been very pleased with it
 
In Norway most owners have a hard standing, my old one at the old farm was quite roomy with entrance to the barn for shelter which was rubber matted out.

The new farm will have the sand school which I will turn out in and a smaller side paddock with sand so my mahhoosive horse and the laminitic prone Welsh A can have haylage separately. Also I can move the one in the smaller sand paddock when the school is in use.

I will not be using my fields at all as soon as winter draws in, the only time I will is when they have 20- 50cm of snow covering them. The horses will not go back out on grass until the big snow melt in May, once the fields have completely dried out and the grass is really through. This is the best land management in this type of climate. I learnt the hard way when I first moved here wanting to see my horses running on many acres all year around but in reality that is impossible in this climate.

We just use large gravel covered by road filling gravel which is larger than sand. At the new farm though obviously the school is just sand, with the same sand in the small paddock. If the fields are unused in the first place during the rain period the mud will not churn up, obviously a thick layer of gravel and road filling compacted should be used to avoid churning.
 
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