Outdoor turnout

[MarySanderson]

We've decided to sacrifice a bit of paddock and make a small outdoor turnout. We're on chalk, so aiming to scrape away soil, level off, put membrane down and some sort of surface. It won't be big enough to ride on, as smallest dimension is 10m. We do have some flexibility in the other dimension, so what size would you choose? It's for a single horse and a tiny pony.

I realise that this will probably guarantee a beautiful dry spring from now on, but can be used as a lami pen in the summer too.

Is 10mx10m too small? could probably go to 18mx10m at a push, but is there a benefit to this? Just want space to roll & kick and scoff hay, although would the hay be better fed in the shelter?

If you'll use it as a lami pen I'd go as big as you possibly can and put hay at one end and water at the other. It's better to do it in one go coz if you try to extend later you'll have trouble getting it level and stabilizing the join. 10x10 is a small outdoor srable... The more you encourage a lami prone equine to move the better off they are, mustn't force them though.

Make it as large as possible. You'll most likely need planning permission.

@Mysa74

If you'll use it as a lami pen I'd go as big as you possibly can and put hay at one end and water at the other. It's better to do it in one go coz if you try to extend later you'll have trouble getting it level and stabilizing the join. 10x10 is a small outdoor srable... The more you encourage a lami prone equine to move the better off they are, mustn't force them though.

It's 10m not 10 feet.

A 10 foot by 10 foot stable is 100 square feet, at a minimum this pen will be a over 1000 square feet.

Are you going to put in drainage channels?

No. Half of it is already chalk hardstanding over chalk. We have very, very shallow soils. To make an arena locally, people just scrape off soil, level, membrane and fill. The muddiest fields are only fetlock deep at worst.

We had bark chippings put down over hard core which turned half our stable yard into a turnout area, as it was too large to concrete and the hard core was already there. It was fantastic, you need a lot and it does break down and need a replacing but if you can find a timber yard locally it’s almost a waste product for them and can be reasonably priced.

We have a hard standing area. We used road planings. Needs scraping by tractor a couple of times a year but otherwise still good! I’d go for as big an area as you can x

I'd go for the bigger size, in case you find yourself needing to confine horses for longer periods. Is an Equicentral system possible at all, in your situation?