Coping with poorly draining boggy clay soil? At wit's end...

[now_loves_mares]

Well safe to say I'm praying for another winter with heavy snow as the mud is doing me in already.

My field is large but long and narrow. The gate is at the narrow end and the corner, and the field slopes down towards this area so naturally it is by far the wettest part. Unfortunately it's also where my horses hang out in expectation of being fed or taken in. I have hardcore in the immediate vicinity, by the gate and shelter, but everything within about 30m of that area is just a bog. It drains incredibly slowly and is knee deep in mud. It's hard to keep them off that area due to the layout of the field. ie they have to walk through it to get from the proper grazing to the gate.

So what I am curious to know is why every other field I pass doesn't look like this? What is the best way to avoid it? I rent rather than own the field, so am keen to not spend money on drains. The field was bone dry in summer, but as soon as it starts raining the ground gets a bit soft, so it get's small dents, which then fill up with water even more, which means bigger dents, and so on until it looks like the somme.

I think my options are:
1. Pay a fortune to put drains in to someone else's field
2. Pay a fortune to lay a hardcore path on someone else's field
3. Spend a fortune on grass mats that I "might" be able to take with me if/when I move.
4. Keep the horses off the field any time it rains. But I'm in Scotland and it's always raining
5. Fence off the area so that they only have a narrow pathway to get between the main, dry area of the field and the gate. That will turn in to a bog but the rest will remain in better condition. But I don't see that this actually does anything to help the fact their shoes get sucked off about every 3 weeks

If I was to start being a bit precious about turning them out any time the field was a bit soggy, is it really a case of never putting them on it whenever there is some "cut" in the ground. I don't want to go down this route if it won't actually make much difference, or in my case mean that they spend half the winter in the stable.

Really at a loss as to how to improve this, it makes me miserable every time I see it. I can't shut them out of this area as the shelter is by the gate, and they use it all the time. I had the field sub-soiled in the summer which seems to have helped the main part of the field, but not this arc around the gate/corner.

My current thought is that if I put up temporary fencing in such a way that blocks off most of this area and creates a pathway, they can use the pathway if the ground is wet, but as soon as I judge it dry enough, swap the fencing so they don't use the chewed up area but have access to the (now miraculously) un-ploughed part.

As you can see by my long and waffly post I'm fed up and confused of Scotland

 

[Slightly Foxed]

I do sympathise as I'm on heavy clay aswell. It is my land so I did spend a fortune on drains which has made some difference but I also have hardstanding in the three winter paddocks which are made of a limestone base, membrane and woodchip. They cost another small fortune but have made such a difference to me and my horses in the winter!

Sorry, this isn't answering your question. I think, if you don't want to spend any money, fencing is your only option. If your land is as bad as mine was I'm not sure the grass mats will survive, especially as it's already wet, you'd probably have to put them down when the land was dry.

Good luck, I feel your pain!

 

[only_me]

We have clay soil as well.

Our field is basically a hill - steep slope down to a flat area (flood plain) which is bordered by a river. We had drains put into the field - yes, not as much water lying as there was before, but there still is loads!

What I would do, is fence that part off, so that they cant stand around it, but as its so narrow, you could leave the edges of the area unfenced, and just fence the "deeper" parts of the water?

 

[now_loves_mares]

Thanks. I have probably left it too late this winter to really do anything. Put it this way, it needs about a month of dry weather in the spring to recover, and we aren't going to get that any time soon . I was hoping the sub-soil lifting would have helped but it hasn't really, at least not in this area.

I might try the fencing idea just to see if switching about makes any difference to the overall condition, but I'm not hopeful.

Failing that, any drainage contractors want to use me as a "showcase"?

Snow dances from me then. Or at least, no rain and frosty ground....

Oh also meant to say that last winter we went on holiday in November so the horses spent a month on livery elsewhere. This made no difference to the field at all as I believe it didn't stop raining for most of the time we were away.

 

[Lollii]

Having coped (well not coped!) with clay soil for the last 7 years - which was when we moved into our house with land, I can only advise you not to bother trying!!

We have tried drains, ditches, hardcore, mats .... it all gets 'eaten' by the mud in the end

We have to just reduce the amount of horses here before Nov/Dec (sent 2 off on loan) and keep the rest of them on the concrete and the sand school as much as possible until the spring

It's just a losing battle, you can't beat mud!

 

[now_loves_mares]

Oh dear Lolli, that's depressing

Still, your option is the cheapest! Hmm though actually not sure, by the time you factor in the lost shoes and the damage to their feet.

At least you've convinced me that spending money on someone else's land definitely would be a waste. How annoyed would I be if I spent a fortune on their field, and it didn't even work??!

