This Equestrian Center in Florida had two horses sharing one manger-style hay feeder with no protection surrounding it. The soft sand was frequently leveled, only to see trenches re-appear within a day. This was resulting in an imbalanced posture for the horses, as well as strain on their front legs. Additionally, edible hay was being lost in the mud, quickly turning to costly waste, and putting horses at increased risk of sand colic. In need of fresh horse hay feeder ideas, the owners turned to Ecoraster for a permeable paving solution that would improve horse health through soil stabilization and mud control.
PREPARATION and installation OfPermeable Horse Hay Feeder
Preparation
The existing horse hay feeder was removed from the area and the location was leveled and prepared with a 2” layer of new sand that was packed using a lawn tractor.
Installation
Ecoraster E40 was placed on the leveled sand, creating a 144 square foot layer of Ecoraster grid. The porous grid was filled with 2 inches of new sand, packed, and leveled-off to expose the grid beneath it. The horse hay feeder was re-installed in its original location.
AFTER
Mission accomplished! The Ecoraster E40 installation immediately stopped trench digging around the horse hay feeder, which reduced the manual labour involved in repair, eliminated the strain on the horses’ legs, and improved equine mud management – decreasing the costly expenses from edible hay becoming lost in the mud.
