@Simkie around here it’s called recycled or ground concrete. It comes in different grades just like virgin limestone and gravel.
What size rock are you ok with?
Fab, that’s great to know, thank you. Especially a couple terms for it–why does every quarry call stuff different names??
I’m not entirely sure on size. Big enough to stay put but not so large as to cause horse problems? I need to build up & even out a slope in my sacrifice area, but I have a gelding whose mission in life is to dig in loose material. Something that will pack hard enough to not excite him would be so nice. Thought I’d try to make due with screenings but the ground concrete sounds like it might be a better choice?
Here’s where I get stone stuff from, but they don’t have much info on their site. I wish they had a product list.
I’ve been putting off this project because I’m just not sure how to maximize the chance of success. Rock is so $$$, and I dread seeing my dickhead (said with all the love in the world) gelding dig it all up.
Good question. We know aggregate is so important in horsekeeping and the more we learn the better we can keep them! And when we hear less expensive, we’re all ears!
Can you post a picture of what it looks like?
For a digging butthole, I’d be tempted to try CA6, “road base”. That’s 3/4" minus. If that makes you too nervous due to the stone size, I’d do 1/4" minus.
How big is the area the stinker digs in?
Any chance for these? They’re durable, and stood up to pawing.
He’ll dig wherever he finds something loose, but the area I’m working on is maybe idk 20x30? The run in shed sits on a slope, so there’s a drop off/step down at one end. I want to build that up. We’ve talked about doing grid in the paddock, but it’s not feasible $$$ wise right now, unfortunately.
The rock we’ve gotten for the driveway in the past has no fines so doesn’t lock up. He dug up and removed a whole damned pile of it years ago. He’s uh a good helper 
I’m down for using something like that with fines so it’ll pack. That’s 3/4" minus?
I did find this thread about the recycled concrete that definitely raises some concerns.
Anything with “minus” in its name is going to have the fines. The first number indicates the largest size of rock in the mix, and minus indicates everything down. That’s the easiest way to deal with the quarries - don’t use the local name, tell them [max size] minus.
Edit: Here’s a pic from my local (expensive) quarry of 3/4 minus. I think your horse might still try to dig in this, especially if it’s not super duper compacted to start.
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Lol I love all the names here. Indiana 53. Whyyyyy can’t they just call it one thing everywhere.
Yeah, he could still go to town there, but it might be okay if I compact the shit out of it and nail down mats over the deepest part. I think better than screenings, anyway.
Thanks very much for the input!
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That one made me laugh too. I can buy Indiana 53 in Illinois.
But really - they call it CA6. I know this because I just had 22 tons of screenings dumped in my driveway and the first truck that pulled up had CA6 on it. Thank god I caught it before he dropped it.
I don’t know, sounds like free rock 
The regionality of what stuff is called drives me bonkers. I’d just figured it all out in MN when we moved. CT is of course all different. 🤦
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That’s what I told the guy lol, I could use the CA6 to skim coat the driveway, but I didn’t have time and my little tractor was going to be mad enough with the 22 tons of screenings.
Seconding the Artimud. Sticks in the hoof for a few days, so can be useful treatment/ prevention even if only applied twice a week. Smells nice and is gentle on all tissue. Better than any variant of the purple crap that stains everything.
Another vote for Artimud, but the same company also makes Field Paste. I believe the FP is better for muddy conditions. I use it on my old man when the pasture is wet. I use a little Artimud on my mare before applying composite shoes. RedHorse also makes a Sole Cleanse product that I use on the old man after a trim or a thorough hoof cleaning with a wire brush.
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Wow, what a resounding endorsement of Artimud! The last two products I bought per similar COTH endorsements were the posture prep and a set of HAAS brushes, both of which I love and use on a daily basis. Will definitely be checking Artimud out!
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Do you use landscaping timbers or anything to keep the concrete in place to create a pad, or does it pack down on its own? Thank you for the suggestion!
Would it make sense to put some of these pavers down as a base before the rock in lieu of
fabric?
What kind of pavers? In general, if you’re not able to scrape to hard pan, you can just assume the ground is going to eat anything and everything you put down for a good long while.
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The ones you posted in one of your comments. But that makes sense. How realistic is it to scrape a paddock with lots of little hills and dips? Or would doing it the correct way with scraping, fabric, etc require the whole thing to be graded/leveled to some degree?
It does make sense to put some sort of edging in place when building a pad for standing on. Edging will hold fill together. You fill right to the top of edges with a bit extra in the center. This fill will settle over time. So you may need to add more fill in time. You do not want horses brushing the pad edges with hooves or shoes to break it down. Many people here on COTH have posted their pads with board edges, built outside their runout stalls. Pad edges kept fill better contained as horses went in and out the outside stall door. They were using limestone fill in most cases.
We did not edge with the field driveway going thru the barnyard. Husband crowned it slightly for drainage, so the edges were short, not much of a step-up. He did scrape it down to hard dirt before putting down the fabric and crushed concrete. Being so heavy crushed cement stayed in place, not much moving in horse hooves. Fabric is a lot cheaper than the various grid pieces you can buy to cover muddy places. Still need to lay them on hard dirt to get them level, edges matching, before covering them for best results. Fabric needs a deep layer of fill on top, to keep it well covered.
Handy consumer idea is to ALWAYS buy the dirt/rocks in completely FULL truckloads, even if you may not need that much right now. Just pile the extra over out of the way to store it. Then you have it handy when needed later. Trucking cost is the painful expense when buying any dirt or fill. Pretty sure they charge delivery cost the same buying 40yards as they do 20yards. So get as much as possible in the truck when buying. Only pay one delivery charge.
You may not have thought of a use for that extra dirt or stone YET, but you will!. Ha ha
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We used RR ties to create a raised pad for our barn overhang (picture a 60 foot long side of a pole barn, attach a 12 x 48 foot overhang, add dirt and gravel, pack, place RR ties along the outside edge, add more fill, top with rubber mats). This is open to two large all weather (textile and screenings/1/4 minus) paddocks, separated by moveable round pen panels. In those paddocks are two sand piles, refreshed yearly, for horsey rolling, peeing, and naps. This arrangement has worked well for 21 years. We did it right the first time-- high quality textile and maintenance of the gravel footing.
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