Field wise - calling it a day

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poiuytrewq

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Im sorry if this sounds a bit depressing- its a genuine what would you do not a rant about the weather....honestly ;)

I have about 5 acres- rented very cheaply on the condition we put the work in to make the land suitable for grazing.
We underestimated the work involved- ie the few piles of rubbish turned into several tractor and large trailer loads (and this was only the non burnable rubbish)
The fencing cost a small fortune as we soon found a roll of tape and bag of insulators went no where near as far as expected.
We created a "dry" area out of hard core and scalpings, dug drainage ditches built stables and so on.
The list is endless and the money we have spent is unreal.

Currently in reality its un-graze able. The mud is crazy and the field has flooded several times. Tomorrow if the rain we have forcast is correct we will probably flood again. Its not major deep water flooding all over I can still put them out a bit but they are pretty miserable out there. Its spilt but due to how bad each paddock became and mud fever/horse fights the whole lot is wrecked.
One of the stables also floods, and two horses are out of work so cant just keep in.
Im desperately unhappy about the situation but stick with it in the theory it will dry up soon and keep telling myself its not much longer.
Last August my field was wetter than the previous winter and its just got worse since.
I know its coming up for spring but Spring last year is when the rain started!

Leaving this land would have major drawbacks and not be easy in that I couldn't afford to go elsewhere with 3 horses and a pony- something would have to give and that would break my heart but my head cant really go on much longer like this.

How much longer would you give it? Ive not even broached the subject with O/H who is the one to have done the majority of the work and put a lot of the money into this. He cant see the problem with keeping horses stabled through winter like many people do but like I say 2 retired- they cant stay cooped up 24/7 and my old boy who's ridden is arthritic so he gets sore stood in even if I hack him out daily.

Give me some ideas! (like I say not moaning about the weather thread but a serious dilemma!)
 
It WILL dry up soon.
This wet winter will NOT go on forever.
This time last year we were in a drought and a hosepipe ban was about to be announced...

I think you have to step back and take as pragmatic a view of it as possible.

You have 5 acres, stables, hardstanding, cheap rent and are independent.

Stick with it. Put out more hay. Put out a round bale on the hardstanding? Use the hardstanding as turnout. Stable at night if that helps. They are horses and they will survive.

Many other people are in very similar situations and wondering how their grazing will ever recover.

I was chatting with a farmer this morning. He said where it's been so cold and wet, the crops are nowhere near at the stage of growth they should be and so the crops are taking a massive hit off the pigeons feeding on them.
 
PS If you get the option to move them temporarily to another field that's got grazing/is drier, then suss that out for a couple of months to give yours a rest. But ultimately, don't give up on it as it will get better.
 
Oh dear, this winter really does seem endless doesn't it :-( I remember not wanting to ride when it was too hot, a world away! I'd hang in there since you've put so much work and money in. How big is your dry area? Could you do a dry area round the stables with hay that they could wonder in and out of, or will they fight?

Where do the horse's tend to hang around? Are you sure they're as bothered as you are about the mud? Obviously mud fever is an issue but maybe they're not that bothered?
 
Oh I feel for you :( I could have written your post. Ive spent an unimaginable sum on drains, fences, hardcore, stables and gates. And currently my mare is costing me £200 at a livery yard:( My little shetland companion is still at home, but living in a stable with a hardcore turnoutpen area. I put my mare to the yard at the end of Jan as I got to the stage where she was utterly miserable with the ground and it wasnt workable anymore, she is the type that gets mega pi$$ed off at not having decent turnout and the hardstand pen is a no go for her - I really hoped by the end of March, my field would have rested and dried out and she would be coming home. Up until this recent lot of weather it was starting to look promising! However with all this snow we are back to square one - I tried to walk out through the gate to my muck heap yesterday and sank past my wellies:( Ive spoken to the yard and am staying now until the end of April... Im praying we get a drought between now and then. Sorry no help to you, but I sympathise whole heartedly.
 
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I have no words of advice I'm afraid but I just want to say how sorry I feel for you all with the mud you have to contend with. Some of the photos I see on this forum have me going :eek::eek: and I realise just how lucky I am that we rarely see any mud. My fields are all tile-drained so they're never muddy but I don't think that's really an option for you on rented land as the cost of tile-draining is prohibitive for many people. I'm not even sure how common tile-draining is the UK? Not common at all judging by the photos everyone posts but it may be something that should become done more often these days with the climate changes that are going on.
 
