Field kept horses - do you have dry standing?

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AutumnDays

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Hi all. I've spent the afternoon pulling up the mud mats in the poly tunnel field shelter (that they didn't use!) as the ground has shifted and they are all wonky/unlevel. Ideally I'd like to raise the floor up in there and put the mats back down with sand on top, but seeing as they'd rather lie down in the field or shelter in the lee of a hedge when the weather is crap, I wonder if it's actually work the effort 😅 I have a little "yard" bit to tie up on, that's also mud mat, so I have somewhere out of the mud to do "stuff". I was under the impression they'd love a dry floor to stand on in a covered area when the weather is rubbish, but they have proved me wrong! (Their feet are a bit crappy from being in mud, hence me wanting them to have somewhere to dry out. They are picked out regularly and spray cleaned each time, so not much more I can do there). Stabling is not an option, I don't have any and we have been denied planning. Do any of you guys have a similar situation where you don't have a yard or stables to dry out in?
 
Ours have a shelter which I bed down with straw. they do use it and laydown in there a lot when the weather is cold or/and wet. But when it's windy they prefer to be out in the open.

I like that they stand in the straw as it help dry and clean there legs and feet when its particularly muddy. I prefer to skip out in the dry rather than washing/cleaning legs.
 
We don't have mud and we have a yard but they prefer to be out (they use the yard more in the summer I think, for shade, as most of our hedges/trees are still a bit small) and their feet do suffer just from being constantly damp, so it's not just the mud necessarily. I just look forward to the spring - they do improve.
 
I do. There is a big hay feeder in there and a treble field shelter. They have used it loads this winter.
 
Mine have a hard standing area and a field shelter. They never use the field shelter in winter, but use it a lot in the summer. In the winter they prefer to stand against the high brick wall - they are lucky to live in an old walled garden - with just 2 walls left. In their opinion a brick wall is far superior to a field shelter when it comes to wind and rain. I wonder if they actually feel safer outside in the wind and rain.
 
Thanks all. I'm wondering if they feel safer/happier outside than in the shelter in horrible weather 🤔 I'm probably guilty of anthropomorphizing a bit in that regard.
It still got quite wet on the floor due to the way the ground settled and hence me wanting to raise it. Just wondering if I'm making work for myself when they couldn't give a hoot 😂
 
They might not have been keen to use it if the mats became uneven and were wobbly..?
Mine tended to skip along a rubber mat path i made once when the mats became uneven and wobbly, rather than saunter along them when they were first laid down. Unfortunately them cantering over them caused the mats to become even more uneven, and thus a defeating idea overall….that path is now rock solid stone!

Also maybe theyre not using it if there’s no bedding down? Many are conditioned by shavings/straw bed stables to lay on bedding, so mats become a place to stand and not lay.
Mine have a large hard standing turnout area with a bedded shelter, which they lay in a lot and use as shelter from the very severe weather. Summer theh love it to escape the flies/midges. Otherwise they use the big trees and banks for shelter.

What width/length is your tunnel? Being prey animals they might feel risky/trapped to be in a longish tunnel. I learnt this from deer that would ransack my veg plot but never go in my 5mx15m polytunnel that had a wide-open front end full of delicious veg!
Usually horses are smart and figure-out their environment is ‘safe’ and not huge risk of threat, so dont behave like wild deer, but it’s another aspect to consider as a maybe. But i think the uneven flooring would be the most likely reason they’d rarely use it.
 
I moved the hay feeder out into the hard-core yard so the ponies had a 6x3 m open fronted shed to sleep in (rubbermat and thin straw bed)...they go in, have a poo and go and sleep somewhere else 🙄
 
Why not put the mats in the place where they like to stand in the field? Then they have a dry space. Mine seem to love the corner by the water trough even though it doesn't seem sheltered to me, having mud mats there means they are out of the mud when hanging around.
 
PurBee said:
They might not have been keen to use it if the mats became uneven and were wobbly..?
Mine tended to skip along a rubber mat path i made once when the mats became uneven and wobbly, rather than saunter along them when they were first laid down. Unfortunately them cantering over them caused the mats to become even more uneven, and thus a defeating idea overall….that path is now rock solid stone!

Also maybe theyre not using it if there’s no bedding down? Many are conditioned by shavings/straw bed stables to lay on bedding, so mats become a place to stand and not lay.
Mine have a large hard standing turnout area with a bedded shelter, which they lay in a lot and use as shelter from the very severe weather. Summer theh love it to escape the flies/midges. Otherwise they use the big trees and banks for shelter.

What width/length is your tunnel? Being prey animals they might feel risky/trapped to be in a longish tunnel. I learnt this from deer that would ransack my veg plot but never go in my 5mx15m polytunnel that had a wide-open front end full of delicious veg!
Usually horses are smart and figure-out their environment is ‘safe’ and not huge risk of threat, so dont behave like wild deer, but it’s another aspect to consider as a maybe. But i think the uneven flooring would be the most likely reason they’d rarely use it.
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The floor had become undulating. The mats are all still interlocked. But that could be why. There was bedding in it on top of the mats, now I've cleared that out. It's open each end, with a windbreak on opposite sides each end. 4m wide by 8m long. They even have a little solar light night light in there 😂 it's not really what I want, but it's all we can use thanks to national parks, planning and nosy interfering neighbours.
 
