Mud Management?

WelshD

WelshD

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I rent a field and stables. the stables have an overhang with a strip of concrete under it which extends about 3ft out from the stables

The area beyond the strip is getting very muddy already, the mud got more than calf deep in places last year, I've checked the guttering and water butts to try and reduce the amount of wet but its still muddy

Bearing in mind that the place is rented I would like to extend the area with something but it has to be reletively non permenant so more concrete and digging down is out of the question but we could skim the mud off a couple of inches to reach firmer ground as its only the very top thats muddy at the moment

I have a friend who has an aggregate company so can buy the following locally and easily

Rubber chips
woodchip
various aggregates/hardcore etc

I could also put membrane down if needed

I thought about rubber mats and slabs but thought they might get very slippy. I can buy the holey matting but it would be quite expensive compared to buying an alternative from my friend

The area would be about 5ft x 38ft

I will ask my friend's advice too but am interested to hear how others have overcome this


Any suggestions would be appreciated thanks!
 
IMO it depends on what it is like underneath if you skim the mud off. If it is getting more than calf deep, chances are it will need something fairly substantial to stop it churning, so whereas rubber mats would work pretty well on mild/moderated muddy areas (and they don't get too slippery) they probably wouldn't in this case.

Personally I would go for clean, crushed hardcore or, if possible, road planings, which drain well, don't freeze and work superbly around a yard - we have a turnout area made from planings around our yard. It also doesn't look any different to mud as its the same colour, so wouldn't stand out as a big change to the yard.
 
Thank you both.

At the moment its quite firm underneath, its like the top couple of inches have turned to sludge as there is no longer any grass to stabalise it

Its part of the field but the ponies have now been moved over to the winter part of the field so are away from the area. I can fence it off too though as we have plenty of electric fencing and wooden hurdles
 
I put the matting down a month or so ago but it was expensive,and I don't think it would last long with big shod horses,mine only has an unshod 13.2 on it, also it is over an area with quite a lot of hard-core under the surface from where the stables were built, the rest of my field is clay and I think it would sink in that, so I would look at some hard core or planings
 
I've got some of those, and they're rubbish generally. They sink and grass grows over them within a year, then you get mud on top. They're ok for dry areas. We also have stable rubber mats down next to them, and they are way better. Neither are as good as the gateways with hardcore or road planings down. I've tried and tested it all over the last few years!
 
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