Thoughts on surface for a loafing/turnout pen please

[spacefaer]

I've got an area at the end of the yard/end of the field, under trees - it's drier than the rest of the field all year round. Very little grass growth and thin soil.

I'm thinking it'd be of more use as a turnout pen/loafing area.
My OH has suggested a membrane covered in builder's sand ....
Thoughts please?

 

[MereChristmas]

Of use?

Excise Turnout Silica Sand

Reclaimed sand with fines suitable for going straight on soil or grass base for gallops, lunge areas and turnout pens, specifically chosen for its natural properties and helps to provide a surface ideal for horse excising or keeping mares from the stallion, can be used for horse walkways and...

cheshireaggregates.co.uk

 

[poiuytrewq]

I have this stuff, I’ve no idea what it is unfortunately as I bought it second hand when someone was resurfacing their arena.
It’s the best thing I’ve ever done.
Previously we had wood chip and it was great at first but once rotted was just awful. We scraped it out and replaced with the same and again it became bottomless and swampy.
This new surface has been down two winters and I just love it.
Poo and hay just forks easily off. It give support to their feet. They love a good roll and it drains well.

 

[spacefaer]

Thank you both. I'll show him!

 

[Gloi]

Pea gravel

 

[poiuytrewq]

Pea gravel

I’d have loved to have been able to do that. Had out place actually belonged to us I’d have invested.

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

When we put our stables/yard up we ended up with a small area at the end of the yard which had been levelled but ended up not being concreted ( rising costs , dwindling savings ! ) It is an area of about 10m x 15m , and gives access from the yard to the field so was always going to see a lot of traffic . It was mostly fenced off anyway so by installing a bit more fencing and a gate it completely lent itself to being turned into a pen . Initially I put a wide track of road planings down , leading to the field , as we were using them elsewhere to create a hard standing for parking , but then we had problems with our mostly barefoot ponies getting stones and grit wedged in the hoof walls . As an interim measure I made a path out of some old nylon rubber backed carpet that we had ripped out when we did up the house . It did the job fine , didn't move , non slip , even when water logged , so it stayed put . Months later , when we put the sand arena in , we had some sand left over so I put it on top of the carpet to improve the appearance of the fetching patchwork paisley path . Again this worked really well so I started asking around for any big , room sized pieces of rubber backed carpet that people were chucking out and eventually got enough to cover the whole pen area . Carpeted turnout eh ? How posh are we ! Once that was done I ordered enough sand to cover the lot and job done ! It's still there 25 years later . Mine are on deep litter beds and it's also handy for chucking any old shavings from the beds in too ( not huge quantities tho ! ) , they mix in nicely with the sand .
Nb Slightly horrifying fact from a landfill/ recycling point of view , but whilst the sand has occasionally needed topping up when it's got thin , the carpet underneath seems to have remained largely intact ! The only ' failed ' bit was a small area of wool carpet that started to break down and go stringy , so had to be dug up . Cheap wins over quality in this case !

 

[Lots of Gift Bags]

You'll need to get planning for anything permanent. You might be better off thinking about getting Mud Control Mats down and a thick sand topping.

 

[Hallo2012]

i did mud mats, builders sand and arena fibre topping.