Ramp leading into stalls

[CrescentMinis]

Our first mini mares (2) coming home in 2 weeks!!

Help....looking for ideas to bridge the 15" high concrete sill on the lower side of the building we are making into a barn, where the stalls open into the runs. The concrete foundation can't be cut out any lower than it already is.

What about possibly:

..... building the ground up to the doorways somehow (the horse traffic will probably be too much to keep this at a decent level, right?)

..... building ramps out of pressure treated lumber and applying rubber matting of some sort to the walking surface so it's non-slip?

Anyone have any other ways this could be done safely?

Thanks in advance!

~ Faith

 

[Marty]

It would help if you can please post a picture :lol:

15" isn't bad.........What comes to mind first is dumping a load of hard dirt across there or a load of chat if you can get that.

 

[Minimor]

I'd be inclined to try & build it up with packed clay/gravel/sand--drawbacks are that yes, the horse traffic will keep reducing the level of the packed footing, so regular maintenance would be needed (adding more gravel/sand/? to keep it built up) and worse, if there's a large amount of rain & it's running off the roof right onto that area, it will be likely to wash away. If there is an eavestrough to direct water away from that area, or if the doorway is at the end of the barn rather than under the sloping roof, washing isn't an issue.

Two drawbacks to the ramp idea (for me) are as follows:

1-in a group of several horses, it's quite possible for one to get after another, chasing/pushing it so that it runs/slips/falls off the side of the ramp. With only a couple of horses, if they get along well this may not be a problem for you.

2-rubber mats get slippery in very cold weather. I see you are in the Pacific northwest so that's not as big an issue for you as it would be for me here in Manitoba!

I would favor using packed earth, but that's just me.

 

[ChrystalPaths]

Packed earth for sure, they have this mix here that is small stone and clay like dirt used to build our roads. then cover it with some sort of sawdust and then as the days go by lay the pee sawdust on top and it will never be muddy and yukky. I did this and love it!

 

[CrescentMinis]

Thanks so much for the input. I will go with the packed earth idea. Sounds the safest, since from what I know, the younger of the 2 girls wants to be alpha and push the older, mellower mare around.

~ Faith

 

[BFS_Simon_Says]

we are just finishing the building of my new barn and we raised it up 14" so all my doorways have a load of 1" gravel as a base with crusher dust over top... works perfect

 

[wantminimore]

I've had good luck with crushed tar, it packs down good.

If you do decide to go with a ramp you can use roofing shingles on it for grip. I had a ramp going into my barn and that's what I used.

Leslie