Keeping horses on wet land

[chaps89]

Having lined up a lovely little sole use yard it’s fallen through and im scrabbling around desperately for an alternative.
I’ve possibly got the option of 2.5 acres to use, it would be for a 12.2 and 13.2 both chunky types.
Field is quite well sheltered and on a gentle hill and hasn’t been grazed this year. Walked around it on Friday, we’ve had a lot of rain the last few weeks but this week has been dry and windy so far.
Bits of the field were squelching just with me walking on it. Other bits seem ok.
I’m all for horses living out but not in mud baths, will this be a disaster?
I’ve been fortunate enough to mostly have dry/well draining land in the past so have been fine having small ponies on less acreage but this was so wet I’m not sure if even with more space it’s a bad idea?

 

[Red-1]

I wouldn't choose to keep horses out on clay soil without a space that is made all weather for them to stand on. I would have that as their hay/water station, near the gate.

I am on clay. We simply remove them from the field over the wet months. I made all weather places, one is off the back doors of the stables. The other is also my arena, but has a shelter. Not sure I would manage here without surfaces.

 

[Highmileagecob]

It would work better if you also have stables or at least some hard standing for the wet season. Gateways are a problem, as that will be where the ponies will wait for feeding time. Our pasture is on a slope but the gate is at the bottom. it is already fetlock deep.

 

[ester]

It doesn't sound great tbh at this time of year, at Mum's are on flat clay, 3.5 acres for 2, allow the grass to grow up for foggage and we couldn't leave them out 24/7 on it. Friends are on slopping clay and have more acreage but still usually end up bringing in after christmas.

 

[Goldenstar]

We have red clay and being at the top of the hill there’s very little top soil inn places .
We manage by having a sacrifice field that get trashed in winter and rested and cared for over the summer .
The biggest thing with clay is stocking levels and the grass being long enough and in good condition going into winter .
We now are down to four horses and the difference is enormous.

 

[catembi]

We are on sloping clay. Very heavy clay. We had no facilities the first year we were here & OMG it was a rude awakening! The mud! It was horrendous. Each time I opened up another bit of field, it was trashed within 24 hours. We now have a large area of hardstanding, probably at least the size of a 20x40 arena, & they stay on that in winter with free access to 6 stables. I think that they prefer standing on a dry surface & eating hay to being in knee deep mud! I also have mud control mats where the hardstanding meets the field & a fair way up the field to protect the entrance.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

In glorious Ireland evert inch of our land is heavy clay with some pockets of pure bog land. I have never over stocked it but still had problems from time to time. We manage to use the driest, top of a slope field when it is very wet, as it has been this year. So far they are fine and not up to their bellies in mud.

We do have winter fields that we take hay off in the summer and then let grow on until the frosts knock it back to hay on the hoof, then we let them on there. It works very well that way. I really don't think 2.5 acres is enough if it is already squelching, they will soon be in a giant mud bath I would think.

 

[SEL]

Pretty bad if it's squelching already after such a dry summer. Mine are still on the paddock that has a spring under it - last year it was a marsh by now.

If you're desperate then perhaps for this winter otherwise I'd keep looking

 

[HashRouge]

Mine are mostly out 24/7 on clay but it's a very well draining field considering it is clay. I often wonder if we have some chalk in there too as we're very near the South Downs. Bits of my field were squelching earlier this week after a lot of torrential rain, but other bits felt bone dry so I didn't worry too much. If your field hasn't been grazed all year and has a good grass cover, it will probably be okay for a bit if you need a stop gap, especially as that is a reasonable acreage for two small ponies. Longer term I suspect you'll have trouble, especially if it is a wet winter.

ETA I have got stables, so can also bring in if it ever does get too wet. And there have been times where I've had to!

 

[chaps89]

Thanks everyone, I wondered if it was optimistic.
There is a grass track along the top of the field that is single road width, which I’m wondering if I can mud control mat and they go on the field on dry days or part of the time.
Spendy though, but at the moment I’m short on alternatives.
There is trees in that fence line though, one of which is oak - when is acorn season? I had hoped the field being a reasonable size would mean I’d be able to avoid it and not need to stress about acorns but that won’t work if I use that strip.
Really thought Lincolnshire being horsey country I’d have no shortage of options but everyone has their horses at home, yards don’t seem to be a thing and where there are yards they’re full livery or don’t have turnout ?

 

[HashRouge]

Thanks everyone, I wondered if it was optimistic.
There is a grass track along the top of the field that is single road width, which I’m wondering if I can mud control mat and they go on the field on dry days or part of the time.
Spendy though, but at the moment I’m short on alternatives.
There is trees in that fence line though, one of which is oak - when is acorn season? I had hoped the field being a reasonable size would mean I’d be able to avoid it and not need to stress about acorns but that won’t work if I use that strip.
Really thought Lincolnshire being horsey country I’d have no shortage of options but everyone has their horses at home, yards don’t seem to be a thing and where there are yards they’re full livery or don’t have turnout ?

