Mud and winter logistics!!

[Ladybird L]

It’s only September and the mud is already shocking! Does anyone have any inspiration on how to manage it. Field is not fabulously drained, and there’s a loooong (grass) track down to it. MUD. FEST. Anyways, I have a couple of mud control mats I’m planning to make a rectangle in the field with for putting hay on. We couldn’t afford more, so do I just persevere turning them out even when it inevitably becomes hock deep mud?! What else can I do? I’ve bought bulk pig oil already but if anyone had any other suggestions for mud fever/keeping a grey respectable it would be good… Are snuggy hoods safe/worth it?
Also, I’m trying to figure out what times I’m going to turn them out. (They’re out 24/7 atm) I really want to do overnight as having them in and dry for vet, farrier, riding a etc during the day would be fab. But I feel that they’ll need to be off the land more unfortunately. Hum. Just rambling here, sorry. So I’m not sure what to do!! If anyone feels like sharing pics or their muddy fields it would much comfort me
Thanks and sorry for the long post!!

 

[pistolpete]

I used to be at a yard like this. Was awful having to walk slightly giddy horses in the thick yucky mud to turn out. I don’t have an answer other than to hope that yards see the difficult conditions and maybe alter layout for worst of conditions.

 

[SpeedyPony]

We're lucky in not usually having huge amounts of mud (purely due to having plenty of space in winter), but I'm careful to change the position of hay/lage (possibly less on an issue with mud control mats) to prevent poaching of one particular area. If you have more than one field, changing fields regularly can give the grass a chance to recover and keep the root system (and therefore soil) stable, although that will depend on your climate, as grass generally stops growing once the temps dip below 5°.