Horse barn, stall footing?

[BigDamnFool]

I'm trying to get our barn in order so we can get our horses to our new place and was wondering what people use for footing under their stalls. I have excavated about 18" of compacted brown clay and cut in some drainage lines but I'm not sure what to put on top of it. I was thinking of putting in about 8" of slag sand and top it with 4" limestone finings or paver base or something of that nature. We plan to use rubber mats on top of base with about 4" cedar shavings on top of the mats. Am I headed in the right direction with the base material. I want something that is pretty compacted yet has good drainage and preferably low maintenance. I sure don't want to have to dig this out on a regular basis. The 6" difference is going to be a step down into the stalls so as to make a little more headroom for our 17 H and 17.1 H TB's. It seems easier to dig down than to raise the loft above. Any advice I can get I would sure appreciate as I am new to boarding my horses at home, though I have had horses for 25 years. Thanks in advance for any input.

Tiny

 

[dubba]

We use compacted stonedust, geotextile (landscape fabric type stuff) to filter big things that get past the mats edge, & the mats are cut to fit the stall with gaps as small as possible.

Are you above the outside grade with the mats?

 

[SteveH_CT]

Sure sounds like you're on the right track. On ours I chose a site that is slightly elevated to begin with. I then FEL'd about 10" down, filled it with 3/4" stone. Barn was dropped on the 3/4" and tied down. Then I lined the stalls with heavy landscape fabric (keep the stone dust from filtering into the 3/4"), 3" to 4" of compacted stone dust, then the rubber mats onto the compacted base. I was pressed for time, so I settled on the 3/4" thick rubber mats - steenkin heavy! If I had time I would look at alternatives that will be easier to haul out for cleaning. Then we use wood shavings for the comfy part.

Good Luck with your barn.

Steve

 

[riptides]

Previous barn - clay, 6 inches of stone dust, rubber mats

Current barn - (old Dairy, being "renovated" - concrete, 6 inches of stone dust and rubber mats

-Mike Z.

 

[BigDamnFool]

Dubba, Steve, and Mike,

Thanks for the input. I'm about 3 feet above grade on that side of the barn. The other side will be about 2 feet above grade when done. I spoke with a local large barn ( 50 horses ) owner today, who also gave me the thumbs up on my idea but warned me of all the dangers of the limestone base and drying out hooves if any of it gets above the mats. The other brainstorm I had today was to put a floor drain, like a shower, in the middle of the stall floor and putting a small slope from the edges to it and then cutting a hole in the rubber mats to expose the floor drain. A barn we were in a few years back did this but they were just 1" mats over concrete but stall cleaning was a breeze there. Just hose it down, let it dry and add bedding. Does this sound like a feaseable idea or am I just trying to get out of doing work. Thanks again for the input.

Tiny


Mike Z.,

I'm glad to see that your project is continuing in the right direction. Keep up the good work.

 

[SteveH_CT]

I can see the attraction of the floor drains - I didn't do it for many reasons,

1. - too rushed
2. - too lazy
3. - Seemed like it might clog from wood chips and horse chip debris.

Hopefully someone who has them can better answer your inquiry.

 

[riptides]

The other brainstorm I had today was to put a floor drain,

Previous barn had a french-drain type system in each stall. BUT it did not drain out to anything.

Reality is that the horses are pastured mostly, only using the barn stalls for bad weather or getting ready for work.

The clay-french-drain-stonedust-rubber mats and sawdust with WoodyPet (TM) system kept and keeps our horses hoofs dry and healthy looking.

A small chemical dry powder (I want to say PVC?) made especially for horse stalls, keeps the urine smell under control. When they are in there. Our horses seem to be of mind that the stall is a bathroom. The minute they get in there they just unload. Go figure.

Anyway, the system we have seems to work for us. With our current concrete barn floor, my stalls are sloped anyway, and drainage is not how I would like it, but it is what it is, and I ain't busting into a 100 year old barn floor.

Best of luck, and don't work too hard. Worst case, in 5 - 10 years you strip it all out again....

-Mike Z.

 

[855ROOKIE]

Can I suggest you go with "comfort stalls" ? Best thing I EVER did for my horses.

4" of crushed rubber in a corrogated cloth square 4x4 ft topped with a thick layer of some kind of poly and secured 3" up the walls of each stall. Feels like pasture to the horse and its great for their legs and feet. Easily washes out and the shaving savings is AWESOME

 

[Chilly807]

I don't know what you have for a stall layout, but here's what we're doing with ours.

The concrete edges of the foundation/frost walls are notched 2 inches horizontally and vertically, leaving a 2x2 cutout in the inner top edge of the wall. You lay the end of a piece of rough cut 2 inch lumber in the cutout on each of the walls, which gives the horse a "suspended floor" under them. We add a support under the middle of the run if necessary. No problems with it, other than having to replace a broken plank once in a while.

Our stalls are about 10x10, the planks will easily support a horse provided you use a center support.

Sean

 

[beenthere]

Can I suggest you go with "comfort stalls" ? Best thing I EVER did for my horses.

4" of crushed rubber in a corrogated cloth square 4x4 ft topped with a thick layer of some kind of poly and secured 3" up the walls of each stall. Feels like pasture to the horse and its great for their legs and feet. Easily washes out and the shaving savings is AWESOME

:welcome:

Not that it is a bad thing, but the thread was about 5 years old. Then again, others may learn from the updated responses.