I know that Cypress and Cedar can cause issues, but what about pine bark chips for a run-in? I’m really frustrated with my run-ins and the rainy weather we’ve been having. I just can’t put shavings in them, they turn to slop in a day. Anyone have any ideas?
I don’t know if you can get it out there, but a lot of places around here use hogsfuel for semi-permanent footing (lasts a few years in arenas/dry lots). It’s kind of a super chunky bits of shredded tree bark and limbs I think.
Could you dump pelleted bedding in there? Don’t wet it down at all, just add the pellets? I’m not a fan of pelleted bedding in stalls for many reasons, but I think it might work really well in this situation.
What about pea gravel as more of a permanent solution?
Also, if you do go with mulch, be careful if you are buying bulk mulch or getting mulch from the landfill, as you can sometimes find stray nails, etc. in there.
I’d only buy bagged pine mulch. Mulch from the landfill could have black walnut. I’ve tried it in wet areas, and it really didn’t help much. How about mats?
I’m looking for an inexpensive and low tech solution to this problem. I was thinking the mulch would solve all problems: keeping the hay off the sand, stabilize the sand a bit, be drier than wet sand, and be gentle on my seniors bare feet. I’d get the bagged pine bark mulch.
I was really wondering if there were any horror stories associated with bagged pine bark mulch? Can it founder them like black walnut? If they nibble at it will they colic? Anyone have any reasons the pine bark mulch might harm my old guys?
TIA
Unless you want to clean this area on a regular basis, remove the wet stuff, you will make the situation worse over the long run filling with wood mulch, fiber or pellets.
Mulch or any wood product is organic, will continue to break down with urine, damp soil, and make a wet or damp area stay wetter. As time goes on, the dirt floor will get turned into black muck, which both smells and is extremely slippery. You will need a blade or bucket to scrape deeply to remove the mess.
Mulch is SUPPOSED to breakdown over time, return nutrients to the soil. Helpful in gardens, around landscaping points of interest, but not for run-in sheds.
The mention of Black Walnut wood or fibers being mixed in for cheap mulches is very possible, could cause problems for horses standing on it, eating off it. Only takes a TEASPOON of Black Walnut sawdust ingested, to get a founder going.
I would think the bagged Pine Mulch would make good bedding, but if you don’t clean it out regular, it will turn into muck. Go back to some winter posts about trying to get footing established in outside paddocks or arenas using Hogsfuel. They ALL spoke of having it turn into muck and making the slime situation WORSE than the orginal mud to deal with. Terrible footing after some use and staying wet because the wood fibers keep on breaking down into smaller pieces.
I don’t think the peastone is a good answer either, gets in hooves and tracked out. Really hard to clean the manure and old hay off of. Pretty much wasted money in places I have seen it used. Peastone DOES sound like it would be the best choice, but that is seldom how it works in real life.
Perhaps you need to look at your run-ins and add dirt, raise the floors for better drainage, and put mats over when you can afford it. Real easy to clean.
You could put an anchored 4" x 4" treated wood beam across the open side to hold in your new fill. Crushed limestone, stone dust over geotextile fabric, well packed with a power tamper, will give you a good base for the horses to stand on, drains well to keep wet areas gone. Packed, it won’t track out in their feet. I consider packed stone to be a VERY good investment for getting rid of muddy areas.
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[QUOTE=kelsey97;5719581]
I was really wondering if there were any horror stories associated with bagged pine bark mulch?
TIA[/QUOTE]
I had a couple extra bags of cedar mulch last year left over from gardening, and I had a small but perpetually muddy high traffic lane at the barn, so figured I’d put the mulch there. Worked well and looked great. Until 2 days later my horse came up limping, a very large thorn found its way into his frog. I can only assume it came from the bagged mulch, there are no naturally occurring thorns of that size anywhere on the farm.
Then a few weeks later we had a huge flooding rain, and all my lovely cedar mulch floated away like an tiny armada into my paddocks, scattered ever since.
I agree, anything organic is not a good idea if you’re battling wet. Why not put down mats? I went to TSC and bought up ‘scrap’ bits of their mats they use as truck liners. 7x15 sheets for half price, around $35 per sheet. I matted my run in, matted the front of the run in to keep mud out and shavings in, and I put down mats under where I hang hay bags so the horses aren’t scoffing up the chaff out of the sand.
If you drive around on trash day, or scour craigslist, you might find some mats you can repurpose. Any time I find a rubber mat of any kind I snatch it up :lol:
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