Substrate for outdoor stall runs?

[Jumpingranch]

Hello!
I love stalls than have the outdoor attached runs, and I’ve been to several barns with them.
I’m in FL, and my only issue is they end up being pure sand after a couple of years. Now I wasn’t the one maintaining stalls at these barns, just an observation.

Obviously you’ll never keep grass or any plant life alive in these, but what substrate options are there that yall like? I was thinking mixing red clay in with the sand might help with the dust provided the horse has no white on its body lol.

Could you bed it like an outdoor arena, use the same footing?

Any maintenance tips for the run ins? I don’t own any land and nothings happening, all hypothetical! Just curious, thanks!

[Amy3996]

My first thoughts were either springing for mud mats ($$$) or some kind of stone dust/crusher run. Might be easier to keep clean and level.

Sand or sand + clay sounds like it could get very wet and boggy in the rainy season. You’d also then have to deal with planning your feeding locations around mitigating the risk of sand colic.

Assuming you’re bedding the stalls attached, they’d have a soft dry place to lay down out of the elements if they so chose.

[Foxglove]

All three of my run in sheds are independent structures built on skids so a tractor can move them to a new spot in the pasture. We also put mats down in the front where it seems muddy all the time.

[4horses]

Sand makes a decent footing. It usually drains well, dries quickly and provided you muck, it holds up well.

[jvanrens]

I’m not sure if red clay is different than the plain old clay we have around here for the most part (we do have pockets of red clay), but it is nasty stuff when it gets wet and can hold water a bit more than I think you would want in a run. A small amount might stabilize the sand a bit, but I’d be worried about adding too much and turning the run into a swamp.

[fordtraktor]

OMg NOT clay! It has such fine particulates! It is the dustiest.

Mine are done with Lighthoof panels and tamped in stone fines. I top off the stone fines annually. They are holding up well.

[PaddockWood]

My opinion is build a dry lot under those runs. A dry lot surface is easy to clean, holds up to weather, and isn’t slippery.

You can’t feed on sand, clay is slippery, pea gravel moves and I’ve known of it causing sores on horses who lay on it.

My 2 cents.

[Pico_Banana]

I used 3/8 minus in my in/outs. It works great. I’m on year three and just now planning to top off a bit with straight stone dust. The spots right outside the stalls have lost footing and need another 2-3 inches but otherwise they are in great shape. In the one that doubles as my outdoor wash stall, I put in a mud panel to lessen the chances of wash outs.

[trubandloki]

@jvanrens

I’m not sure if red clay is different than the plain old clay we have around here for the most part (we do have pockets of red clay), but it is nasty stuff when it gets wet and can hold water a bit more than I think you would want in a run. A small amount might stabilize the sand a bit, but I’d be worried about adding too much and turning the run into a swamp.

That turns to a brick as soon as it dries.

I suppose adding clay might make a nicer base if you are going to put mats down.

I have mats outside my stalls. (I have an overhang there.)

[cnd8]

@4horses

Sand makes a decent footing. It usually drains well, dries quickly and provided you muck, it holds up well.

Exactly! I wouldn’t add any clay. That’ll make it boggy and slower to drain.