What depth would you lay paddock for laminitic?

hopscotch bandit

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Partner currently laying woodchip at work for a 11hh laminitic pony who can't even cope with 20 mins in a starvation paddock without getting laminitis. I suggested paddock about 15m x 15m with a depth of around 2 inches as the shoots are coming through. The photo he's just sent me shows in my opinion too much grass and not enough woodchip. It will have secure mains electric fencing around it so ignore the grass under the fence lol.

Is there any recommended depth please? I assume you have to take into account pony pawing ground and disturbing woodchip to get to grass (although grass would probably be dead underneath anyway I would have thought)

Sorry its a poor photo, photo of a photo off a phone if that makes sense.
 

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hopscotch bandit

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Its nothing to do with me, its not my pony. Its on the yard my partner works on. It was a question about thickness of woodchip and what depth people laid their woodchip to, to try and help my partner out as he didn't know. I think another load is being delivered later in the week which will help buffer it up. I thought a smaller area with a deeper depth would be better and just wanted people's opinions who had this for their laminitics.
 

Leo Walker

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The wood chip is going to be a nightmare. When it gets wet it starts to rot and forms a heavy, black bog. With no membrane or drainage down the whole place will be deep and boggy in no time. I think as TP says, they would be much, much better adding sand now. It wont be great, but it wont be as bad as the wood chip.

Ponies can and do eat woodchip. I'm, assuming this is soft wood? You will need to be very, very careful about what types of wood has been used as some are pretty toxic.

I understand that's not exactly what you asked, but I don't think you are going to find anyone who has successfully dumped a sparse load of woodchip down and had a useable space. I tried it and failed. We ended up with a huge JCB in digging it all out.
 

ycbm

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Sorry HB, but I agree with the others. I have had horses which I could not give paper or shavings when in during the day to restrict their food because they ate it. I also know of a horse who ate part of a henhouse one day and died of colic the next.

I'm afraid you need to advise your partner's yard to get some form of small aggregate on that paddock before the pony uses it. I would presumably choose 100-150 mm depth of 2-4 mm pea gravel, which is kind to the feet but very well draining. Sand might be dusty when dry, claggy when wet, and might be ingested with whatever the pony gets given to eat.
 

hopscotch bandit

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Ok thanks guys. I know there's been a delay on it being delivered because the guy who delivered the load and is a gardener/tree surgeon knows my partner and he only had yew in at the time which obviously wasn't suitable hence the delay until something better came along. I don't know the ins and outs of the pony, I'm not deliberately being evasive BTW.

Appreciate your help, will relay back to partner so he can speak to the owner when he is next working at the yard.
 

Auslander

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I use woodchip, but I replace it every year, and I lay it on top of road planings. Laying it straight onto grass doesn't work - grass is very very good at growing through stuff.
Mine looks great for the summer, then rots into gunge over the winter, so it gets scraped up and replaced every spring
 
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