Temporary Stables Entrance

[Gemini75]

Hi - I’m new here and know there are some older threads on this topic but thought I’d ask the question again in case there’s a new miracle solution someone’s discovered!

We’ve recently put some temporary stables up and initially put hardcore and gravel down out the front with grass mats on top, then filled with sand. It was expensive and labour intensive and unfortunately didn’t work. The big hardcore stones were working their way up and the sharp edges were wrecking the horses unshod feet. Also the sand really stank where they were wee’ing on it all the time!

We scraped everything back to the earth, which was soul destroying, but had to be done as the big stones were at the bottom, and just chucked the grass mats back on top of the earth. This was fine cos it was dry at the time but since then we’ve had biblical rain and now it’s a quagmire. I have pics but can’t work out how to upload them?

Does anyone have any suggestions for a replacement? I can’t afford to do something different and it not work again!! I was thinking maybe pea gravel then mats or pavers then mats but they’d need to be on sand and don’t want the smell!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, I’d be really grateful for any advice!

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Hi - I’m new here and know there are some older threads on this topic but thought I’d ask the question again in case there’s a new miracle solution someone’s discovered!

We’ve recently put some temporary stables up and initially put hardcore and gravel down out the front with grass mats on top, then filled with sand. It was expensive and labour intensive and unfortunately didn’t work. The big hardcore stones were working their way up and the sharp edges were wrecking the horses unshod feet. Also the sand really stank where they were wee’ing on it all the time!

We scraped everything back to the earth, which was soul destroying, but had to be done as the big stones were at the bottom, and just chucked the grass mats back on top of the earth. This was fine cos it was dry at the time but since then we’ve had biblical rain and now it’s a quagmire. I have pics but can’t work out how to upload them?

Does anyone have any suggestions for a replacement? I can’t afford to do something different and it not work again!! I was thinking maybe pea gravel then mats or pavers then mats but they’d need to be on sand and don’t want the smell!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read, I’d be really grateful for any advice!

Mud mats. Expensive but a good investment as they don't rot and hold their value so can be resold for full price. Easy to lay and to move if necessary.

 

[dorsetladette]

Mud mats are good and as said above hold there value so could be sold for the same price.

I know you said it's temporary stabling but is there guttering on it?

 

[Gemini75]

Hi thank you both. I bought mats but they are fairly flimsy I think they’re more grass mats? Are they just called mud mats?

The stables do have guttering on them, wish I could upload the photos!

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Download the lit photo app and resize the photos to 25% that's what I do.

 

[Abacus]

Look for mud control mats which are thicker and designed to be laid in fields over mud. This is what the replies are referring to. I’m about to place an order, getting desperate!

PRICING | Mudcontrol

www.mudcontrol.co.uk

 

[Gemini75]

Look for mud control mats which are thicker and designed to be laid in fields over mud. This is what the replies are referring to. I’m about to place an order, getting desperate!

PRICING | Mudcontrol

www.mudcontrol.co.uk

Thank you! I know what you mean - this rain is never-ending!

 

[dorsetladette]

Had a thought last night. What about flag stones (concrete patio/path stones) we've just picked a few up free on market place for the lorry to sit on over winter.

 

[Gemini75]

The mud control mats look amazing, my only concern is they recommend using sand and it’s the smell in summer issue again!! And Wowzers they’re expensive!

I was thinking exactly the same about pavers as an option before I posted the thread - bed of gravel or sand, then pavers and chuck the current grass mats back on top for grip? Only thing is it’s quite a big area and not sure how I’ll stop them moving. I can’t put anything permanent down at the moment so couldn’t cement them.

 

[ihatework]

Mud control mats will help with that!

Is there a reason you haven’t gone for something like road planings?

 

[SEL]

I've never put sand on mud control mats. I walked my silly young cob over them a few times when he arrived so he knows they are slippery and he's careful.

I have them everywhere. Painfully expensive but better than hard-core in my gates.

 

[Errin Paddywack]

You need a really firm level surface if you use paving slabs and they can tip if a horse treads on the edge of one. Very heavy to handle too. Mud mats can go straight down on liquid mud if need be. If you were putting them over a large area where horses might get up to speed on them then sand is a good idea to minimise slipping. You can always put your grass mats over the mud mats too as we have done in places. Yes they are expensive but it is money you can get back if you no longer need them as they hold their value. Ours are just used in areas where we need help ourselves rather than for the horses and they have been a godsend.

 

[Tiddlypom]

My whole stable yard was self laid with 3’ x 2’ paving slabs by me. I’d run out of money to put a concrete slab in after the new stable block went up . The stables were on a concrete slab, but outside was just mud. I laid about 10 slabs a day over sharp sand.

They’ve lasted really well, indeed half the slabs were reused from my original stables, so are over 35 years old.

I wouldn’t use them if horses have free access to them, though, as they’d be slippery.

For non slip I’d use crusher run or road planings. Mud mats are slippery, I won’t have them.

 

[Gemini75]

So interesting thanks everyone! Lots to think about. We always leave the gate from their grazing open to the stables so they have free access but do tend to come in fairly carefully so without sounding too callous I’m not too worried about them slipping so I guess if that’s the reason for the sand we could give it a miss.

