Surfaces for Horsewalkers

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sillygillyhorse

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Currently looking into installing a walker and would appreciate any experiences with different surfaces you may have used. Unfortunately due to planning limitations and cost the proposed walker will not be a covered one!

In my experience plain concrete becomes too slippery and am not sure uncovered rubber would ideal.

Has anyone used the honeycomb type field mats with wood fibre on top or the same mats with sand?

Also with regard to fencing, in an ideal world I would have mesh inner and outer fences but again it is cost. Are those who have post and rail happy or do you wish you had spent the extra on galvanised mesh fencing?

Any recommendations gratefully received.
 
I have spent a lot of time in Ireland and seen some states, however wood chips is a no no. Especially with out a roof, horses will get mud fever. Anything with a loose surface will always require maintenance. Worked on a lot of yards over there they seem to use the dog bone pavers, maintenance free, although they will wear out. At least you can replace the walk way. Monarch seem to have a good reputation over there, lots out there with the mesh fencing. I would not use wooden fencing due to fear of horses getting injured. Pay the extra for galvanised fencing. Good luck. :)
Clydesdales rock !!
 
i had slightly roughened concrete on mine, and topped it with fibresand. within a few months the fibresand was 90% manure (in spite of careful skipping-out) because they walk it in immediately. i scraped all the fibresand out (used it in gateways) and just used the concrete... but was only good for shod horses then, obv.
I had mesh on the inside and boarding then a rail on the outside, only ever had 1 jump out...
 
I think rubber paving slabs are they way to go. Monarch or Claydon install them as part of their service. I have seen some sand ones and if you have a yard where a lot of horses are using it, they are a nightmare to keep clean and it turns into a muck heap.
 
Whereabouts are you in Leics? We are near Junction 22 of M1 if you want to look at ours some time - the mats are all interlocking so never move. We got them from a company called Horsemat. PM me if you want to see what they look like! :-)
 
We bought rubber pavers off ebay. They are time consuming to put down but very feasible even with limited DIY skills!! They have been great. We used it without the pavers down for a bit straight on the concrete but I was paranoid something was going to slip and they wore out their shoes at a rate of knots!!
 
Aces_High said:
Kerilli - do you not find the concrete slippery for the shod horses as well? I used a concrete based one once and I didn't think it was ideal for my purposes.
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I don't have one any more, left it behind when I moved and set up a new yard... do miss it sometimes though. No, it wasn't slippery at all. In fact, I used to do very short trot sessions on it (gasp) and they were always absolutely fine. Rehabbed my grey on it after she bruised her tendon with a bang to it at N level, and she came 100% right on it and went on to much higher levels...
 
Arena surfaces on walkers are the best for the horses legs. However, as above it doesn't take long before it becomes basically manure and it is ridiculously hard to maintain. We had silica sand and flexiride on ours for 12 months, and then replaced it with rubber dog bone pavers and they are basically maintanence free, just give them a sweep once per week and pressure wash once every few months. Very hard wearing too and can be used by shod/unshod horses :)
 
kerilli said:
I don't have one any more, left it behind when I moved and set up a new yard... do miss it sometimes though. No, it wasn't slippery at all. In fact, I used to do very short trot sessions on it (gasp) and they were always absolutely fine. Rehabbed my grey on it after she bruised her tendon with a bang to it at N level, and she came 100% right on it and went on to much higher levels...
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I just found that for horses in light steels they would really slip. I suppose it depends on the age and smoothness of the concrete as well. It wouldn't worry me trotting on concrete - I trot (gasp) yearlings and two year olds on the road!!!

I do agree about the rubber paving though - certainly the best and most efficent.
 
If you are going for the dog bone rubber pavers, you could put a small sprinkling of sand on them, just for a little bit of "give". The old yard that I used to be at had a old monarch walker that just keeps going, they had rubber pavers that monarch fitted, did a great job I think that the same floor is still down now. Also believe that if the dog bones did wear out you only replace the worn out ones, unlike the poured rubber.
Good look!
Bring on the Clydesdales:D.
 
My horse walker was build on tight budget, and in a hurry last Christmas. (no school, no turnout as had to move off my old yard id sold, and new yard not completed!)
The walker we bought was a bargain, and does the job, (pm if you want more info on where it was from) We then decided to use Horserail fencing, as i dont like the look of the mesh fencing.
We had just roughed concrete to start with, but them added rubber onto. Its ok, but does need to be raked in from the side once every few weeks.
Wanted to show you some photos but photobucket doesnt seem to be working?

Just to add, the dog and bone pavers were way out of our price range, had to have a sit down after finding out the price of those!!
 
We have roughened concrete in ours... It works absolutely fine, no issues at all with slipping and for the barefoot guys it's perfect for keeping their feet neat. I think it increases the time needed between trims, just as hacking on the roads does. Ours use mine 3-5 times a week for anything up to an hour and I've never seen any of them slip, even when turning round in it.

Have used walkers with both rubber and fibresand bases and found them slippier and far more work to keep in good condition than mine.
 
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