Anyone else really struggling?

mine isn't too bad but it is bad enough that I'm jealous of everyone that has stables for their horses! mine have a shelter with a concrete base but the water run down towards it so I can't put any bedding in for them! it was fine up until new year but now is getting muddy and still trying to keep the hole in my mares foot clean, which is fun!
 
dorsetladette said:
She's telling fibs!!!

I have 3 out 24/7 on sandy soil and it's not fine - it's really not fine!!! I've never had a problem with mud, but even my 'it never gets wet' field is struggling. I'm totally done with heaving water through ankle deep slurry type mud. I've not ridden since 1472 and and I think that was the last time I also saw the sun.

We're all in the same boat (pardon the pun). Last night I was trying to work out how to minimise the amount of hay needed between now and when the grass grows back, but I can't even see us being able to close off a field to rest it anytime soon. I think the BHS or similar need to set up a free support line for horse owners in winter.
Click to expand...
I concur. Also on Sandy soil. The grass is being pulled up by the roots as there's nothing holding them anymore, the ground is so soft. I've given up trying to prepare the area around the shelter. Grass mats were put down in summer, but no grass growth meant that they just sank in the Autumn once rain started, but we're not allowed to use hardcore or anything that doesn't rot down.
 
I've just sent the young horse that isn’t mine home as the land is completely saturated and I have moved the other 2 young ones onto the Spring grazing I was aiming to save until March, so that will end up needing repair work, but their winter field was just too muddy. The older 2 are now coming into the hard standing pen during the day and then get an hour on good grass before going out into their winter field which is bare and a bit muddy but not too bad.
I have never known it this bad
 
We’re on sand. Not much in the way of mud but parts of it turn into a lake instead…

10 acres between 8 ponies at the moment, most of whom are under 13hh. I have about two acres of grass left that I am strip grazing into. Feeding haylage alongside that to make it last.
 
Last edited:
Oh god yes, I’m utterly miserable. Drowning in mud, horses can get out of it as top half of the hill is dry enough but I feel awful for them having to slog through hock deep mud to get in and out the shelters and to the water etc. It also makes life so hard, putting haylage out is like an SAS mission trudging through the mud sucking you down, trying not to fall over etc. I haven’t managed to get their feet trimmed in 9 weeks as it’s just too muddy which I feel awful about. I hate it all. The only thing keeping me going is that we are in February and it HAS to improve at some point…….
 
There’s standing hay at our field which of course yard owner won’t let us use 😆. Fields holding up considering. Only three on seven acres of chalk. Sadly our shire cross mare died and as a result the ground is less churned up. Ponies look a bit fed up!
 

Attachments

  • IMG_1988.jpeg
    IMG_1988.jpeg
    83.5 KB · Views: 27
Yep, I am too.

Some nights once I've finally managed to heave the wheelbarrow through the deep mud to get it where it needs to be, I have to stop myself from just standing there and crying! Trying to get hay from bales of haylage stored outside, wind keeps blowing wet muddy tarp around and not staying back, rain is constantly battering down on you, then carrying said hay in heavy nets either by pushing them in a wheelbarrow through mud soup while trying not to get stuck yourself or falling over or carrying them over your shoulders while penguin walking through the mud to stay upright. Then going back through it all with heavy barrows full of sh!t; all while doing it in the pitch black after a long day at work with just a head torch. Oh and God forbid you stop in that mud for more than 5 seconds as you'll get suctioned to it! My back is killing me, I'm constantly filthy and I just can't be bothered.

My youngster who has the coat of a grizzly bear is also developing dreadlocks made out of mud that just won't brush out, his belly underneath is absolutely disgusting and there's no way you'd be able to put a girth on it while it's like that where it's all dried in! I'm going to have to clip a girth section out at this rate. And there's nothing nicer than brushing dried mud and having it all get blown back in your face at the same time or having a wet muddy rug blow back over your head when putting it back on after changing a liner.

The only good side is that once through the areas of mud, the fields are okay albeit a lot of surface water and a little bit slippery. My two have a shelter each with rubber matting so can at least get out of it but it's safe to say, I'm truly fed up too.
 
dorsetladette said:
She's telling fibs!!!
Click to expand...

I mean, this is mad. Everywhere's different. Mine are out 24/7 and don't have mud (Suffolk, good draining land) and I don't even have the best draining land on the yard.

Previous places (further south) I'd have been up to my knees in mud this year.

