Farrier says asphalt millings are a no go. Says he did a barn in TN that used it in barn and dry lot pens and that it was AWFUL. His opinion was very firm.
While I was already turned off using this material; I’ve added farrier’s opinion for posterity
Mine was finished in June last year. I didn’t see where the screenings came from on anything I signed off on. I bet they came from Andalusia since it’s only 45 minutes from me. From what I remember it’s grade 10 limestone screenings with fines. I wanted the fines in it so it wasn’t just rock. Besides me, a church wanted it for their parking lot around the same time.
For me it packs just fine & he rolled it for me too. In the 2 months or so the horse has been home I already have a path along the fence line, outside the Dutch door & a few spots where he rolls that need to be filled in eventually. Not terrible, just normal wear.
I haven’t been to the dressage barn either but might down the road to audit a clinic. You’re in a good spot for barns. There isn’t much by me.
Thank you for the details that is very helpful.
I will probably roll myself. Presumably I can rent some sort of equipment.
I think some minor touch ups and fill are to be expected. What you describe sounds very reasonable!
Yes that barn has some interesting clinicians visit. Pretty big names. She hosts saddle fittings as well which I’d like to go to one day! I’ve moved further west to the state line now. The barn I’m boarding at in Milton is good though. Very reliable care. It’s like pockets of decent horse stuff and then blank expanses of nothing around here!
My barn guy recommended the lime fines. He prefers it over any other base.
I was planning on doing clay until he talked me out of it and I’m glad he did!
Do you have clay under the lime fines?
The conditions here in coastal New England are very different from yours but our native base is fine clay. Lots of it. I get “processed asphalt” which I think is what you’re calling asphalt millings. I get it from a company that does driveway and highway repaving. They give it to me. Literally. Truckloads.
I use it in high traffic areas which include areas around paddock gates, lanes and water tanks. Within a year it gets mixed in with the clay so that we have a firm base that holds up to water without becoming deep gluey mud. If I had been able to get it when I was doing my barn I would have used it in stalls over 2-3in crushed stone and under mats. Instead I paid for stone dust. We did a concrete center aisle for stability in our freeze/ thaw conditions.
Don’t know if that’s helpful. Only other thing I can say is that if we leave piles of processed asphalt standing in summer heat they will solidify quite a bit. If we spread them the material just helps “set up” the clay in wet conditions while having some give in dry but not solidifying.
As someone who has done this–it sucks. You really don’t want that.
Curious why you say this @Simkie. Perhaps I didn’t describe what we did well, but we’ve been in our 11 stall barn for 14 years and the stalls have been great.
Because we had to have a 4 foot deep foundation, we filled it with 2-3 inch crushed stone. Topped that with 6 inches of packed stone dust and then placed rubber mats on top. It works well and has held up.
Perhaps the processed asphalt would have packed too hard and not allowed drainage? Anyway, we didn’t use it inside, but we use it outdoors whenever we can get it.
Yeah, packed stone dust works great.
Millings don’t. Because it’s a bunch of chunks instead of grains, it’s a nightmare to properly level. And no matter how much you tamp with the vibrating plate tamper, you pull pieces of it off the top when you drag in your mats, totally destroying that perfect, flat, level surface you worked so hard to create. You wind up needing two people, so you can lift and CARRY mats into the stalls and carefully place. If they have to be slid around at all, pieces of millings move underneath, you wind up with lumps above your level surface, screwing up how your mats lie.
And then it wears just like screenings. Doesn’t ever get that really nice firm set you expected, probably because it’s “inside” and never gets warmed by the sun.
Overall 0/10, do not recommend at all. I thought it would work well, too, but absolutely not. Never again. Not even if it’s free. It’s not the right material for the job.
Thanks @Simkie. I was thinking I had not been as frugal as I could have been, but it has worked out for the best 
The BO where I board used asphalt millings on the driveways. It worked pretty well but you could see there were some larger chunks. (It eventually leveled somewhat but not completely which was nice for car traction) When she contacted the company to do some fill prior to constructing run-in sheds she asked about using the same. Although they do paving and had millings, they didnt recommend it for the sheds or paddocks. They used some kind of stonedust mixture instead.
I used it in my barn because a boarding barn I’d been at had used it in a run in for my horses. It really worked great there! Such a nice solid surface, and CHEAP. Horses didn’t lie down in the shed, or eat in there.
But under mats, or where they eat, or as the sole surface horses are on? Nooooooooooo…
(Can you tell in still a little scarred from that whole experience? Mats are such a nightmare to put in, millings under them made it SO much worse.)
They scraped down to a base that is a natural clay/dirt mix. Then they put #4 crushed limestone as the base and then covered in lime fines. You can see from the wood box how much they built the barn up to prevent flooding.
We also have the gutters empty into underground drainage tubes to funnel the water away from type barn. So glad I did!
I highly recommend when building that you plan for drainage.
Nice! Thank you for sharing those great pics! That’s really interesting that the whole pad is the lime. Is it boxed in all the way around? I like how deep the pad is. It must be comforting knowing your barn is high and dry!
Here under the top soil is a sand red clay mix. Some spots are sandier than others. It drains nicely in general. I’m planning on gutters and swales or basic French drains to control the water off the roof.
What kind of mats are those, you know the brand?
All we have around here are the straight edge ones.
Those look interesting.
Here are some similar available through Tractor Supply.
https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/group-summit-mighty-lite-mat
Two things to add-Cashman’s in Delaware, OH sells interlocking mats. They are, hands down, the best. Asphalt grindings can vary in quality tremendously. I’ve seen some that were so fine they did look like a paved driveway, and others w two or three inch chunks.
I got mine through The Rubberman. This is the second barn I’ve done with their mats and I just love the quality and thickness.
If you are interested PM me and I can give you the sales person I’ve worked with both times.
Yep the whole pad is large limestone with lime fines and boxed in that high all the way around. The French drains are sooo worth it!
Thank you very much.
May just do that when we are ready for some, not quite yet now.
They do look like they would be good ones for permanent uses.
That barn is going to be awesome, bet you are going to be happy with it.
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