Feel like a broken record persistent wet!

[setterlover]

How is everyone doing? Here the ground is sodden and still the weather is absolutely miserable varying between heavy rain and persistent drizzle.Everytime we get a couple of dry days and everything looks like it's drying out back the rain comes with a vengeance.I suppose I'm lucky and the fields aren't too bad so they have access from dawn till dusk and just a bit wet in tracks that they use to access the field from the pole barn but not even hoof deep.Im keeping them on ta huge corral around a massive pole barn just to save the fields but I am getting through masses of haylege and massive amount of bedding to keep the pole barn nice for them to lay down but I really am struggling everything is hard work when your batting the weather.
Someone tell me this is going to improve soon!!! We have fencing on the summer grazing to repair but getting machinery in it will do so much damage to the grass which is really good and looking great for the summer grazing,we are waiting for it to dry out a bit.

 

[Melody Grey]

Harrowing and rolling seem like a very distant prospect here!! Was saying to my YO this morning that the window of opportunity has been slim in recent years- very wet/dry/wet/dry with not much reasonable weather inbetween.

Mine are in one day, out the next still here due to flooding. Luckily they don’t mind provided there’s hay on tap, but I’m really tiring of the mucking out and paying for hay!!

 

[Sossigpoker]

Until last week I thought I'd be harrowing soon. Now we'll need several weeks at least of bone dry before I can even think about it.

 

[setterlover]

We are waiting to roll and harrow plus muck spread muck heap is enormous no chance of spreading it until it's dry.
We were also thinking we would be harrowing and rolling by the end of February plus work on the fences on hold until it's dry enough to get on the land without wrecking it.
I have plenty of haylege but I am feeding loads as shut on pole barn and corral area overnight to save the fields.
Usually they can go out 24/7 on a smaller area but need to keep the whole field open to avoid poaching and because it's wet they are sheltering in the pole barn much more than usual so I am getting through the amounts of bedding I would use in the depths of the winter its costing me a fortune!!!!!
Hope in a months time we are looking back and wondering why we were worried.

 

[humblepie]

I would say there is a bonus that no flies - but we had really bad midges at the weekend. I don't mind the wet too much, easier than frost and ice. Soon be summer.

 

[SEL]

My summer fields are one big lake - but the grass is so long you can't see the standing water. They really need to come off the winter field but no point in trashing more land. They were all gazing longingly across the fence earlier - I need to charge the energisers!

 

[Annagain]

I'm dealing with mud fever for the first time in 30+ years of horse ownership. The field side of the gateway is so wet (and on a slope) that it's actually washed all the mud away down to the bedrock. Unfortunately it's only washed it as far as the other side of the gate so we still have to trudge through it. I was saying today that Arch has started to moult and normally I'd be looking for opportunities to turn him out naked for him to dump a load of white hair in the field rather than all over my clothes but there's no way he's going anywhere near the field without a rug at the moment.

 

[Peregrine Falcon]

Constant mizzle too is annoying me. And as for poo picking........

 

[YorksG]

We can't get on to do anything! The horses are out 24/7 with a shelter on mud mats and they really need cleaning off, but it will have to wait for dryer ground.

 

[Jenko109]

Our field stays mud free through pretty much anything.

With the mild weather, the grass has still been coming through.

Have only fed hay once and the pair of them are out 24/7.

very lucky.

 

[Esmae]

I absolutely hate the squelch underfoot. Just gross. Very fed up with the wet now and we don't get much mud here, but have more this year than in over 20 years here.

 

[expanding_horizon]

I would say there is a bonus that no flies - but we had really bad midges at the weekend. I don't mind the wet too much, easier than frost and ice. Soon be summer.

Ah is that what is biting me? I have 3 insect bites on my hand and could not figure out why. (No indoor furry animals for fleas.)

 

[Ratface]

This morning, I was horrified to see what appeared to be a mosquito on the inside of the galley window.
It died very quickly.
 

 

[Esyllt]

It's vile... I don't think there's been a full 24 hours dry here since July! I've been layering straw, wood chip/whatever I can get my hands on, in the field shelter (which they hated, but now I can't get them out of it!), just to try and give them somewhere dry(ish) to stand... It's not working as well as I hoped, so the come in to stand with a net for a few hours, then get turfed back out. I'm developing really muscly legs as I now have to cross country ski across the fields, they are that muddy in places!

 

[HelenBack]

I'm another who is really fed up of it now. Our fields are getting muddier and muddier and the mud is getting more and more liquid. The divots are full of water and sometimes we've even been lucky enough to have a stream running through the fields. The horses are constantly coming in with wet legs and muddy bellies, which I know isn't the end of the world but it's still a pain, the school is often wet in places where it just can't drain quickly enough for the amount of rain coming down, and I'm really fed up of having to dry stinking muddy clothes in the house. It's raining now and the forecast is saying rain every day for the foreseeable.

I really want to start getting my horse out to a few small competitions with the hopes of doing BE later on in the year. I'm one of the most motivated people I know but even I'm starting to feel like my enthusiasm is waning now. I just can't get enthusiastic about committing to a competition with the likelihood that we'll get a full on soaking while we're there.

The grass is definitely coming through though, good for the skinnies but less so for the fatties.

