New pony advice - please!!

[Meme14]

Hello, thanks for reading my first post.
Can anyone help? We are relatively new to the horse world, and I'm sure ponies are more resilient than what we think! Our little welsh sec a is tramping around in a muddy field at the moment and looks thoroughly cheesed off! At present wee don't have any stables but these will be done in the next few months, in order to cope with the mud we are going to create a dry area using sand on top of a breathable membrane. Various forums state sizes for these areas, but what is the general thought, and how long can you keep a pony in one? Thanks for your help!

 

[putasocinit]

If it was me i would create this area in front of where your stables will eventually be, so depending on how many stables you intend to build, size of yard etc, as long as it drains well no reason why pony cant stop there for a few months, make sure hayed and poo pick, is there natural shelter or could you buy an awning you can fix to the fence that he could get some respite from the rain, just my thoughts, others with better ideas will come along shortly

 

[catroo]

Does the pony have company/how many will be sharing the space? It's great for them to get on dry solid ground regularly but most are perfectly happy in these wet conditions.

I have five (four shetlands & a horse) in an area about 10mx10m plus two large stables (4mx5m) opened up as shelters. They are only kept in this area overnight though as it feels a bit small to do all the time, plus they would start acting up with no room to move around.