Best footing for runs

[Libera]

Hi,
Trying to figure out best footing for the attached runs off my stalls. Currently they have fabric with gravel on top, which is great because there is no mud unlike last year before we installed this… But major problem I am running into is keeping them clean and free of poop.

My chickens sometimes beat me to it and tear the poops into a million little pieces, and with the neverending rain it just kind of melts into the gravel, which makes it near impossible to clean it!

I was thinking about pouring concrete over the hravel but that might get slippery? Easy to clean though. Or lay rubber mats over the too of the gravel?
Any other ideas?

[Scribbler]

Both of your suggestions will make a slippery outdoor surface. Concrete is bad for horses to lounge on. Perhaps a softer sand will be easier to pick out.

But keeping outdoor runs clean is indeed a chore. Perhaps you can do it twice a day rather than once a day. You could have a muck tote in the corner so you wouldn’t be constantly getting out the wheelbarrow.

[carman_liz]

What kind of “rock” do you have down? I have crusher run 1 to 2 inch rock as a base and then whats called dust around here on top of it. Basically super small crushed rock that hasnt been washed. It packs down nicely and is easy to pick poop out of, the dust goes right thru the pitchfork I have that set up thru the barn as well and then my stalls mats and hay pallets are on top and its the floor of my center aisle, easy to rake up hay n keep clean!

[Libera]

That’s pretty much what I have, but it isn’t packed super tight. It’s bigger rocks with smaller stuff and dust.

The problem is that I work 12 hour shifts so I am not always able to pick it out multiple times. When it is wet and I do pick it out, bunches of dust and rocks stick to the poo mush and I feel like I am throwing away all my gravel

They are only stalled from dusk to dawn so it isn’t like they have to stand on it all day, they are in the pasture during the day. Their stalls also have soft footing.

Would porous asphalt be an option?

[Scribbler]

No. Not asphalt either. This is too hard a slippery for horses to stand on. Especially covered in piles of poop.

Are you actually able to scoop once a day or are you doing this less frequently?

And yes your footing will get tossed out with the poop. That’s just how it goes.

Maybe you need the kind of gravel that ends up packing hard like a dirt road.
”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹

[CanteringCarrot]

I’ve seen hard packed stone dust work quite well. Easy to clean too. Sometimes the material does get tossed with the manure, but it’s inevitable.

I’ve seen people pack down a stone/gravel type base and then put artificial turf on top of it. We have tons of soccer fields around here and every few years they change their turf, so it’s in fairly good condition and cheap. I have no idea on the slip factor or if it varies by type of turf or quality.

There are a few rolls at the stable where I keep my horse, but they haven’t tried it out yet.

But I really am a fan of a well done base and top layer of stone dust. I don’t know what would happen if you put a layer of sand on top. Or designed the runs sort of like an outdoor arena with proper drainage, base, and softer footing on top.

[Lucassb]

I would recommend stone dust. If you really want to do it right, and money is not an issue, put in grids first and then stone dust. An expensive, but really optimum solution.

[Libby2563]

@Lucassb

I would recommend stone dust. If you really want to do it right, and money is not an issue, put in grids first and then stone dust. An expensive, but really optimum solution.

Agreed. I have stonedust runs and a large stonedust dry lot, and it is a million times easier to keep clean than anything with larger stones in it like crusher run.

[fordtraktor]

I put landscape fabric, then grids and packed dust in mine. You will have to add more dust periodically…but it is basically ag lime so good for your fields anyway when spread.

[Calvincrowe]

You’ll pick up gravel with every scoop. That’s life in the sacrifice paddock business! I have 1/4 minus down in mine right now as screenings/crusher run/stone dust was totally unavailable last summer. Mine are huge—60x36 each— and I refresh gravel every other year. I clean them at least once a day, usually twice. If I’m short on time, I pile it up and grab it the next go round. I’ve tried other gravel sizes and has shredded cedar down once too. Gravel is the only real choice.

how big are your paddocks? Smaller means gravel replacement more often.