 

[Sprogladite01]

My yard, tack room, turnout pen and field are all currently flooded. Mosquitos are being seen with increasing frequency. My horses are more mud than horse.

Send help (in a boat)

 

[setterlover]

It's not that I have loads of mud or no grass it's just the physical work of it all and having everything on hold while we wait for a dry spell.
The pole barn is nice and dry which means they would much rather stay there out of the rain than go and eat the grass .There is grass on the field and there is not liquid mud anywhere it's just a bit soggy in places but I feel mean if I don't put out lots of haylege as they much prefer standing out of the drizzle wind and rain than grazing. 2 are in their twenties and the other one is 17.
I don't rug them as they are happier in the shelter than with heavy wet rugs and I don't have to worry about rugs leaking and slipping .
I shut them off the fields to try and save the grass a bit as the field they are on looks fairly ok .
It's just hard work taking haylege down twice a day and mucking out enormous barrows of muck out twice a day and I'm using masses of bedding to keep the barn nice.
It feels like a constant battle when the wind and rain is in your face all the time.
Sorry moan over going off to have a warm shower and change into dry clothes.!

 

[Pinkvboots]

I can't stand it and clearing the hard standing in the field is killing me, the droppings and hay I have to clear everyday weighs a ton because its full of water so I can only fill half the barrow or I can't get it to and up the soaking muck heap.

My back is suffering from it at the moment I don't even want to think about riding not got the energy.

 

[Wishfilly]

As has been said, it felt like things had started drying out, and now in the last week or so everything has got really wet again. I'm pretty lucky as our winter field is on a hillside, so there's plenty of dry field for the horses, and the spring grass is starting to come through, so they have enough to eat out there but the gateways are getting really tricky now. Pony comes in at night so gets a chance to dry off etc, but as it's pretty mild here, I'm rugging him less, and not enjoying all the mud he cakes himself in. Really, on Monday, he should have gone out naked, but I couldn't face it.

The summer fields are flatter and more low lying, so I suspect it will be a while before we can move onto those (and go out 24/7, which I would appreciate as I can't wait to stop mucking out, paying for bedding etc).

Not horse related specifically, but the relentless rain has also made the roads worse, I'm not sure my car can cope with bashing into many more deep potholes.

 

[Flowerofthefen]

It was dry up beautifully here but then we had that horrendous down pour and everything is up to its neck again. My poor old horse is sore with mudfever , something he usually gets but it never gets bad, but it is this year. Ridden horse hates being out in the winter anyway and is just about tolerating the mud. Can't really see a break in the forecast, at least for the next few weeks.

 

[Melody Grey]

I would say there is a bonus that no flies - but we had really bad midges at the weekend. I don't mind the wet too much, easier than frost and ice. Soon be summer.

My itchy tailed horse has been rubbing throughout winter with midges here never known a winter like it.

 

[spotty_pony2]

Back to mud and wet here. It’s like a mud slide from the stables to the fields and I’ve given up poo picking months ago. Need to get a harrow for the spring really but lucky as I can have separate summer and winter grazing (except for my mare who grazes her field all year round because she is on restricted grazing) I’ve seriously had enough of the mud and wet but hey in 4 weeks it will be the middle of March. Would be great if they could be out 24/7 again by then but I might be hoping for a miracle!

 

[Spotherisk]

This morning, I was horrified to see what appeared to be a mosquito on the inside of the galley window.
It died very quickly.
 

We get them here all year round. I read that a squirt of Milton in waterbutts stops them breeding, obviously Ratface this is no use to you, being on a boat! I did squirt a bit down all our drain holes (shower and sinks) before we went on holiday recently!

 

[Spotherisk]

It started raining heavily about 30 seconds sd ago, southern Devon.

No horses here anymore, but the garden has standing water on the oaths and I can’t practice agility outside, it’s just too wet underfoot.

 

[cheekywelshie]

I am utterly exhausted. Horses haven’t been out for weeks. I have let him roam to hand graze where I can as high colic risk but I need to be there. I’ve brought my laptop up but it’s hard to work (I manage teams so need to be available) and I am so far behind I will have to work all weekend. Spent a fortune on bedding and haylage so spending as much as full livery costs but going up everyday. I am completely run down and can’t face anymore

 

[Abacus]

This week has finally robbed me of all motivation to do anything with a horse apart from the bare minimum of care. I've ridden once, I should today but... they might just have a couple of weeks off. Anyone want to join me in Barbados?*

*oh dammit, the feed bills have eaten that budget

 

[Bobthecob15]

So frustrating isn’t it?! Sick of it now…hope March is slightly less wet but I do feel this is it now …climate change

 

[setterlover]

I think everyone has had enough.Woke up this morning to quite a thick covering of snow well that wasn't forecast !
Surely the weather must improve soon

 

[Bradsmum]

OH keeps moaning that the horses just trash the fields and I keep saying it’s only the winter turnout and it will recover. Trouble is there are places I can see from the late summer field that haven’t yet greened up so may have to reseed those patches. Let’s hope for a change in the weather soon.

 

[Bradsmum]

Oh blast, just read your last post Setterlover and so jumped out of bed to check and we have sleet falling.