What to use in paddock?

[Ponylove]

Hi All! I have 3 minis and we dug up their paddock and put crushed stone down. I’d like to put sand down on top to make it nice and soft footing. They keep getting rocks in their hooves as their is some rocks mixed in with the crushed stone. It’s also hard to clean out their paddock with rocks everywhere. I am worried about using sand because of sand colic. I do a treatment of sand clear for all 3 each month.

Just wondering what you all use and if you have any suggestions? Thanks so much!

 

[LostandFound]

My dry lot is just crushed stone. It's also called screenings. It's soft, they love to roll in it, and it doesn't have rocks in it. And super easy to clean. The grains are a little larger than sand, but not anything I would call rocks. Yours sounds more like what we call modified than crushed stone. If you put sand down rocks are just going to work their way through it. If you put deep sand down you risk them pulling something. But I do think the crushed stone can cause sand colic too. My mare developed what looked suspiciously like a baby bump last year. I finally figured out that she was pulling tiny weeds out of the crushed stone and eating them stone and all. She never got sick from it but if it was enough to bloat her she probably just got lucky.

 

[Kelly]

Mine dry lot is just dirt right now. Big rocks are starting to come up so I might also have to come up with a new footing plan. I don’t think I would go with sand because of sand colic, I just wouldn’t risk it. I was thinking pea gravel, it is suppose to be really good for their hooves, but that is a whole lot of pea gravel.

 

[Standards Equine]

Pea gravel is really popular in wet areas for dry lot as well. Much easier to clean. We have dirt at home though, dirt and clay.

 

[thathorsecrazychick]

I personally do not have a dry lot , but the field i have my mini in is basically a giant dry lot there's the tiniest bit of grass ever

 

[Edelweiss]

I have sand mixed with clay now and it is amazing. The sand isn't beach sand though, it's more of a coarse, heavy sand and it's a perfect mix with the clay. Any water drains almost immediately so there is no mud which is wonderful. None of the horses, who had already been for 10+ years, have been on a sand treatment either which was good to know when we moved.
If I wanted to add more footing anywhere though, in turnout pens for example, I would use concrete sand. It's smaller than pea gravel but still basically small rocks. And it's heavy so it won't blow or kick up dust. Makes a nice cushion too.