Surface nightmare!

[Lintel]

Last year I got our turnout area resurfaced with torn up rubber chunks from under astroturf. Huge big bits of torn rubber and little bits of torn rubber.

It is a NIGHTMARE to poo pick.
I've hand to pick it by hand since we got it... I'm slowly going insane as the horses have been out on it ALOT the past couple of months.

Anyone had this surface/anything similar or have any advice on what to do to stop me tearing my hair out!?

 

[ycbm]

Do you mean you are having to throw away rubber or take an age to pick out the poo? I've found that's true of any rubber chunk surface and in the end reconciled to myself that it was probably only a few pence of rubber a week that I was throwing away.
.

 

[meesha]

I had a carpet surface i turned out on, had to hand pick that...no short cuts i know of... when I was away and paid someone to look after them I then picked large bits carpet out of muck heap. Farmer wouldn't take muck heap either as couldn't spread it on fields as had small bits carpet in it still...

On plus side bet rubber is great as turn out and has saved your fields and horses sanity !!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

There are some metal shavings forks that have wider gaps that might help to let the rubber fall through more easily.

 

[PeterNatt]

I fail to understand why you used this surface. We use crushed concrete with a liner underneath and it works fine and lasts for years.

 

[catembi]

FWIW, I have fibre sand (economy track), I *don't* use it for turnout except v occasionally so I only have to collect the occasional poo done while riding & it's still a total pain to get up! It really annoys me if he's pooed while riding! So hard not to include too much fibre, & the arena is properly graded as well.

 

[PurBee]

I had a carpet surface i turned out on, had to hand pick that...no short cuts i know of... when I was away and paid someone to look after them I then picked large bits carpet out of muck heap. Farmer wouldn't take muck heap either as couldn't spread it on fields as had small bits carpet in it still...

On plus side bet rubber is great as turn out and has saved your fields and horses sanity !!

Its best for anyone to declare to the farmer/manure collector if theres bits of rubber or carpet tainting the manure pile, then they can make an informed choice how to best use such manures.

I was going to used shredded rubber as a softer surface on my large turnout hard-standing area, but the thought of poo-picking and rubber being in the manure pile put me off completely.

Its best to poo pick whats easy to shovel on top and not worry about smaller bits of poop, as they will rot down to practically nothing and wash down through the rubber to sub-surface. Better that than trying to get every bit of poop which also includes tiny bits of rubber, which ends up on fields or in tillage crop soils (depending on end-of-chain-supplier).

Honestly, im dismayed that the equestrian industry is being used as a ‘recycle’ bin for materials that are non-biodegradable.
Especially carpet - many poly-plastics leach toxins, and shouldnt end up in soil. Natural rubber is ok, but many tyres arent made from natural rubber anymore and leach toxins.
Horses poop constantly and everywhere - these materials and horses dont mix well when we consider how impractical it is to use these materials on a turn-out surface, and clear poop.
Im sure there’s many that struggle with carpet/rubber arena surface and poop-picking hassles, and im sure theres hundreds of manure piles at this very moment with pieces of surface plastics in them, that will, for sure, end up thrown in a field somewhere.

I’d ban these surfaces materials if i could tbh! Or have strict legislation for them not to be used as turn-out spaces, only exercise/competition. All tainted manure in another pile from main biodegradable manure pile etc. It’s the only way to stop the tonnes of human waste products ending up distributed all over the lands we rely upon for food.

Sorry for the rant…new year passion! ??

 

[Abacus]

I just use a shavings fork and don’t get too worried about the tiny bits of poo that are left, they get rained out in a couple of days. As for the rubber, it is t that much taken out each time. If you can’t put it on your muck heap maybe make a pile of it and wait for the poo to break down and then put it the rubber remains somewhere muddy. I’d probably chuck it in the chicken coop or by their door.

 

[PurBee]

I fail to understand why you used this surface. We use crushed concrete with a liner underneath and it works fine and lasts for years.

Ive never heard of crushed concrete as a surface….is it like tiny stones or crushed to sand-like consistency? Dont you find it packs-down into a hard surface?

 

[sbloom]

Crushed limestone is the one that works really well for loafing areas, track systems etc, easy to poo pick. It is packed down, if you want to still limit turnout to the extent that they go a bit nuts then it may not work, but it's brilliant for horses that are turned out most or all of the time.

 

[Rowreach]

I fail to understand why you used this surface. We use crushed concrete with a liner underneath and it works fine and lasts for years.

It's an arena, not specifically a turn out area, from what I understand.

 

[Lintel]

Thanks for the comments, I'm really just having a moan sorry!
Its a small arena sized dual purpose area and I thought cost infective.. soft.. non dusty...non degrading substance(for those questioning why) - and it was a bargian, I see why now.
Very similar to those mentioning carpet! I remember having to lift poo from a carpet area with HUGE chunks of carpet, what a a pain it was!
The muck heap isn't a concern, the sheer time to poo pick is argh!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

What about one of those scoops with a rake that are used for arena's I'm sure they would be easier than by hand and I wouldn't be too worried about leaving a bit of poo behind.