We did consider road planings but some people said in the summer they can ball up and stick in the horses feet/get too hot to stand on?

Anyone got any experience of road planings?

 

[Gemini75]

Ps with so many people advocating for mud control mats I’m leaning towards biting the bullet and just getting a pallet to try. I suppose it speaks volumes that I can’t find any second hand!

 

[Gemini75]

My whole stable yard was self laid with 3’ x 2’ paving slabs by me. I’d run out of money to put a concrete slab in after the new stable block went up . The stables were on a concrete slab, but outside was just mud. I laid about 10 slabs a day over sharp sand.

They’ve lasted really well, indeed half the slabs were reused from my original stables, so are over 35 years old.

I wouldn’t use them if horses have free access to them, though, as they’d be slippery.

For non slip I’d use crusher run or road planings. Mud mats are slippery, I won’t have them.

Not heard of crusher run I’m off to Google that!

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I would worry with road planings that they might get into the horses white lines. We have some down thankfully grassed over now and they did seem to cause lameness in my sheep.

 

[The Bouncing Bog Trotter]

Where is the water from the gutter draining to? If there is no drain put a water butt or IBC to collect the water. What base do you have the stables on at the moment - can that not be extended?

 

[Gemini75]

We do need to put a rain butt in, I actually have one up there I can use - good thinking! I’ll do that tomorrow.

The stables are on hardcore with some finer stuff whacked down then stable mats on top. It works well and I guess we could extend it outside, not really thought about that. My only concern would be whether they’d be slippery when wet?

It would be expensive but no more so than the mud control mats I guess. Kinda wishing I’d left the hardcore down now while I decided what to do.

 

[ihatework]

I still think I’d be inclined to scrape the mud back, use road planings - they generally roll quite well. You could always lay your rubber grass mats back on top

 

[Tiddlypom]

These are road planings laid on a significant slope in front of my bigger field shelter, which is north facing. It’s been up and they’ve been down for at least 15 years now. My horses live out 22/7 and they use the field shelters constantly, so between 2 - 4 horses freely in and out all day.

I haven’t needed to top up the planings, they’ve held up well . The front of the shelter would be a hopeless bog without them.

The horses have helpfully deposited soil from their feet on the planings, which has allowed grass to grow over the years and for it all to look quite natural now.

 

[Bellaboo18]

Re mud control mats, we put ours down last year and added the recommended sand but it's washed away now and I wouldn't bother with it again.
We had the mats in the gateway last year (moved them today) and didn't have any concerns with slipping. I guess it depends a lot on the horse/s and the location.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Another vote for mud control mats. We have them over crush for the floor of our field shelter, which is a converted building already in situ, and straight onto earth as hard standing in front of the shelter. We also put some in the gateway between 2 fields. We did put sand on top when the mats were first laid but the horses don't wear shoes and our soil is sandy, so we haven't topped the sand up. I haven't seen the horses slip on them but they don't usually go any faster than walk over them
Planings would be liable to cause slipping in icy weather imho

 

[Gemini75]

I think on balance and reading all the advice (thank you!) I’ll probably go down the mud control mats route. It feels like the quickest and simplest option, I can scrape back the mud and put them straight down or maybe put membrane down, pea gravel, then mats. At least then I can move and re-use them when the time comes. Hoping to be in a position to concrete it at some point and I can use the mud control mats elsewhere.

Best get saving!

 

[Gemini75]

These are road planings laid on a significant slope in front of my bigger field shelter, which is north facing. It’s been up and they’ve been down for at least 15 years now. My horses live out 22/7 and they use the field shelters constantly, so between 2 - 4 horses freely in and out all day.

I haven’t needed to top up the planings, they’ve held up well . The front of the shelter would be a hopeless bog without them.

The horses have helpfully deposited soil from their feet on the planings, which has allowed grass to grow over the years and for it all to look quite natural now.

View attachment 147371

View attachment 147372

This looks great, did you put the planings straight on the earth and then roll them?

 

[Tiddlypom]

This looks great, did you put the planings straight on the earth and then roll them?

Yes, planings tipped out in situ then raked and rolled .

 

[Gemini75]

Just wanted to do an update for those interested/thinking of buying the mud control mats. We bit the bullet and ordered 50 sq metres - cost £1805 delivered. We had scraped off the really bad mud and levelled the ground the best we could. Mats are really easy to lay and it doesn’t matter if the grounds not even, they’ve just settled in. Really pleased with them - it’s basically like laying a concrete floor that drains! Big thumbs up from us

 

[Bellaboo18]

It looks fantastic

I will say though, if you lay them 'correctly' they're definitely not easy to lay! I've recently moved mine and just put them down like you but they should be staggered ideally.

 

[dorsetladette]

Looks really smart OP!

 

[Kaycee]

I've had road planings down for over 20 years, with no hoof issues and no topping up. In fact my farrier says my herd have great feet from being on the road planings (they have compacted down so there's no real loose stones)
I bought some mud control mats for a different area but they were no match for our deep heavy clay mud!!
If you own the land, I would go for road planings every time. No problems with slipping, or scraping oozing mud from the holes in mud control mats.