There's so much variation between soil types and topography, you just can't generalise.

I hope it gets better for the OP, though. I know how soul destroying endless mud and rain feels.
 
February is awful, it will get better.

My horses had 2 breakfasts this morning then out onto 30 acres which does have some grass with their friends and I'm pretty sure they've stood at the muddy gateway most of the day.

We don't seem to get the extreme weather the rest of you are experiencing but we're on clay and mosslands and those who rent little fields are under water.

We do have to accept this is probably the new normal. Wet land, low grass growth and hay shortages meaning high prices and feeding year round. We need more hard standing on small plots and unfortunately fewer horses if the budget isn't there.

Someone on our lane has just sent all her horses off to grass livery in Wales for the rest of the winter and is making some hard choices about what she'll be able to do next year. It's heart breaking when you've done fine for decades.
 
JFTDWS said:
I mean, this is mad. Everywhere's different. Mine are out 24/7 and don't have mud (Suffolk, good draining land) and I don't even have the best draining land on the yard.

Previous places (further south) I'd have been up to my knees in mud this year.

There's so much variation between soil types and topography, you just can't generalise.

I hope it gets better for the OP, though. I know how soul destroying endless mud and rain feels.
Click to expand...
It was meant tongue in cheek.
 
Mines usually out 24/7 & chooses to be that way, but this year his paddock is completely saturated with a layer of water in most places.

Despite me opening the gate every morning to give him access, he now only literally ventures out for a change of scenery for an hour or so during the day. The rest of the time he's choosing to stay in with his nets either inside his shelter or on the mud mats outside.
Without those mud mats I'd have lost my sanity this winter, no doubt.

The livery down the road is holding up well but they're in for days and days on end & only out when its dry.
 
I must admit I am feeling a bit down about the mud/mess/water but it is February. I think i always feel a bit like this at this time of year , though I am looking forward to only having 2 ponies by the summer which will feel a lot easier
 
It took me over ten years to find a little place to rent by myself, ponies live out 24/7 but well hay’d, small area of hard standing (well mud control mats) and lots and lots of welly sucking mud!

They have areas to get out of the mud so I’m trying not to worry about it, fields will recover if I remember to chuck some poo and grass seed about 🤞
 
GrassChop said:
Yep, I am too.

Some nights once I've finally managed to heave the wheelbarrow through the deep mud to get it where it needs to be, I have to stop myself from just standing there and crying! Trying to get hay from bales of haylage stored outside, wind keeps blowing wet muddy tarp around and not staying back, rain is constantly battering down on you, then carrying said hay in heavy nets either by pushing them in a wheelbarrow through mud soup while trying not to get stuck yourself or falling over or carrying them over your shoulders while penguin walking through the mud to stay upright. Then going back through it all with heavy barrows full of sh!t; all while doing it in the pitch black after a long day at work with just a head torch. Oh and God forbid you stop in that mud for more than 5 seconds as you'll get suctioned to it! My back is killing me, I'm constantly filthy and I just can't be bothered.
Click to expand...

I could have written this! A perfect summary !
 
A quick mud/wet winter tip for ANY of you who are using wheelbarrows to cart hay across muddy areas.... use a builders sack instead (the big one tonne bags with 4 handles). Put your hay into that and drag the bag across by holding two handles. The bag will ski/slide across the top of the mud very easily as you are pulling (which is slightly lifting its front edge) rather than pushing front edge down as you do with a wheelbarrow.
 
The endless easterlies are making me lose the will to live. The way the yard is set up, the wind gets funnelled straight across my stables, and it's been miserable. Just makes every job hard. Westerly is the prevailing wind direction, and we are totally protected when we get those. But easterlies suck.

Today's misadventures include:

My wheelbarrow getting blown over after I'd mucked out Fin's stable but before I'd gone to the muck heap.

Fin's stable door getting so violently blown shut that it got stuck. I almost climbed over the door, into the stable, to see if I could kick it open from the inside, but I was a little concerned that we'd both end up stuck inside it. Luckily, a fellow livery who's a bit more pragmatically minded than me managed to lever it open with a pitchfork.

My neighbour's broom and pitchfork getting blown to the ground right next to Hermosa, who was tied out in front of her stable while I was cleaning it. She kind of spooked in place, didn't pull back or anything, but was clearly a bit tense. I laid neighbour's tools flat on the ground, against the wall. Neighbour reappeared and propped them up again. I was like, 'Dude, they'll just fall down at the next gust, and they'll land on my horse." Neighbour was like, "I'll move them in a minute." I stood between horse and tools, looking annoyed, until neighbour shifted them.
 