Our shelter has a sloping floor of mud mats over hard-core, with an apron of mud mats directly onto the ground in front of the shelter. We put bedding and hay in the shelter and they use it a lot.
 
Vodkagirly said:
Why not put the mats in the place where they like to stand in the field? Then they have a dry space. Mine seem to love the corner by the water trough even though it doesn't seem sheltered to me, having mud mats there means they are out of the mud when hanging around.
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The field is split into paddocks, so they aren't always in the same spot. I'd need to buy a lot more!
 
Pearlsasinger said:
Our shelter has a sloping floor of mud mats over hard-core, with an apron of mud mats directly onto the ground in front of the shelter. We put bedding and hay in the shelter and they use it a lot.
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I'd like to put hardcore down and do something like this. Unfortunately it all has to be removable thanks to planning. We aren't even allowed to put a hardcore path down
 
Ours live out, but we have set it up so that they have access to the yard at all times. The yard is a double field shelter and a single shelter arranged in a L shape (with a tack room and hay store). It's nothing special, hardcore with rubber stable mats over the whole lot, but in the winter we do feed all hay in the field shelters in nets, so if they want to eat they have to stand in which gets them out of the mud for a bit. It has the added benefit of not having to venture through the mud into the actual field over winter, at all!!

Works for us but I'm 99% sure that if we didn't feed the hay in the shelters they would never even venture onto the yard!
 
Mine have constant access to an old barn. The baby loves the barn and sleeps lying down in the straw, but my older horse prefers to sleep outside in the middle of the field with the baby keeping an eye out. It's interesting to see their very different preferences.

Just a thought but you say polytunnel - is it noisy in the wind? I wonder if there's something they don't like about it?
 
I have an all weather turnout - wouldn't be able to survive without it as we're on heavy clay. Are you in an AONB or National Park?
 
Miss_Millie said:
I have an all weather turnout - wouldn't be able to survive without it as we're on heavy clay. Are you in an AONB or National Park?
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We are clay too 😞 we are in a national park. And right on the edge of a village, with plenty of people who love nothing better than to be nosy and report things. Plus, the field nextdoor to us was bought by someone who wanted to do the whole 28 day campsite thing, but for motor homes... He tore down hedging, replaced with conifers, placed roadways down and put up a cabin for whatever... All without planning! Withing in a few days of him finishing he was made to take everything up and put it back. He's now got a planning block on that field. They have also inspected us due to a report, but as everything can be removed without trace, we are ok, but have been given a list of don'ts. This park authority also regularly fly spotter planes over to spy, and are over zealous 🙄
 
@Widgeon I forgot to reply to you, sorry! It's tensioned quite well so there is minimal flapping. I think it's like others have said, they feel safer in the open in wind.
After seeing the replies of you guys, I'm going to pull all the mats up and do some ground raising. I'll see if I can make a threshold of some sort to put at both ends so I can do a deep layer of something for them do have the option on lying in if they like, sand or something similar. It's been a bit of a downer coming off livery with facilities to just a field. Yes it's mine, but the restrictions in place and the location are so not ideal. If I could afford livery for three I think I'd go back!
 
This is what they had at the retirement yard. With about six hay feeders for 23 horses which was adequate. Another 18m round to the right of the photo.

But with rain, mud and poo soon got boggy in deepest winter.
 

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AutumnDays said:
I'd like to put hardcore down and do something like this. Unfortunately it all has to be removable thanks to planning. We aren't even allowed to put a hardcore path down
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Our hardcore is only in the shelter which is a converted big poultry shed, so doesn't need to be temporary. All our other mudcontrol mats are straight onto the ground, they don't need a base.
 
Mine live out with field shelters which have hard standing and also has natural shelter. They only use the field shelters for shelter and use them a lot both summer and winter.
 
AutumnDays said:
We are clay too 😞 we are in a national park. And right on the edge of a village, with plenty of people who love nothing better than to be nosy and report things. Plus, the field nextdoor to us was bought by someone who wanted to do the whole 28 day campsite thing, but for motor homes... He tore down hedging, replaced with conifers, placed roadways down and put up a cabin for whatever... All without planning! Withing in a few days of him finishing he was made to take everything up and put it back. He's now got a planning block on that field. They have also inspected us due to a report, but as everything can be removed without trace, we are ok, but have been given a list of don'ts. This park authority also regularly fly spotter planes over to spy, and are over zealous 🙄
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That sounds like a nightmare! How many acres are you on? Sometimes there are permitted development rights for agri land with hardstanding if you're on over 12 acres, but guessing you've already explored that route.

Mud mats are a good alternative, just a shame they're so expensive.
 
