Sand / wood chip turnout (and schooling area)

[Leam_Carrie]

I’m think about options for my horse. She’s been off work for a while and hopefully will soon be cleared to restart. Normally I have her fit in the summer and then maintained over winter - ridden four times a week.

She’s had time off so thinking of options for more riding. I was thinking about creating a 20m x 20m area for lunging / long reining / bit of ridden. It would need to involve no ground works. So thinking fencing, levelling the area and the sand or wood fibre (or maybe a layer of drainage gravel first with soil). It could double as turnout or a fatty paddock. Ground is clay.

Anyone done anything similar? It will cost a few thousand so don’t want to throw the money away.

 

[cauda equina]

I have a 20x20 woodchip area, just for turnout for 2 extremely lami-prone ponies
It's got proper drainage and a limestone base.
I was dead against doing it like that as we're on sandy, well draining soil but the company who did it (drainage specialists who do arenas on the side) said it would be a horrible soggy mess otherwise
It's been in use for a year and has been a lifesaver for my 2. There's a small shelter and they live there 24/7, including all through the snow this spring.
I don't ride on it at all; initially it was very deep and slippery, and any hooning terrified me as it they went skidding around
It has improved with age as the woodchip has rotted a bit but I still wouldn't ride on it
In summary - brilliant for turnout and would be fine for groundwork but I wouldn't lunge or ride on it

 

[Marigold4]

I have a woodchip turnout area. I took off all the topsoil then compacted a thick layer of chalk on to it. Then Cushionride spread on top. Slight fall on the ground but no drains. This works brilliantly. About every 5 years, I have to take up the surface and put down a new one but local farmer happy to scrape it up and take it away for not much money. DON'T use ordinary woodchip though especially with big chips and bark. These are very slippy underfoot. Tried that once - disaster! Also be careful not to put down any wood that can be poisonous if eaten.

 

[cauda equina]

Just to add - poo picking woodchip is a real PITA

 

[milliepops]

i was on a yard that had an un-drained woodchip pen. in the winter it was a bog and in the summer it was slippery and uneven. i think I'd try to find someone shifting a second hand school surface and pop some drains in if you can.

 

[GoldenWillow]

I have thought many times about doing something like this but living in a very wet area of the country every time I come back to the fact that I can just see it turning into a giant mushy mess so have never done it.

 

[PurBee]

I’ve been wondering similar.
Whats small woodchip mixed with sand like on a hardcore base?

I once used large woodchip - pieces average 2x1 inches - directly onto mud - area was a bit sloped - would get muddy quickly - dumped 6 inch layer of woodchip onto it once it was firm and dry - it lasted one winter season and by next summer the woodchip had mixed into the mud and rotted down well. (Very wet climate)
So i wouldnt use woodchip onto mud again.

I’ve got crushed small compact rock track areas, which aids some self-trimming of hooves, but wondering if having a small woodchip and sand mix on the hardcore base loafing area would aid in ‘polishing’ the hooves rounded better? I.e - creating a natural mustang roll? Sandpaper evidently works on wood - so surely sand, hours on that surface, would aid in hoof wall polishing?

 

[Quigleyandme]

Year round grazing is not possible where I live and most horse owners have an area of sand for their winter turnout. I’m currently having a 20x40m sand arena built to the usual spec as taking any shortcuts would guarantee failure. It is an expensive undertaking but I would personally rather spend more on something that is proven to work than a lesser amount on something that may well fail and prove to have been a waste of money. I would add the caveat that I live in an extremely challenging place with high rainfall and heavy soil whereas OP might get away with it.

 

[Birker2020]

i was on a yard that had an un-drained woodchip pen. in the winter it was a bog and in the summer it was slippery and uneven. i think I'd try to find someone shifting a second hand school surface and pop some drains in if you can.

I agree, its far from an ideal solution. A friend of ours is in arborist and kindly supplies a friend of mine with woodchip every now and then for her extreme laminitic. It doesn't cost us or her anything but only lasts a few months before its rotted into slush (think of a forest floor).

However as he can't even eat grass for ten minutes without having a full blown laminitic attack its the only way he can get out of the stable for a few hours and suits his requirements.

I moved to a yard with a sand covered area which was just for turnout in the winter and had fencing down the centre to split it into two. Each horse had a hay net and was allocated 2 hours per day. This was only in the winter from October to May and was because the fields were peat based and therefore too boggy. Now that worked really well, and really helped my horse who was recovering from injury he'd incurred before moving to the yard as he wasn't having to trudge through mud every time he went out.

At his time of life he seemed to really enjoy being the stable more than the turnout.

 

[poiuytrewq]

i was on a yard that had an un-drained woodchip pen. in the winter it was a bog and in the summer it was slippery and uneven. i think I'd try to find someone shifting a second hand school surface and pop some drains in if you can.

Agree. We redid our woodchip turnout this spring and replaced with arena surface. I can’t tell you how much better it is. Really brilliant now.