I feel like this-except I own the place,so can't just move on.
It has been a horrible,long wet winter. No sign of spring,and everything is just awful. In almost 30 years of having my yard, I have never seen the fields as vp bad as ths past 12monts. Little let up in the wet has made it pretty hard work,and feeding tonnes of hay as little gass, makes it expensive.
However, I managed to Harrow and roll two weeks ago,most of the field except a small sacrifice area,and those areas are already looking much improved.
Do think long and hard before you jump, the alternatives don't sound ideal either.
This winter has been awful and spring is morphing into being awful too.
However, at some point it will improve, and we WILL enjoy our horses again,
You have up alot of times n money into the project, don't just throw it away, we are almost all in the same boat.
 
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Do you have the option of renting some grazing elsewhere temporarily whilst it's so wet, and to give your land some time to recover?

I think everyone is fed up to the back teeth with this awful, awful weather. I can fully understand why you're down in the dumps.
 
Fence them in round the hard standing and plonk a round bale on it, so everywhere else can rest a bit. My lot are happy as long as they have somewhere dry and plenty of food.
 
Hang on in there, everyone is fed up to the back teeth with this weather! Spring is literally just round the corner, end of March soon then hopefully all will improve.

Are your stables in an area where you could coral an area in front of them, maybe hardcore it with road plane stuff, so they can move around but not go onto the fields? Could the 2 retired ones go live somewhere else for a month to give you a break and let your fields recover?

It will improve and compared to last spring, we have had a proper winter and spring is about to happen. I poo picked my fields today which I rent, there are buds on the bushes, we just need the sun to help us along.
 
Hi, They are in at night- often from lunch time as they are asking to come in when I check on them.
We did have a ban this time last year yes but April was horrendeous ;)
I had thought round bales on the hardstanding and did try it temporarily but the mud started coming though and they started digging at it?!
Physically cant get a round bale into the fields so I just top up piles when I visit.
I know they are horses and I know they will cope I just worry so much! They all have health problems which inhibit staying in/out or any hope of rehoming (not that I want to!)

arrrgghh, the farmer bit is the next problem. My O/H is a farm manager and quite seriously talking of loosing his job if this continues. They haven't finished Autumn drilling forget about starting Spring (usually done by Easter)

Thank you for your little bit of positivness!
 
The ONLY thing that keeps me going through all this mud, cold and wet is knowing that pretty much every other horse owner in the country is suffering the same situation. I find it strangely comforting that I'm not alone... :o
 
By any standards the last 12 months have been extreme - I have had floods in places I didn't know I had places, and the ground water is still so high nothing dries out even when we don't get rain. It WILL get better in time - mine is horrendous even though I am way under stocked (3 horses on 13 acres ;)) so not as bad as many, but can you find somewhere temporary for a few weeks to give yours a rest? Could be difficult - cattle farmers are in the same position, having to keep cattle yarded so as not to poach the land - but worth a try. Failing that, keep them in the most usable bit and off the worst part. If they wreck it, it will recover, even if it means you have to buy some grass seed to get it useable again.
Don't sow it yet though -I reckon here even if it doesn't rain another drop (unlikely lol) the ground won't dry out enough to be warm enough for the grass to grow for at leaast 3 weeks. Sorry to depress you, but could help with planning how to cope?
 
Oh gosh loads of replies in the time it took me to type my last answer!
The scalpings bit is fenced off yes- Its where we put the stables so is like a little yard. I do use it for turnout to give wet legs a break and time to heal but they are starting to wreck it with mud coming though!
I did try for ages about two months ago to rent a bit more grazing somewhere but no one wanted extra horses on their wet ground- I did manage to get a little paddock but actually on closer inspection its at least as wet as mine just not as churned up. I used it a little but have decided to keep it so if it does stop raining I can use that and give mine proper break.
Yes I think they really are as pee'd off as me by the mud- I have to drag them out and shut the gate quick before they u turn back out of the field!
I do love my little patch and maybe can learn from the fact ive ruined it this winter to help save it next by restricting turn out a bit from the beginning.
They do fight yes so I have to keep them in gangs of 2 (they really are gangs- they get together and all hell breaks loose, mainly in the form of a fluffy Shetland!)
Ah I know we will be moaning about flies and hard ground soon enough :)
Thank you all for your words of wisdom!
 
