Might I suggest using crushed concrete instead of crushed stone? Locally it is much cheaper because limestone is trucked in, not mined locally. Concrete can come in any size you want from coarse chunks to much smaller pieces. Not sure if they would grind it to dust size, or if that would work well in a wet setting. We are using it over geotextile felt fabric in gate openings, places we drive on a lot. So nice not wading thru mud!
I have put used stall mats over the crushed concrete at the main gates to the barn. Horses tend to congregate there, dirt was always a mess before the mats. I think there are about 12 or 15 mats under the gate on inside the paddock so footing is firm under feet, mine and theirs.
It started because the drainage tube was covered with pea stone along the front of paddock fence and gate. Horses gallop to fence and halt, spraying ME with flying stone!! That has to stop! Kind of painful as well as removing needed drain covering. We had some worn stall mats that needed replacing, so I dragged them out to cover the stone and put new mats in the stalls. I added another row of mats along the fence drainage and made a big pad of mats by the gate because one 6ft row was not enough to keep my boots on with mud there. Big matted area allows horse haltering and turning without getting into any mud.
In my experience, peastone does not EVER settle in firmly, dirt builds on top of it from dust. Horses track the stone away in their hooves. We wasted quite a bit on recommended peastone before we wised up. Clay dirt just “ate” it in many projects. Better to use rough edged stones or the crushed concrete over geotextile felt fabric to cover the drain pipe, because both stones pack and lock together for a firm, good draining surface. Also, buy “socked” tubing, which is a geotextile fabric over the slotted drain tubes to prevent clogging. Doubles your clog prevention. Tape the sock fabric to drain tube to hold in place during and after installing. Makes the drainage ability last longer, doing a better job for you. Especially true if you can’t afford the extra cost of stone or crushed concrete to fill around the pipe.
We handle horses daily to stall them. Not a time saver, but we feel daily handling makes for better obedience, better ease in looking at them daily for issues, reinforces training without needing extra time in lessons. We have no runout stalls and I HATE dutch doors for upkeep. Seen too many injuries with both features. No leaning on the bottom half or jumping out of stall by anxious or lonely horses, weanlings. No sagging so latches don’t work or horses letting themselves out. Full length stall doors slide over, stay latched, take up almost no aisle space, have never needed repair during daily use.
There are two gate systems, which allow access to various pastures from the barnyards by moving 1or 2 gates that are right beside each other. Send them into any of 3 pastures. Gates are ALWAYS locked into position, open or closed. No chance of gates swinging to pinch a horse.
Water tanks in the barn yards are then accessible to horses in any pasture. 100 gallon tanks need refill daily or every other day, with 3 to 5 horses using it. Horses SHOULD EACH be drinking at LEAST 10 gallons of water a day. Less water used can easily be a problem staring at you, colic ready to happen. I do have puddle-slurpers, so if it has been raining, standing water in pastures will get consumed instead of coming up to the tank.
We have insulated bucket holders for stall buckets. Got them from Cashmans. Pricy but a big time saving with not needing to break ice out. Pretty much everyone drinks 5 gallons overnight because water is not frozen. So far, we have not even used the insulated covers, buckets might get a bit of frost in the bottom by morning if it goes below -10F overnight. No electric costs or worry about a barn fire with heated buckets.
While this is supposed to have no limits on budget, you might consider getting a tarp barn if you need storage area. Cheaper than pole barns, go up fast. We have a lot of those around, filled with hay, big and small bales. Livestock barns with appropriate wooden or fenced walls to keep animals from rubbing the structure. Machinery parked inside, some as riding arenas! They come in all sizes and heights. We just put one up, for putting machinery in. Things went smoothly with friends and family helping put it together over 3 days. Site was prepped ahead with a kneewall to anchor the hoops and LOTS of fill dirt to raise the angled slope up to level. Hoops came in 4 pieces, got assembled before the crew arrived to save time. We bought it from Farm-Tek, tarp is warrantied for 25 years! We knew other folks who got hoop buildings from them, they sent people to fix or repair tarp problems 18-20 years after purchase. It stood up well to the wind we had 10 days ago, without the end walls on yet. Shed the snow well.
I had no luck with a bubbler, 300 gallons an hour, in the fishpond. The ice just slowly crept close, then formed a frozen dome above the bubbler. Had to put a regularl floating tank heater in to get rid of the ice. Fish can take the cold but have to have new air to get oxygen or they die, even goldfish. You do not feed them in winter, they don’t digest in such cold water. Food will rot thru their stomach and body walls to kill them. But being cold with open water above is fine all winter. But it does get quite cold here some years. Any buried water piping is 6ft deep, 8ft if you will be driving over it. Weight of vehicles pushes frost deeper than 6ft.
I just wasn’t sure if there was one that was reliable enough for barn use.