mud at field entrance (sand/ sawdust suggestions?)

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travelmad

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Hi, horses in new winter field but already starting to tear up the entrance (clearly complaining that they want more hay/ feed/ to be in etc!).

What could i put at entrance to stop it getting too mucky? Would it help for me to lay down sawdust or sand or wood pellets/ matting or something? has anyone done this? Its a livery yard but my own field so i can what i like with it.

Would love suggestions please and thank you
 
Grass mats work well but needed to be laid before it got muddy. Sand and/or sawdust won't help. Road planings might work if you can get enough of them and it's not bottomless.
 
amymay said:
Hardcore.
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Sorry Amymay I didn't understand your response? Is it a suggestion or just comment?

Thanks everyone - I can't lay concrete as its livery yard, but will look at the others, maybe if it dries out (yeah right!!) I can try grass mats? Off to googel rest of suggestions - thanks so much
 
I have, in the past, used a) straw, works quite well b) shavings, great to begin with, then they just turn into a worse soggy mess and take months to rot c) sand, works into the mud, good to walk over and doesn't hurt the horse's feet like hardcore, which should be tracked in if used.
 
FfionWinnie said:
Hardcore, gravel or road planings. Don't waste your time and money with anything else.
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Make sure it's road planings and not sweepings. OH's father (Farrier) says the sweepings are the worst thing for tearing feet to shreds and getting problems.

Easiest in my opinion is to fence off the gateway 'til they stop gate hanging or you'll always have a bit of a bog.
 
Yes to do a good job your would have to have man with digger to dig out and then put hardcore or stone down.

Putting sand, shavings, woodchip etc. would eventually get churned up and therefore would be a waste of money.
 
Anything absorbant will just go soggy and will get mixed in with the mud so solid surfacing is best. only problem with it being a livery yard is that although its your individual field they may not be happy with you using solid surfacing or taking the top off the gateway area to put a properly draining surface in.
 
I've put loads of wood chip down in our catching pen which was just a big quagmire. It has worked well but it's only really worth doing if you can get masses of the stuff as the first few loads you put down will just mix with the mud. You need a lot on top of this before it becomes remotely stable. Try getting friendly with a local tree surgeon and see if they will drop you some off as they produce masses of the stuff. That's what I did and he was kind enough to give me it for free. Obviously it's not really a long term solution as it will eventually rot down so you need to be prepared to keep topping it up, or just use it as a quick fix until you can get some hardcore put down.
 
kathantoinette said:
Yes to do a good job your would have to have man with digger to dig out and then put hardcore or stone down.

Putting sand, shavings, woodchip etc. would eventually get churned up and therefore would be a waste of money.
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Ditto this.

My fields are like a swamp and the gates are like a cesspit at the mo. I asked the local farmer for his advice last night as I just can't deal with it anymore :( Plus its not doing the horse's feet or shoes any good to be ploughing through it every time we go in or out of the field.

He told me I really need to wait till dryer weather TBH as what needs to happen is for all the topsoil (which is what is causing the problem) to be scooped up with a bucket thing and pushed back and THEN when that's clear, to put down hardcore, or whatever. But at the moment coz everything is so blimmin wet he can't put down the hardcore as the fields are too wet to gain access with heavy machinery in order to do it.

Sawdust will only make the problem much much worse and you'll just end up with a mushy bog. We've tried it here and it made it a lot worse - shan't do that again!

Have not tried the matting someone's referred to. But you'd still need to get rid of some of the topsoil in order for this to work surely?
 
You need to lay the grass protection matting in spring. Make sure you level the surface, then scatter a good covering of grass seed, rake this in and then put the mats on top. Once the grass grows through the holes and establishes a good root system, it will hold the mats in place and they should'nt sink in the winter.

Anything bio-degradable like shavings, sawdust, straw etc will rot down quite quickly and make the entrance even worse - as we found to our cost. You could dig out the worst of the mud and put down sand or pea gravel.
 
We've tried the whole lot, so I can give you a review of them all!! (should go and take some photos of them all!) We have clay ground that gets very boggy.

Grass mats - have been down three years in the least boggy gateway. Can hardly be seen, but help a tiny bit. Would be good on well draining land that "cuts up" rather than gets really muddy (ie, only gets hoof deep)

Stable mats - laid next to the grass mats and have been amazingly good - much better than the grass mats.

Hardcore - we knocked a wall down through to the cottage next door and did two gateways with them. Quite noticeable at first and would easily be spotted by planners.. Rough hardcore is often free if you have something to whack it with or compress it..

Road chippings - great, neater looking, if in a very muddy field would need hardcore underneath.

Concrete - never tried it other than on the yard. Would work well, but doesn't look at all nice in my opinion, too bright!

Shavings - works fine for about a week, then mixes into the mud and becomes a child-eating swamp with a lot of suction!! Would never ever do it again!!
 
Just a word of caution on laying concrete in field gateways, it can be lethally slippery.

We extended the concrete from the yard into the field to prevent poaching around the gate - works fine for that purpose but what I hadn't bargained on was the mud from the field creating a film across the concrete which no amount of daily sweeping can cure. Yes, you can wash it down daily but a) this is damned hard work and b) it then creates an ice sheet once the freezing weather arrives.

I now play russian roulette with my girls in the winter by having to stand on the edge of the concrete pad whilst they hurtle towards the yard to come in at tea time so they don't hit it to fast and ski into the yard - so far they have always stopped in time, but being 6 mnths pregnant I'm not so keen on testing my luck this winter -will be positioning hubby in the firing line this year!

Hardcore would definately be my future choice.

You live and learn :rolleyes:
 
I don't have poached gateways but a friend of mine's field entrances suffered terribly a few years ago. She now swears by rubber stable mats. I've been to her place when it's rained lots and she's right, the mats work brilliantly. It's a cheap and cost effective way to do it. Hardcore works great but much more financial outlay.
 
Thank you everyone, spoke to yard who are not keen for a permanent solution so I think stable mats for the winter is the way to go, great advise from everyone As I know what to do now for future fields too. Thaks
 
For this winter - old carpet, any old carpet. Get it from friends, cadge it off shops.

Next spring - Fieldguard grass mats. They are expensive, absolutely brilliant, and I wouldn't be without them for the world. They have absolutely transformed the boggy area round my small stable yard. But you must do what the manufacturers say, and take them up and relay each spring; otherwise they start to sink down and become less effective.
 
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