Turnout pen surfaces

[starryeyed]

Hi everyone, just after your thoughts on a possible turnout pen surface!

Our little old companion pony is very laminitis prone, so he's being kept in a little starvation paddock / dust patch over the summer months, so he can be near his friends but doesn't get the grass they do (he has soaked hay mixed with low sugar haylage to keep his sensitive tummy happy - vet approved )

However, we'd like to put some kind of supportive surface down for him - just a bit nicer for him and his joints than the hard ground he has at the moment.

It's not a huge area but we don't want to spend a fortune on it! We have very fast draining ground, it doesn't get at all boggy. It would be purely for him to wander around in, we wouldn't put the hooligans in it and it's not the right shape for a lunge pen so wouldn't be used for exercise.

What sort of surface would you recommend? We were thinking maybe woodchip of some sort - would this be suitable?
Any ideas of where to get it / alternative surfaces would be great! (We're in Shropshire).

Thank you in advance for any thoughts / suggestions x

 

[Miss L Toe]

Have a look at the Rockley site, I think a few different surfaces, and put several haynets out/
Wood chip would be the cheapest, and some pea gravel could be considered.