 

[splashgirl45]

years ago i had a lesson on a woodchip arena, never again. may be ok just for turnout if you have a quiet horse but riding my nutter on it was scary as she kept slipping and i wouldnt have wanted her turned out on it as she was so lively i would worry she would come down and get injured

 

[Marigold4]

Cushionride isn't slippy though

 

[sport horse]

We have several sand corrales - you must dig out topsoil, then hardcore, road planings or the like to blind it off then sand. Sand will not rot but you must poo pick regularly. Wod chip will rot and beocome not only boggy but very slippery. Avoid!

 

[Tiddlypom]

I can't see how an arena wanted for riding can double up as a turnout area. I've briefly used my 40m x 20m sand + rubber surface as a turnout area for a horse recovering from a grass colic, but he dug it up every time he pawed at the surface before rolling. Not colicky rolling, just normal rolling. He cut it up that way far more than in any ridden or lunging work.

 

[Hackback]

Following with interest as I was thinking about creating a small turnout area for winter. Do you need planning? You do for an arena (here anyway) so wondered if it was a similar situation.

 

[quizzie]

I can't see how an arena wanted for riding can double up as a turnout area. I've briefly used my 40m x 20m sand + rubber surface as a turnout area for a horse recovering from a grass colic, but he dug it up every time he pawed at the surface before rolling. Not colicky rolling, just normal rolling. He cut it up that way far more than in any ridden or lunging work.

It is perfectly possible...

I have a 20x40 sand arena topped with strip rubber that was installed 25 years ago, It has a porous tarmac top membrane as I knew I wanted to use it for winter turnout too ( steep fields on clay soil!)....I have used it as part of my winter turnout for up to 6 months of the year, for up to 5 horses a day....and use it for jumping ( used to be up to 1m25 or so) and dressage (up to PSG)....and it is absolutely fine.

.....However the maintenance has to be meticulous....poo-picking /leaf blowing/harrowing frequently etc.

ETA : Please be VERY wary of woodchip...I have had a closely related family fatality as a result of slipping on a woodchip surface.

 

[marmalade76]

Following with interest as I was thinking about creating a small turnout area for winter. Do you need planning? You do for an arena (here anyway) so wondered if it was a similar situation.

I could be wrong but I'm sure I read somewhere that you don't need PP for wood/bark chip or sand because they're not synthetic.

 

[PurBee]

We have several sand corrales - you must dig out topsoil, then hardcore, road planings or the like to blind it off then sand. Sand will not rot but you must poo pick regularly. Wod chip will rot and beocome not only boggy but very slippery. Avoid!

How does sand fare on a slight 10-18 degree slope? I like the idea of sand but have wondered if it will travel on a slope and end up very deep at the bottom!
Do you have to keep raking sand to keep it loose so it doesnt compact?

what type of sand and depth worked for you?

I once used small pea gravel on a small turnout area - size max 10mm pieces - i had to rake it daily…such a hassle, when i stopped regular raking it ended up becoming a very hard compacted top hardcore layer. Was ok for a few months but mixed with bits of mud from fields, hay bits rotting into it etc is eventually became a hard compact layer.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Thanks everyone. This is really helpful. Lots to think about.

I think it might be planning as the best option, building something similar to an arena with sand or cushionride.

My understanding is planning is needed for groundworks, but not if you put down a natural surface on the ground… but one to check with the planning officer.

 

[Marigold4]

Thanks everyone. This is really helpful. Lots to think about.

I think it might be planning as the best option, building something similar to an arena with sand or cushionride.

My understanding is planning is needed for groundworks, but not if you put down a natural surface on the ground… but one to check with the planning officer.

I think that's right. I didn't need planning for mine because it's all natural surfaces and no drains.

 

[Marigold4]

Mind you, with Robert Jenrick in charge of planning, I think you can do whatever you like wherever you like!

 

[Leam_Carrie]

I think that's right. I didn't need planning for mine because it's all natural surfaces and no drains.

That’s interesting that the compacted chalk is an option. How thick was the layer? I can see that would really help drainage.

 

[Marigold4]

I can't remember exactly. At least 4 ins, I would say. It was compacted with a whackerplate. You can hire one from places like Beaver Tool Hire. I took up topsoil first though. Once compacted, I drilled rows of holes in it to help drainage. It went down 20 years ago and has been brilliant. Combination of this with Cushionride works really well for mine. It's only small but I can do longreining and groundwork, I've used it to back horses and as a turnout area. Easy to poo pick and hasn't at all churned up. Mine are a pretty chilled crew though, despite being mostly TB!

 

[Melody Grey]

I may be wrong *totally not an expert* but I think there’s something in planning to do with whether the surface is fenced or not- which is obviously worth looking into as you want it for turnout!

 

[dorsetladette]

i was on a yard that had an un-drained woodchip pen. in the winter it was a bog and in the summer it was slippery and uneven. i think I'd try to find someone shifting a second hand school surface and pop some drains in if you can.

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I was at a yard with a woodchip turnout/hay feeding area which all the horses had to walk through to get from the yard and field. I got really deep and muddy in the winter and then the ruts/poaching round the gates was just dangerous when it went hard in the summer. One pony ended up the an abscess which wouldn't clear and on further examination a piece of wood had gone up the side of his frog and got wedged in the foot. I know accidents happen and some horses only aim in life is to cause harm to themselves and their owners bank balances but it could have been avoided if a better surface had been used.

I've seen a few people advertising second hand surfaces recently at not very much money at all.