 

[Lollii]

Oh dear Lolli, that's depressing

Still, your option is the cheapest! Hmm though actually not sure, by the time you factor in the lost shoes and the damage to their feet.

At least you've convinced me that spending money on someone else's land definitely would be a waste. How annoyed would I be if I spent a fortune on their field, and it didn't even work??!

The mud here is really depressing, I don't enjoy horses at all in the winter now, in fact I hate it

I'm sure if we (well OH) would spend *a lot* of money getting it all dug out by proper contractors - it would work, but everything we have tried and that includes digging and laying drains hasn't helped much at all ... the mud always wins so I feel your pain

 

[miss_molly]

I to have clay soil and its a nightmare. I have to take them off it as soon as it gets wet else its just churned up which is no good for anyone. Not much help I know.

Dont put straw down in the hope it will prevent the areas gettin boggy. I did this and they decided it was ideal place to wee. So by end of winter had a large amount of half rotten straw to remove from gateway.

I have some grass mats which put down early spring. These reasonalbly good but need a good layer of grass underneath so maybe a summer project with lots of grass seed.

I just try to rest field as much as possible. Section off a few bits which are strictly out of bounds until weather is nice so come next spring you still have some grass left.

Also try to flatten out the boggy buts as much as possible to prevent puddles.

Roll on spring!!!

 

[angel7]

I too battled with heavy clay soil, draining didn't work in winter and ground went like concrete in summer.
I ended up laying 2 separate 1m wide strip paths of road plainings (cheaper than type 1) and fenced off the rest with electric.
I also started dumping stable muck along another path which rotted down over winter to make a soft path for walking in summer time when all the rest was fenced off to rest.

Horses lost shoes constantly and in the end it was cheaper to move to better grazing.
Is there no way to make another access into field and alternate it?

 

[now_loves_mares]

Thanks Miss Molly. Thing is I'm not worried about the lack of grass as such, because I have too much! The rest of the field is fine, it's a 10 acre field for two horses . But because of the shape, it's not easy to keep them off this part as it's the arc out from the gate, which obviously they'd have to go through even if I fenced them in further down the field.

I think that the answer must be to ensure it's always flat with a proper coverage of grass. But how to achieve that ? I notice that even when it's still in good condition, as soon as the field gets a tiny bit wet, their feet slide down the hill, so it immediately removes any grass and the cycle starts again. And of course the whole area is so wet just now, you'd never get a tractor in to roll it.

A narrow pathway of mats might work (when as you say done in the summer whilst dry) but again it's an expensive option if it doesn't really work

 

[now_loves_mares]

Angel - at a push maybe, but the shelter is right next to the gate so they'd still use that area all the time. I can't move grazing as the stables are at my house, and it's the only field nearby I'm allowed to rent

Did your paths work?

 

[peaceandquiet1]

Have same Scottish problem. Mine winter on sand turnout paddocks due to impossibility of using the fields. I feel your pain.

 

[Honey08]

I feel your pain too! We have clay soil too. Again, loads of grass - twenty acres for three horses. On top of the general mud problems we have two that get mud rash quite badly, so end up not letting them on the fields for Dec-March! We try and move them out of the worst field in October, then out of the second worst in Dec, and then we have a small 20x30 paddock that has hardcore underneath, that they go out for a couple of hours in daily for the worst months. Like you, I found the snow last year a godsend as it hid the mud for a couple of months, and they could actually go out in the proper fields. Winter to me is something to endure! I remember fencing the little paddock last year in a blizzard, and saying to my hubby that it would be much better if we had a sand school. He replied that it would be much better if we didn't have horses! Sometimes I could almost agree with him!!

Seriously, don't waste your money on grass mats, they just end up lost in the bog. Hardcore works best - lots and lots of it. Would your land owner go halves on a load or two? Could you move the shelter next year when the ground is hard, so that it is away from the muddy bit, and so that you can fence it off? In the meantime, is there anywhere else you could make a second gateway to relieve the boggy one?

 

[Ted's mum]

def hardcore and lots of it..we have loads on the farm we need shifting!

 

[now_loves_mares]

Ted's mum, fancy a detour to Scotland?

The problem is I spent £600 getting the base for the shelter/gate area 2 years ago. If I moved it again, I'd have to spend similar money again as it would have to go on a solid base. I have a feeling the landowner would not at all be interested in sharing the load costs

Any ideas what a lorry load of hardcore would cost? I have a feeling we have relatively local quarries so hopefully it doesn't have to come from too far.

Honey08 - your OH's comment sounds strangely familiar, mine may well have said those exact same words