Miss_Millie said:
That sounds like a nightmare! How many acres are you on? Sometimes there are permitted development rights for agri land with hardstanding if you're on over 12 acres, but guessing you've already explored that route.

Mud mats are a good alternative, just a shame they're so expensive.
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On 9 acres, so we miss out that permitted development! I'm thinking of getting more mud mats to make a bigger yard space, but like you said they are expensive! Why didn't I grow out of the pony mad phase, I'd have a cheaper adulthood I reckon!
 
I have had about 10 ponies for 30 years and never had hard standing. One field has a shelter, the others are natural shelter only. Most of them are un-rugged.
They take the benefit of the natural shelter (hedges and banks) regularly, according to wind direction, but only ever use the field shelter in the summer. I don't think they have set foot in it all winter.
A dry lot to keep them off the grass in the worst of the wet would be a great benefit to me, but I don't think they care so much.
 
scruffyponies said:
I have had about 10 ponies for 30 years and never had hard standing. One field has a shelter, the others are natural shelter only. Most of them are un-rugged.
They take the benefit of the natural shelter (hedges and banks) regularly, according to wind direction, but only ever use the field shelter in the summer. I don't think they have set foot in it all winter.
A dry lot to keep them off the grass in the worst of the wet would be a great benefit to me, but I don't think they care so much.
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I wish we hadn't paddocked it off to be honest, but it makes rotating horses, sheep and managing fatties easier. They do have hedgeline for the most prolific wind direction, so that's something. The idea was they have a paddock, then the lane down to the shelter/yard bit (kind of equicentral set up?) so if they needed extra shelter they could access it. They are all unrugged etc too. Maybe I'm just over thinking it all. They seem happy enough doing their own thing, being mud hippos
 
We do. Double field shelter which has rubber matting and bedded with shavings. Outside of that they have mud mats and a ring feeder. Its been well used over winter, and an absolute godsend when its been wet/muddy. They are just starting to spend more time out in the fields now the spring grass is coming through. I was going through a large bale a week, now its going to last 2 weeks.
 
AutumnDays said:
The floor had become undulating. The mats are all still interlocked. But that could be why. There was bedding in it on top of the mats, now I've cleared that out. It's open each end, with a windbreak on opposite sides each end. 4m wide by 8m long. They even have a little solar light night light in there 😂 it's not really what I want, but it's all we can use thanks to national parks, planning and nosy interfering neighbours.
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It sounds like it could be the uneven flooring. When i had a shelter with just rubber mats they didnt sleep on them. Then i removed mats and put down thick bedding they were kipping together all the time!
I have considered that they perhaps have a sense of grounding and like to sleep on earth/material touching earth, rather than a plastic/rubber barrier on top of ground.
If you removed your uneven mats and used tamped-down sand to even the floor, then straw on top, they may prefer it.
Or maybe the solar light in there is off-putting! 😁 They can see in the dark…and will squint at my headlight at night when im doing night checks if its near them, so i keep the beam low pointed down.
I had a wildlife cam with infrared beam night vision and my horse could see the infrared as he was filmed in front of it, staring at it for ages the first few nights, wandering what the new light was for! It was movement triggered so he kept triggering it and then staring into the lens…those pics were funny!

I sympathise with your location and neighbours. Willow grows fast and can be weaved to a tight high hedge too! 😉
 
mine have a free choice barn, with a concrete floor, which is the best thing since slides bread. outside that there is a load of hard standing, which gets a bit muddy on top but was made for cows 30+ years ago, so holds up well with 2.5 barefoot horses. I did move yard last year where I had no hard standing and it was on clay, by October, I was done with having no where dry, and luckily managed to get my old/current field and barn back
 
PurBee said:
It sounds like it could be the uneven flooring. When i had a shelter with just rubber mats they didnt sleep on them. Then i removed mats and put down thick bedding they were kipping together all the time!
I have considered that they perhaps have a sense of grounding and like to sleep on earth/material touching earth, rather than a plastic/rubber barrier on top of ground.
If you removed your uneven mats and used tamped-down sand to even the floor, then straw on top, they may prefer it.
Or maybe the solar light in there is off-putting! 😁 They can see in the dark…and will squint at my headlight at night when im doing night checks if its near them, so i keep the beam low pointed down.
I had a wildlife cam with infrared beam night vision and my horse could see the infrared as he was filmed in front of it, staring at it for ages the first few nights, wandering what the new light was for! It was movement triggered so he kept triggering it and then staring into the lens…those pics were funny!

I sympathise with your location and neighbours. Willow grows fast and can be weaved to a tight high hedge too! 😉
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Thanks 🙏 I'm in the process of lifting all the mats, and I will be roping husband in to levelling out the floor (so we don't end up with water pools in there). The solar light isn't that bright, they are the festoon garden lights with loads of the bulbs removed 🤣 it was mainly so I could see what I was doing in winter, but I may take them down as they are pointless. We've just spent best part of a year clearing the willow that encroached into the field (it was overrun!), I'm hoping what's in the hedges grows up fast rather than out!
 
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