04.06.07
Peastone Gravel for Horses Winter Upkeep
Last November we installed 3/8-inch peastone gravel for our horses under a 12×20 ft. shed roof shelter against our horse barn. The intent was to benefit our three barefoot horses: to stimulate their hoof growth, toughen their soles, and hopefully keep their hoof walls worn down so that professional trimmings might be less frequent.
I found winter maintenance of the peastone to be very tolerable this first year. In blowing snowstorms, snow did accumulate on the gravel. I would scrape and shovel it off by hand, trying not to take away much gravel. Remaining snow and what the horses carried in did turn into ice clumps, but the gravel remained effective because it never packed solid. It did freeze up close to the surface, but the top inch or so (of 3-4 inches total gravel depth) did not freeze and remained loose enough for their hooves to stir it around.
In March we got plenty of snow with thawing days in between, and the last couple of snows I didn’t bother to scrape off the pea gravel because it melted so quickly. The horses were on the gravel for most of their hay feedings (twice daily) and occasionally just to loaf or shelter.
The horse went 9 weeks without trimming and could have gone probably 2 weeks longer because they were in decent shape. I had them trimmed in March because they were going to be used during April and it wasn’t going to be convenient to have it done then.
For what it’s worth, in New Hampshire winters our horses’ hooves do not grow very much anyway due to the cold. In past winters (when they wore shoes in summer,) I have pulled their shoes from October or November until April. Sometimes their feet got worn down too much, especially on some problem horses with softer hooves.
In general I am pleased with the pea gravel so far.
See all the updated blog info on using peastone gravel for horsekeeping… and be sure to look for other folks’ COMMENTS at the end of these posts.
Stacey Christiansen said,
April 25, 2007 at 8:19 am
We also tried the peat gravel this winter (in Iowa) and have been very pleased with the results. The horses hooves look great, it was easy to take care of and it was better for us than slopping through our typical winter mud.
Tami Ensio said,
May 4, 2007 at 9:10 pm
We are thinking about putting pea gravel in our pen in Quebec. If you have a moment, can you tell me if you used washed or unwashed gravel?
Thank you!
petArtist said,
May 5, 2007 at 4:28 pm
wow tamara, I have no idea if it was washed or not… it seemed pretty clean but I had nothing to compare it to. I would advise looking at both options to decide, you wouldn’t want it to have a whole ton of dust or sand in it to start with, although it WILL end up collecting dirt, dust and decomposed manure no matter what you do. Just be sure to get plenty extra so you can top it off periodically, as it gets lost over time.
petArtist Cmoses said,
May 11, 2007 at 9:47 am
On further inquiry, it appears we used washed pea gravel. It would be highly preferable to start out with the cleanest possible– it will do the job longer and won’t pack down like unwashed might.