We have gravel with aglime in top and then stall mats over that

 

Did you excavate down under the shed or build up from ground level?

 

Ours is concrete with mats. Not ideal, but it works.


One of my good friends just redid her pastures/paddocks last year. She hauled in crushed rock and had it compacted around and inside her sheds, then put non-slip mats down. In the winter, she beds deeply with shavings and then dry cornstalks so the horses have a fluffy footing to lie down in that dries easily so the top layer stays dry. They will nibble the cornstalks, but it's never been an issue (many people buy round bales of stalks to use for winter feed, so they're widely available).



At my parents' farm, the shed was on skids, so we simply moved it 2-3 times a year. Once the floor got lower than ground level and started to pool, we'd just move the shed. Worked great! It also allowed us to put the shed in the most convenient and wind-proof area for the horses for winter, and out in an airy, breezy spot for summer for bug protection.

 

@egrogan we built on top of the ground and did not remove any dirt. Ours have fairly high ceilings and we had used them for a couple of years before adding the gravel and mats. So we had removed some of the dirt when cleaning. We do find we have to put gravel at the opening of the sheds about every other year. Mine are not in an open pasture - mine are used as individual stalls with runs in front of them - they are built in a shed row (we have 3 15 x15 stalls) all in a row with long pens out in front.

 

The sheds were placed directly on the ground with about 6 inches of sand footing, and bedded with shavings directly on top of the sand. We knew we'd have to come back to address the footing to make it more sustainable, particularly in the shed that everyone has decided is their favorite pee spot. :icon_rolleyes:

Mats or no mats

I don't have run-ins but barn with stalls and dirt floors...
I add shavings in as needed to keep the dirt from packing, absorb horsey smells and it helps repel the flies it seems.
No idea what to suggest for a base....


What I will make a suggestion of....
You want to stop the horses peeing in the run-in...
Stop making it so soft and inviting a place for them.
Remove and don't put in those shavings so they get splashed when they urinate...they will soon find a spot outside to pee.
I also am not a fan or mats, but with rain and snow that leads to wet ground and thaws...it would be mats on the ground so the horses have a dry spot to go stand on out of the weather.

Digging down to build a base is fine, but build your base up high so a pad is established underneath so when the ground compacts from concentrated weight {hooves} on it it stays above grade, not sink and invite a low-lying soggy hole that will stink and breed bacteria that would just love to get in those feet. :evil:


For me, where I live...if I had to do this...
I would frame a base...then add the below ingredients...
I would be using 2.5" - 3" limestone road base, compacted then add sand, plain sand, then mats on top if I needed something like this.
It won't last forever, but as needed add those materials and do it again.
10 yards of base and 10 yards of sand by me would cost about $150.00
Should be more than enough to do a 10'x20' shed when starting with flat ground and not digging down much.
:runninghorse2:...
jmo...

 

The ones we had in the pastures in Tx were dug out and crushed run was compacted in then topped with road base and covered with sand. There was a footing board around the raised portion (three sides) and it was graded so that any wet went out H9hopefully) before down. No shavings and no mats. Worked really well.

 

In my stalls I put down a few inches of gravel then the stall savers stall liner things.....they're AMAZING! Best decision I ever made. I don't even use bedding over top. Pee drains through the liner into the gravel/earth then I just scoop poop.

 

I have used crusher run as my flooring in my barns and stalls. Then 3/4 inch mats on top of that and some pelleted bedding so they won't get splashed when they pee. It's not cushy enough to make them come in to pee, but it's enough to keep them from splashing. The pelleted bedding is dampened when it's put down, dries to a real fluffy consistency, then when they pee it's easy to scoop like clumping cat litter. You can easily take up the mats and add more crusher run as needed.

 

We use aglime and keep a pile of it in the barn lot so we can add as needed. @horselovinguy, I wish you'd tell my horses they aren't supposed to like to pee where there's a possibility of it splashing on their legs. I don't use any bedding but it doesn't stop them from peeing in the barn, they're too lazy to walk out to the grass.

 

My friend has a mare who will seek out the one little patch of concrete around an old pump in a 7 acre pasture to pee on... she must like the splashing? She's gross. She also swishes her tail while she pees so she ends up splashed all over her legs, sides, and hips. Amy gave up showing her as she was so impossible to keep clean. She's gray (now white) and prefer filth of any type over clean and comfortable.