[wsmoak]

The crusher run we get here is too angular for the barefoot ones. It does pack together well in driveways but in the horse areas too many sharp pieces pop up to be comfortable. Now we only buy the more expensive rounded gravel for areas they have to walk on. And cover it with load upon load of M10 or decomposed granite. My life’s work is then to keep it from washing away.

I have these things bookmarked, but $$$$$$ https://www.cashmans.com/product/sta…-mud-solution/

[OneTwoMany]

Another vote for stone dust. It is called different things in different regions, but it has the texture of coarse sand. We have a lot of clay in our area which turns to terrible mud. We put down 8" or so of stone dust compacted it and it performs great. It is easy to pick out. We have 10 dry lots of varying sizes. We do need to add some material every few years, but it really isn’t a lot. We didn’t use the grids. Not sure I would bother with the grids if we were to do it again unless the area was prone to a lot of wash out.

[moonlitoaksranch]

If you use stone dust or other things that might wash away, is it worth it to half bury boards around the perimeter of the paddock to keep it in? I thought about it, but you’d really have to build it up so the water still runs off. I imagine you would get some low spots that puddle eventually, but would it be cheaper than having it wash out?

[Libera]

The runs are not very big, maybe 16x20ish? Their runs are attached to the stalls and slope down from the barn to the paddock. The paddock is about 100x100 and has just dirt right now, it is sloped towards the pastures. It gets muddy in spots but not bad except right behind the runs and by the gate.

They only spend the night in their stall with attached run, they are out in de paddock+pasture the rest of the time. That’s why I was considering a solid surface as they won’t have to stand on it all that much unless the weather is really bad

[jawa]

1/2 of my dry lot is stone dust and 1/2 is crush and run. I feel like I lose less material scooping poop on the stone dust part than on the rock dust part. As an aside, I read a blog post of a lady’s experiment with footing in a dry lot. She tried crush and run first. Her second section of the dry lot she added rock dust. She found her horses spent more time standing and loading on the rock dust than the crush and run. She also felt like she lost more material per poop scoop with the crush and run area.

For me, the area of the dry lot with the rock dust had a base of 57 stone packed on top of a clay base then stone dust packed on top, is a flat area. The part of the dry lot that has crush and run is not flat and it was on top of the existing soil.

Thankfully this winter is not as wet as last winter! I only had the stone dust portion in use last winter. The horses weren’t on the pasture from November-May, except for a few days that the ground was frozen solid. This summer I had 20 tons of rush and run spread on a 36’x40’ area to extend the non muddy area. There is still another 36’x60’ area that is native soil. They go there to roll and nibble on the few blades of grass growing and the pony goes there to poop. I keep the entire dry lot picked of manure daily.

[TheHorseMutterer]

@fordtraktor

I put landscape fabric, then grids and packed dust in mine. You will have to add more dust periodically…but it is basically ag lime so good for your fields anyway when spread.

So - Question about the stone dust being “like ag lime”: does that hold true with granite type stone dust, too? Wondering if you can sort of get the same benefit from spreading the “contaminated” poop in the pastures there without adding more lime.

[wsmoak]

I suspect the “like ag lime” comes from someone in Florida, where they use crushed limestone for road base.

A quick check says limestone is sedimentary rock and has a lot of calcium carbonate, while granite is an igneous rock. I don’t think granite is going to do the same thing, but I also don’t think you’d scoop up enough from the paddock to matter either way.

[TheHorseMutterer]

@wsmoak

I suspect the “like ag lime” comes from someone in Florida, where they use crushed limestone for road base.

A quick check says limestone is sedimentary rock and has a lot of calcium carbonate, while granite is an igneous rock. I don’t think granite is going to do the same thing, but I also don’t think you’d scoop up enough from the paddock to matter either way.

My thoughts are the same, just curious if there was experience here. I was going to in search of ag lime in the N. GA area, but I think I’ll be out of luck comparing it in price to M10 granite…