I would be inclined to bung them out on it now. It sounds like there is enough grass/ space that it wouldn't turn into a bog too quickly, and you could look for something else in the meantime. Mine used to be on a much wetter field, but even that was generally okay until about mid January in a very wet winter.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I would be inclined to bung them out on it now. It sounds like there is enough grass/ space that it wouldn't turn into a bog too quickly, and you could look for something else in the meantime. Mine used to be on a much wetter field, but even that was generally okay until about mid January in a very wet winter.

This! If you need somewhere fast this place will be ok for now and buy you time to find better. You may even find it’s not as bad as you’d expected.

 

[HorseMaid]

We've been lucky enough to buy some land recently, the horses aren't there yet. The most important thing to me before going is that we have a huge hardstanding put in so that they can be shut off the land in the worst weather (I've got no idea what it will be like but it is towards the top of a hill and hopefully drains well).

A few years ago we were at a yard where the owner decided we must go in the "winter paddock" which was essentially a paddock at the bottom of a steep hill right next to a small river. It tuned into a bog within days and we all left!

I'd try to keep an eye out for somewhere else if I were you.

 

[ester]

I think that's becuase quite a lot of people move to lincs because they can afford somewhere to keep their horses at home there! Maybe some forumers might have some contacts?

 

[chaps89]

Thanks everyone.

I have asked every possible contact I have made/can think of - from a girl who is in young farmers at the pub I work at, to a landlady of a local country pub, to farrier, to posts on local non-horsey and horsey Fb, sign in local co-op etc.
I honestly never understood threads before when people said there aren’t other options, but now I do!

There are two other options but this is genuinely the best of the bad bunch hence considering it.

 

[Surbie]

Thanks everyone, I wondered if it was optimistic.
There is a grass track along the top of the field that is single road width, which I’m wondering if I can mud control mat and they go on the field on dry days or part of the time.
Spendy though, but at the moment I’m short on alternatives.
There is trees in that fence line though, one of which is oak - when is acorn season? I had hoped the field being a reasonable size would mean I’d be able to avoid it and not need to stress about acorns but that won’t work if I use that strip.

Sorry you're having a stressful time of it. The acorns should mostly be down by now. If it's only one oak you might find that the local wildlife have eaten a lot of them by now and if not you could sweep them up? A bit of a faff but should be manageable.

I had mine on very wet clay for 2 years, it wasn't ideal for his feet. I wouldn't do it again without having some form of hard standing for him to be on. Mud control slabs sound like a good idea if you're stuck for options - at least they hold their value so you can resell later on when you find something better.

 

[HashRouge]

I think the acorns are mostly fallen, and mine also seem pretty well rotted/ dispersed already. I wonder if that's because it's been so wet? So hopefully you'd be able to have one big clear up and then you wouldn't have too much trouble after that.

 

[Hallo2012]

i am on sopping clay and mine isn't wet yet....id be wary of anything already with surface water.

mine (2 x 13hh) are on small bare paddocks with ad lib hay and straw in summer, so i save 90% of my 2 acres for winter, its reasted March-November so its long rough grass, good solid coverage by the time they go on to it.
it lasts Nov/DEc and Jan and Feb they have all weather pens to go on to.

they are stabled at night year round too.

IMO you wont manage without an all weather area.

 

[Keith_Beef]

Field is quite well sheltered and on a gentle hill and hasn’t been grazed this year. Walked around it on Friday, we’ve had a lot of rain the last few weeks but this week has been dry and windy so far.
Bits of the field were squelching just with me walking on it. Other bits seem ok.

Will horses choose to stand on dry earth rather than sodden mud, given the choice?

 

[ester]

No that would be too sensible

 

[palo1]

I have done sodden clay in winter and it is hard BUT with some minor amendments that are temporary you can make life easier. An all weather surface is really helpful and will make a huge difference. The cheapest way is probably if you can get a load of rubble (if the landlord will allow it) topped with woodchip. That will degrade eventually but in the short term, over some rubble or hardcore, would work well. I have to abandon our fields for weeks at a time as they are literally underwater (even though they are high on a hill lol) so I have gone for a huge hardstanding area, partially covered but that is a long term thing and it sounds like you need short term. Mud control mats are a big investment but you can take them with you if you could go for an area of those too.

 

[Widgeon]

Will horses choose to stand on dry earth rather than sodden mud, given the choice?

Problem is (with ours, anyway) that they stand on their Favorite Spots, which then turn to bog. But because they are the Favorite Spots, the horses just stand on them anyway, even though they're nothing but eight inches of mud.