There are two things that have happened this year that has all to do with the weather.

1) Horses have lost weight that would normally be fine.
2) Fields have flooded and we are all having to cope.

Another thing too and that is one day we are freezing cold and the next it's really warm. The poor horses do not know what to do.

I have a friend who's horses spend the winter on hard standing outside the stables. Cope the spring and summer is on its way.

The fields will recover.

Stick it out, you will not regret it.
 
Stick it out we are surely through the worst.

I have spent the equivalent of the Ecuadorian Debt on drainage and still I have a flooded field. The river is as high as I have ever seen it in all the time I've been here and everyone is saying this past year has been the worst on record.

Most fields no matter how wet have some drier patches the horses can route through and they probably aren't feeling as bad about it as you are. As long as they are well fed and sheltered they won't melt.
 
On the good side mine haven't dropped off this year! That was my last winter panic
This year they are looking good. A rubbish winter has enabled me to get them down to a good weight and keep it there.
A huge amount of hay has been required for this but that's where the O/H being into farming is useful :)- Although I have now run out and am having to buy some in I guess I cant complain about that in March!
 
Have you got a bit in the field that never gets flooded? It might be worth putting some wood chippings down (free from any local tree surgeons) and using that as a turn out area for when its really wet. Or how about finding another field nr by you can use for a couple if months to rest yours?
Our fields are worse this year than ever before, we leave the stable doors open and they can walk in or out as they please in the day, when its horrible they tend to take them selves in which saves the field a bit.
 
We are all in the same boat I guess!
I do leave doors open sometimes but can only do it in two's so two still have to go out (one will bully over stable doors even!)
 
In the fifteen years I've rented my current land, this is by far the worst I've never had to stable as much as this year.

My pony is normally out 24/7, but I've had to resort to stabling at least overnight for now. My neighbour has a turnout area in front of his stables, so he has put his horse on that and stabled him at night, they are quite settled and content on this routine.

It is a pain though, I'm spending more on feed and bedding than I would normally at this time of year and I'm currently struggling with only one usable arm which means everything is taking ages

The thing is that wherever you move to, you are likely to face the same issues.

If I were you, I'd fence them in the turnout and just allow a couple of hours at grass (or should that be mud) a day, if it's really bad I'd keep them in the turnout and then stable at night.

If it's any consolation, once it does dry up and the sun comes out we'll all be panicking about fat horses and laminitis, it is amazing how the grazing recovers. I've seen one field that looked as if it had been ploughed come right again once rested for a month or two.

I know there is more rain/snow forecast, but the wind has to get up too which might help to dry things up a bit.

Spring will come sooner or later (won't it?)
 
I bought 14 acres and barns in January last year. Before we bought it the previous owner had dug out up to 4 feet for a school. I has been full of water complete with ducks since about June last year. I thought I would never need the barns but they have been in since November my gate way is a black mud smoothie whitch when I try to channel the water away from renders me wellieless.
The chap who delivers my hay says he has never seen it like this in 40 years.
My previous property backed on to the flood plan and sometimes my stables and very
often my paddock flooded. As long as they have somewhere to stand and dry out they will survive. If you put out a round bale or heeston of straw you have to add to it everyday making it an outdoor stable. Mine would go off for a paddle and then come back to the straw island where I put their hay .
You have only about another 4 weeks to go. Take some photos and plan for next time, thats what I am doing as I am going to have to put drainage in several acres.
 
Keep telling yourself that it will all soon be better, as you can see by the replies there are plenty of fed up horsey people. Mine are out 24/7 and I normally poo pick every day ( just a whizz round with the barrow) Well since January I have hardly been able to clear properly because we keep getting snow, where we are on a hill the snow lies longer than lower ground, it clears for a couple of weeks and just as I am managing to catch up a bit, it goes and snows again, cue a job that just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I am dreading it thawing again this time because all I can see are brown mounds everywhere, I could cry!
 
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