I just had my paved/ macadam driveway sealed for the first time in 25 or 30 years. I avoided doing it before now because I was afraid it would be slippery where you walk out of the barn and down a very slight grade to cross the parking area to the ring with a horse. And I was right! Now I’ve had three different ponies skid as they walked out of the barn on the macadam. Rubber mats may help a bit but they are slippery too, especially in the winter. I was thinking of getting some sand and just tossing some of that on the driveway where they come out of the barn, but that will look ugly pretty soon and then I’d always be sweeping up the sand to put down new. Any suggestions?
I’m not sure what will work, but be very careful. When my horse was a 4 year old, he fell completely on his side when we carefully walked across a newly sealed driveway. We were both ok, but it was scary. Several other horses from the neighborhood fell on that driveway.
I’ve heard other people say that you can put sand down on top of the sealcoating before it dries.
Perhaps you can get another bucket of sealcoating, put down some in the area where you’ve had problems and before it dries immediately toss sand on it to give it some texture.
When I had my driveway sealcoated back to the barn, I had them stop at the parking lot so the parking lot and entrance to the barn are still gravel. I abhor loading or unloading on either asphalt or concrete.
Not a strictly professional opinion, but I’d put another thin layer and scatter sand on it while it’s wet. Or even better, if you can get a 1/4" chip (limestone) and scatter that in, will really give purchase. Depending on your quarries they might call it 1/4", buckshot, ice control chip, or FM22. If you only need a couple five gallon buckets that’s something we’ll often let people have if they bring a shovel and fill the buckets themselves.
Oh, sealed pavement is like ice when mixed with horse shoes! I’m sorry you didn’t know this ahead of time. But the suggestions of adding another layer with some grit will probably solve it.
recoat the area with a product similar to this that is available from a big box store, it is rubber based with sand for traction
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Latex-ite-4-75-Gal-Sand-Mix-Driveway-Coating-42801/100479156
Yes, recoat and add texture. Don’t scatter sand on top of the sealcoat, loose. It will be like marbles and roll under the horse’s feet. You need to add texture to a topping which dries with the grit in it.
[QUOTE=blue phlox farm;8337795]
I just had my paved/ macadam driveway sealed for the first time in 25 or 30 years. I avoided doing it before now because I was afraid it would be slippery where you walk out of the barn and down a very slight grade to cross the parking area to the ring with a horse. And I was right! Now I’ve had three different ponies skid as they walked out of the barn on the macadam. Rubber mats may help a bit but they are slippery too, especially in the winter. I was thinking of getting some sand and just tossing some of that on the driveway where they come out of the barn, but that will look ugly pretty soon and then I’d always be sweeping up the sand to put down new. Any suggestions?[/QUOTE]
If you can recoat with a texture additive, great that should solve it.
If not I would try putting down the sand anyway. It’s better than an accident.
You can always remove the sand with a leaf blower later.
[QUOTE=Ambitious Kate;8338290]
Yes, recoat and add texture. Don’t scatter sand on top of the sealcoat, loose. It will be like marbles and roll under the horse’s feet. You need to add texture to a topping which dries with the grit in it.[/QUOTE]
Yes to this.
However, if you’re looking for an immediate grip giver for the interim, instead of sand go to the feed store and ask for a bag of ground limestone or Di-Cal. It’s the same thing just labelled differently. We use it often in the cattle barn which, as you can imagine, gets as slick as shit. The stuff is awesome and cheap and safe and edible lol
Please note, this stuff is NOT lime, slaked lime, white lime, quick lime, caustic lime or any other name used for the white powder that is made by heating limestone and then slaking it. This is the raw product, is not dusty, truly is edible (I’ve fed it to horses before when their Ca intake was low) and works wonders to prevent slipping on slippery surfaces.
Oh, how could I have done this. I’m an old lady with osteoporosis, if I slip on the driveway, I’ll break. So I now have a driveway that looks good and is a complete skating rink in the rain tonight. I paid a lot of money to lose the ability to jog horses for soundness, drive my pony down to the road, and lots of other horsey things like walking colicy horses up and down the 170’ of driveway. Now I will have to pay the paving guy to put another coat on of the coating stuff with the sand in it or get sand to put in the regular stuff. This is killing me. Thank you all for setting me straight.
[QUOTE=blue phlox farm;8339435]
Oh, how could I have done this. I’m an old lady with osteoporosis, if I slip on the driveway, I’ll break. So I now have a driveway that looks good and is a complete skating rink in the rain tonight. I paid a lot of money to lose the ability to jog horses for soundness, drive my pony down to the road, and lots of other horsey things like walking colicy horses up and down the 170’ of driveway. Now I will have to pay the paving guy to put another coat on of the coating stuff with the sand in it or get sand to put in the regular stuff. This is killing me. Thank you all for setting me straight.[/QUOTE]
Sorry!!! We got an estimate a couple months ago to seal coat the driveway, but have not done it yet due to some new fencing we put in. We think we will do the driveway ourselves in the spring with the stuff from Home Depot.
[QUOTE=blue phlox farm;8339435]
Oh, how could I have done this. I’m an old lady with osteoporosis, if I slip on the driveway, I’ll break. So I now have a driveway that looks good and is a complete skating rink in the rain tonight. I paid a lot of money to lose the ability to jog horses for soundness, drive my pony down to the road, and lots of other horsey things like walking colicy horses up and down the 170’ of driveway. Now I will have to pay the paving guy to put another coat on of the coating stuff with the sand in it or get sand to put in the regular stuff. This is killing me. Thank you all for setting me straight.[/QUOTE]
Can you just do the part of the driveway where you absolutely HAVE to walk the ponies/horses? Forget jogging for soundness on a paved area and use a level spot in the pasture or riding ring if you have one.
If you can just do a small section where you MUST walk the ponies over, then get a 5 gallon can of sealant from Home Depot and some sand or, better yet, some stone dust and do that area only. Or see if the company that did your driveway initially will come back and just do a small section. I would imagine they will.
As for walking a colicy horse - use the shoulder of the driveway but not the driveway.
Where there’s the will, there’s the way. 
[QUOTE=Flash44;8339724]
Sorry!!! We got an estimate a couple months ago to seal coat the driveway, but have not done it yet due to some new fencing we put in. We think we will do the driveway ourselves in the spring with the stuff from Home Depot.[/QUOTE]
Do your research on that stuff. I have no experience with it, but their “Premium” “Durable Concrete Floor Paint” was a total joke.
I’ve come to appreciate than any high-traffic coating available to the public is probably garbage. I consumer-oriented products of this class with a very hairy eyeball.
to keep people from slipping, change shoes to those with rubber sole shoes
