6 Tips to Create Safe Winter Footing in Your Barn

December 02, 2024

These Simple Tips Can Keep Horses and Humans Safe 

When temperatures drop below freezing, slick and frozen footing can jeopardize the safety of horses and humans around your barn. A slip or fall can result in fractures, soft tissue tears and strains, and more. Creating safe winter footing is a multi-step process that you need to start early, but you can absolutely accomplish this goal if you plan. Preventing a single injury can make the process worth it, so start developing your safe winter footing strategy now. These tips can help.  

Strategically Direct Water 

Take a careful look at your property’s topography. Do any hills or slopes direct water down toward your barn? If so, regarding the property it can channel water away from the horse stable, preventing it from freezing and improving the safety of the surrounding ground.  

French drains can also help capture runoff water and channel it into more appropriate area. These drains are typically buried about two feet underneath the earth and slope, so water runs down through them. They’re covered with gravel, and water seeps down through the gravel into the drain. At the end of the drain, you might deposit water into a drain field or downward slope that further carries it away from your barn.  

Gutters are another excellent investment in creating safe winter footing around your barn. Gutters and downspouts can direct water away from your barn, rather than letting it pool around the perimeter, where it can later freeze. Investing in a gutter system can save you lots of time sanding and salting large areas of ice. Just make sure that you choose a system that’s easy to maintain; you may want to buy gutter guards so that you don’t have to worry about cleaning out clogged gutters.  

Use Mud Control Grids 

If winter rain or snow frequently turns areas on your property into deep mud, mud control grids can help solve the problem. Mud control grids create a surface above the mud for humans and horses to walk over. They provide enhanced grip for safety even in wet weather, and the perforations allow for effective water flow to help reduce standing water and mud. Since the grids can withstand cold temperatures and UV rays, they’re suitable for year-round use, and they’re specifically designed to withstand harsh weather conditions and heavy traffic.  

Mud control grids require minimal site preparation, so they’re a mud control solution you can easily implement on your equestrian property. Their interlocking design makes for a straightforward installation and helps to prevent them from shifting. These mud control grids are ideal for those problematic areas around your equestrian property, including your pastures, gates, paddocks, water trough surrounds, and more.  

Carefully Choose Your Barn Aisle Flooring 

Horses and humans track plenty of mud, snow, and water into your barn aisle during the winter, so carefully choose barn aisle flooring to maximize traction and safety, even when it’s wet. Rubber aisle pavers are particularly ideal, since they’re slip-resistant when wet or dry in addition to having anti-shock and anti-bacterial properties.

Secondly, we all spend more time indoors during the colder, wetter Winter months. This means that we often spend more time standing in the aisle. For this reason, our rubber pavers add ample cushion to tired feet allowing your feet (hooves) and knees to have comfort throughout the day. Our rubber pavers come in two thicknesses including a 7/8" thickness for concrete applications with a glue adhesive. Our second option is a thicker 1-3/4" rubber paver that can be installed on both natural substrates or concrete. 

Lastly, our Rubber Pavers also make a beautiful addition to your horse barn. The dog-bone, interlocking pattern provide any barn a sophisticated look. We offer rubber aisle pavers in various colors to help you meet the aesthetic that you desire for your barn. This includes black, terra cotta, grey, and forest green, ensuring there’s an option that’s perfect for your barn. 

Maximize Traction in Horse Stalls 

Your horse stall flooring also plays an important role in helping to prevent slips and falls. We offer products like our interlocking rubber mats that are designed to maximize comfort and traction for horses and their handlers. Our interlocking rubber mats are 3/4" thick which provide increased comfort on top of concrete. They also feature laser-cut dovetail tabs which interlock tightly. This ensures a tight fit so they won’t shift while in use and also will minimize urine from seeping through.   

Alternatively, our StableComfort Horse Stall Mattress is a world class upgrade for your horse stall's flooring. Our Mattress is a waterproof mat system that’s slip-resistant and designed to maximize your horse’s comfort. This system is efficient and economical; it can reduce the amount of bedding you need and cut down on your stall cleaning time. During the colder Winter months, this mattress system truly shines as your horse spends more time in stall rest away from the elements. Our mattresses are 3-5 inches thick which allow for a comfortable, supporting flooring for your horses. You can learn more about our Stall Mattress Systems in our recent blog post. 

Focus on Riding Ring Footing 

If you’ve previously had issues with your indoor arena footing freezing, then you may need to invest in magnesium chloride flakes. Adding these flakes to your riding ring footing can help reduce dust and prevent the footing from freezing. Depending on your ring’s construction, size, and use, you may need to repeatedly add magnesium chloride to the ring throughout the winter.  

You can also reduce the risk of your indoor ring footing by working to keep moisture out of the footing. Look for low spots where water may be seeping in underneath doors or arena edges; you may need to regrade the property to prevent these issues. If your roof or windows are leaking, repairing them can cut down on moisture and prevent those spots from freezing.  

Don’t forget the importance of regularly dragging your ring, too. Create a schedule to ensure you keep up with dragging, which can also help prevent freezing and can preserve the quality of your footing.  

Have Plenty of Salt or Sand Ready 

Stock up on plenty of salt or sand to use outside of your barn. Keep salt or sand easily accessible in covered buckets or containers placed throughout your property. If you need to add traction to areas where horses will be walking, try to use salt or sand instead of manure and used shavings; manure and shavings can insulate the ice, so it will stay around longer while the surrounding ice eventually melts.  

Work on Creating Safe Winter Flooring Today 

With some careful planning and preventative measures, you can prepare your barn for winter and reduce frozen, icy, snowy ground and help prevent mud from being a wintertime problem for your equestrian property. At American Stalls, we’re happy to help you plan out your property improvements to create safer winter footing. Contact us today at (855) 957-8255 or email us at sales@americanstalls.com to schedule a consultation and ask any questions.  

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