Dry Lot on a Slope

[Pico_Banana]

I’m looking at a property for sale that has a lovely 4 stall barn, 3 on one side, one on the other. There are in/outs on both sides of the barn. The 3 stalls open up into one space – not individual in/outs for each stall.

The in/outs also serve as the dry lots. (There are 2 grass paddocks, as well.) My concern is that the dry lots are on a slope and don’t have any special footing on them. Right now they have weeds growing in them because there aren’t any horses living there right now but I’m told that with horses using them they turn into dirt quickly.

I’m trying to think ahead to how this works when it rains. I’m assuming that there aren’t significant drainage/water pooling problems because these are the kind of owners who wouldn’t put up with something like that, but I’m wondering what my options would be if I’m wrong. Do those grids that you put gravel in work on slopes? Any other ways to construct a dry lot on a hill that doesn’t turn into a mud slide?

[Garythesquirrel]

A slope is good to help with drainage.

I have a 2 stall barn and each stall opens into individual approx 100’X36’ runs. The runs are level for about the first 12’ then slope away from the barn. I have mats outside the doors and covering most of the level area, the mats are on top of 3/4" clean, crushed rock. The runs, including the mats, are covered in 3/8" clean crushed rock. The rock does eventually migrate down the slope but not too bad, I add rock every 1-2 years. I have ZERO mud in my runs and I live in the Pacific Northwest.

[4horses]

My house was built on a hill. There is a 40-60 ft drop from the house to the sinkhole in the neighbors yard. Everything drains down. The property stays really dry but erosion is a big problem. The dirt road next to us also erodes into the sinkhole. The neighbor comes by once or twice a week with a tractor to grade and fix the road. They put beams in to prevent the road from washing out.

I took 6 inch wide boards and some chopped wood and built 2 terraces to reduce erosion. The sand washes away and stops at the boards. My boards are now buried on one side. I have the neighbor come up once a year with the tractor. I pull out the boards and he moves all the dirt back up the hill.

We tried a line of sandbags, but short of building a huge pile, i didn’t see much benefit. The boards hold the sand much better. I also just recently placed more boards on the bottom of each fenceline. Once hurricane season is over, i plan to have the neighbor up again this year.

Mud is only a problem in the manure spots. The front of the drylot stays nice. My problem is the gates to the drylot are too small to fit a tractor. I would need to take part of the fence down to fit a tractor in the dryloy. My drylot is very eroded. Maybe this year i will get that fixed. It is a tripping hazard with the tree roots sticking up.

”‹”‹”‹”‹