Last edited:
It’s wet & miserable and cold and I want to hibernate & the unsurfaced bits of track are mainly sludge aside from one stretch that drains the best (fairly sandy soil but there are limits!). Thank the lord for mud mats!

The pony of the other hand has slightly different opinions on it all (shown below)

IMG_6597.jpeg

IMG_6620.jpeg
IMG_6624.jpeg
IMG_6626.jpeg
IMG_6621.jpeg
IMG_6627.jpeg
IMG_6629.jpeg
IMG_6631.jpeg
IMG_6630.jpeg
 
Boulty said:
It’s wet & miserable and cold and I want to hibernate & the unsurfaced bits of track are mainly sludge aside from one stretch that drains the best (fairly sandy soil but there are limits!). Thank the lord for mud mats!

The pony of the other hand has slightly different opinions on it all (shown below)

View attachment 172507

View attachment 172508
View attachment 172509
View attachment 172510
View attachment 172511
View attachment 172512
View attachment 172513
View attachment 172514
View attachment 172515
Click to expand...

I thought “pony” was little until I saw the last pic with you 😂
 
With you…my field is horrendous and mine are spending most of their time on my hard standing track area.

The thing getting to me most though is we seem to be living in a cloud. It’s been foggy for weeks with only the odd day of respite. Means I’m struggling to get out hacking as the visibility is just terrible and both me and horse are sick of the school. She’s also pretty sharp and desperately needs the long steady work of hacking but it’s virtually impossible. Any day without fog is pissing rain and wind. So much wind.
 
We’ve just moved from a livery yard where they absolutely would not turn out if it has rained or is raining so ours had been in for over 2 weeks solid! They have been all week this week too according to a friend who is still there….

I couldn’t keep doing that to my girl so have just moved to a yard where she is thankfully going out every day....but the fields are very wet and she’s coming in absolutely plastered in mud. It’s not ideal but I’d rather them be out and filthy than in their stables all the time. I’ll take the muddy fields any day over confinement! I understand there is a need to protect the ground to an extent but it feels like so many yards now are putting that over horses welfare.

At this time of year we just have to do what we can and I wouldn’t feel bad about it, it will be spring soon!
 
We have historically very boggy clay land, but it coped really well due to drying out so well this summer. We kept them on the autumn field until Xmas (they usually come off it by November) which meant that the winter field didn’t get muddy until last week. Coinciding with our hay supplier completely running out of hay, meaning I’m more nervous of having them on hay on the hard standing.
It’s the driving wind that makes it really unbearable. Yesterday was awful, sideways sleet. Our horses went out at 7 and mooched under the tree line behind the stables, so now that looks really poached. I brought them in at 2. It has been so bad this week I have been shutting top doors too, the gales were just driving the rain in the stables. It’s not much better today, but they’ve still out as I’ve got a delivery coming and can’t use the hard standing. My elderly gelding is coming in really sore and stiff this week, I think it’s from standing bum to the wind.
And it doesn’t help my outdoor cafe trade much either! Roll on spring.
I am trying not to feel jealous of those with well draining fields - they will have their own issues. I expect they run out of grass in dry summers, whereas we always have good grass even in dry years.
 
I only have one field and gradually it’s getting wetter and muddier - now nearly half is very bad. I need to split it to wean the foals and rest the top bit as it’s pure mud so they’ll have a lot less space for a while. I wish I could rest it completely but the farmer doesn’t have a spare field for me sadly. I hate seeing them trudge through the mud and with continuously muddy legs, and hate walking through it myself. The poo picking is almost impossible in the muddiest bits. Hopefully once harrowed and rested the worst bits will recover, but already dreading next winter. So much water running through my field towards the river below it, it looked great in the autumn but once the rainy season started it’s been tricky. Doesn’t help that none of the tree surgeons who were meant to give me wood chips have ghosted me. I’ve called every single one now. Just got some more Mudcontrol mats, but won’t lay them until I have the wood chips. With cold, damp and windy weather every day I’m not really enjoying it as I can’t do much apart from feeding, checking and saying hello. So I’m behind on the poo picking too. Hoping for a change in weather soon as it’s really getting me down.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top