Gateways in winter...

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ForeverBroke_

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What do you use/ do to stop them getting like a mud hole?! The field of horses that I'm in are gate-huggers when it starts to get a bit late / less grass. Not mine included, annoyingly
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Anywho, to stop both them and me falling flat on our face I'm trying to stop the gateways from getting totally ruined. As our gateway is at the bottom of a small slope its quite hard and we usually end up putting either straw or shavings in the worst of it but although this is drier and offers more grip , it soon becomes deep and even worse.

I was thinking of getting some of those hexagon shaped field mats? Would these be effective in this sort of situation or perhaps not
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Thanks!
 
I await the replies with interest. My horse 'panics' at gates if there's another horse behind him (having run into one and badly hurt himself years ago, he hates narrow spaces) and in the winter when it's hard to stand up let alone juggle one horse through the melee of others, it's a nightmare.
I'd like to know what other people do (though whether our YO would do anything is another matter ...........)
 
I've tried the mats before and lost them in the mud in no time.

The only thing I have found to work is to do a proper job of it, i.e. digger to take out topsoil (you may also need drains to divert the water if you are at the bottom of a slope), harcore, then blinding layer, rolled into place. It is costly, but you can usually get 4 gateways done in a one day and they stay dry for years.
 
We're likely to have this problem as it turns out , everyone wants to be my horses friend
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Sounds ridiculous but he's spent nearly 2 years with this one little cob and they were very close.

My horse then dumped this one for a mare - cob doesn't want to say goodbye.

My horse then dumped the mare for another gelding. Mare doesn't want to let go.

Fickle much?

So basically, if Darcy leaves the gate, all 3 come flying after him and then a 4th one who has no involvement with anyone, quickly follows
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Although that'd be ideal BB I should've probably added that it has to be done "off my own back," as our YO is to be blunt - pretty awful. He's not horsey at all , more than likely despises them but because they get him an income from his fields that are otherwise just sat there he runs the livery yard. It took my YM 4 years to get our fencing properly done
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Despite this, it is a fantastic yard and I can try to persuade him to let us do this but it may be a case of if he does that for us, he'll have to do it for the other 20 odd gateways
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I'll give it a go though!
 
This must sound really strange but it really works. We use old carpet to protect our gate ways. It gives us protection and the horses feel safe on it. It does get wet but there is no mud.
 
DL - you could put some carpet down as a first layer, and then some wood chip on top. Don't think that wood chip per bag ( the stuff they use on a school) is too expensive.

You get a lot in a bag.

The carpet would give the lining, or if you prefer buy some geotex, then wood chip on top.
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Ooh hadn't thought of woodchip, I think we used that along the bottom of the field last year as it made nasty trenches of water and Im pretty sure it made a fair bit of difference!

Thanks, will googe for some now
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I agree if you don't have a very muddy area, used straw can be really good. I've found though, that if the area gets waterlogged, and has a lot of traffic going across it, the straw rots and sinks, causing an even deeper muddy area.

If you do use straw, then the only way to prevent the ground seeping through is to have some form of liner, that's why old carpet, or a geotex membrane is a good idea, before you put any form of surface on top.
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One of my gateways has been concreted at a slight slope and its brilliant its wide enough to stand 2 horses on a pick their feet out.
OH laid a load of bark shreddings at the other gate and it lasts for ages but thats best put down before it get too muddy.
 
I always have a corral at my gateways. This means you can let your horse through to a safe area before leaving the field. It also stays dry. Granted it will still get muddy at the gateway to the corral but it means you don't get stuck in it
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We use the straw that gets taken out of the stables in the morning. Its not brilliant but once you've got a good layer built up, it give a reasonable surface to walk on. You just have to keep it topped up, plus it doesnt cost any extra as its the used stuff.

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I do that too. Not ideal but definitelyt an improvement
 
We had our main gateway and path to the stables concreted this summer with a concrete pad large enough to stand 2 horses on and open the gate without having to stand on the grass.
Has worked well so far. Last year was very muddy and difficult to get out the horses that were stabled and keep back the ponies who stayed out (who were always at the front near the gate).
Hopefully it will last for years!
 
Fence off the gateway, so in effect you have a small pen. Not always practical, I know and then you still have the muddy gateway problem.

We don't get much rain and our soil is mostly sand. What we have done is scrape off the topsoil (all 3" of it!) and filled with more sand. I could have used fine sand/gravel mix but that costs money whereas I have acres of sand to dig up for free.

Tried straw, dismal failure. Tried bark too, that rotted and got quite deep.

The only sure fire way to avoid mud is to dig it up, put in a hardcore (etc) base and top it with whatever you will.

I haven't any experience of the field matting (the plasticky stuff with holes) though so no help there, sorry.
 
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