Mud!

[Supertrooper]

Think we are quite/very lucky in the respect that our mud is only really on the surface and it's pretty much where they choose to stand waiting to be fed. We've decided not to stress and will sort the field out next year.

What are your fields like and do you stress about the state of your field?

 

[Jingleballs]

Our fields are on slopes with the gates at the bottom due to the lay out of the land.

That means the gates can get very muddy when it's wet.

Y/O has put hardcore down in most of the gateways but in my lads field it just seems to have sunk into the mud so when he's standing down at the gate it's quite boggy but if he walks up the hill it's generally fine.

More hardcore is going to get put down in that field when it's being rested so hopefully next year will be better.

 

[LOZHUG]

Slop comes to mind

 

[TicTac]

Bedfordshire clay, wellie sucking, slip sliding, why do the horses love to dig holes and get covered in the bl@@dy stuff type of mud!!

 

[L&M]

Revolting here!! We had slushy snow lying for 3 days on top of already saturated ground, so when it melted it turned into the worst possible slime.

Everything gets turned out regardless, but we are bringing in earlier to try and save the grass we have left. I just find it so depressing trudging through the mud every day...

I am actually having fond memories of last winter, as although it ruined the riding, at least the snow was pretty, the fields remained mud free, and the horses were clean!!!

Roll on Spring x

 

[Mlini]

Horrible welly-stealing deep sinky mud in the gateway to my field! Disguised as a puddle with all the water sat on top of it...

The walkway to the fields are horrible, the gateways are horrible, the field itself is ok. Luckily I open the field gate and my clever pony walks himself through all the mud...

 

[Doncella]

The mud is like slurry. The field slopes gently down to the gate, there is an underground stream that runs through the field which is great for filling the stone trough as is is part of an artesian well but not good for the land. Mare and foal are coping but I am sick to death of the stuff and the torrential rain of the last two days was almost the final straw and then today, not exactly sunshine but dry and mild.

 

[Sandstone1]

Whats the point of stressing? its winter, it gets muddy! we would all be moaning if it was 2ft deep in snow like last year! Shortest day today so whatever the weather does at least we know it will get a littlel lighter now. Cheer up! its nearly christmas!!!

 

[Bertolie]

My winter paddock is well and truely muddy! I have two horses on an acre, being fed hay as there is not a lot of grass. They are coming in at night so as to try and give the field and them a bit of breathing space. I debated with the idea of keeping them in for a few days to give the field a rest but to be honest they dont seem too bothered by the mud and enjoy going out and I have resigned myself to the fact that its winter, its wet and the field is going to get trashed however long they go out for! I could use my summer paddock worst case scenario but why trash both paddocks?!!

 

[martlin]

I'm on sandy soil, so it isn't too bad. The downside is - no grass. There is a bit of surface soupy stuff, but the ground is firm underneath, so no sinking, just a bit of splashing. Doesn't stop them rolling and looking like hippos, though.
I'm not stressing, just a bit impatiently waiting to move them onto fresh grazing in the new year.

 

[NoltonSeaShell]

Not a fan of mud!! We seem to have acidic soil in my field, so as soon as it gets muddy along comes mud-fever! My cob is fine with it, but my TB is terrible! Doesn't matter what barrier creams I put on just burns through it all. Saving up to buy her some turnout boots! Until then the two of them are on the yard during the day and stabled in the night. Lucky they are my stables! The two seem content enough, even when I leave the gate open to get water etc they still stay on the yard!

 

[Polotash]

Last year I was still up in Hants and my yard was beautifully well draining, no mud AT ALL, even in snow.

This year however I'm back in Cornwall and we have such sticky wet soil it's horrible - I have to spend SO long grooming! I run a travelling strip grazing system tho, so the fields arn't actually muddy yet, just have a few hoof marks.

 

[Archangel]

I am on sand but for the first time I have mud only round the gateway mind but I still bellyache about it I will finally run out of new grass by Christmas day so have done really well and am only just starting to feed hay. Mustn't grumble.

*wanders off grumbling about mud, dark, bluddy horses*

 

[AngieandBen]

No mud at all yet not even in the gateways, we've had such little rain. Plus my three are on about 5 acres with plenty of grass

 

[Cobiau Cymreig Wyllt]

We're on clay...so sticky and thick...two gates into a 3-acre field that has one end sectioned off for schooling. One gate is at the highest point of the field so it does drain but is pretty trashed at the gateway and along the fence where we've been feeding hay.
The other gate is at a much lower end of the field, by the sectioned off bit - this has become something like peat bog, frankly. The entrance to sectioned off bit is seriously lose-your-wellie depth. I will sectioning off all this low end after christmas to save it for spring...then move them back into the bigger drier end after it has rested...even the horses don't seem to bother with coming down here anymore, so they're clearing not enjoying the bog either!
Where the field runs down to the stream there are a couple of places with standing water..hoping the drainage ditches nearby will kick in soon!
I too am a bit sick of mud..but do prefer it to snow really.
Will probably have to section off the trashed bits in spring...can't see much hope of them recovering otherwise...

 

[Strawberryroan]

There's lots of mud near the gate in my horses field, hate the stuff! Have to make sure no one sees me when my boots get sucked off, looking forward to the snow

 

[Daisy2]

Well last year for us it was snow, this year we have rain and mud. The field is ok because its 13 acres but the gate areas are trashed, I did worry and stress about it but not a lot I can do about it. As per my previous post it does put me off getting them in for riding as I have to go through neighbours winter turnout paddock which is about a third of an acre(postage stamp) with 3 big horses on it, go figure its But I am so looking forward to xmas and the hols to spend time with my kids and horses, mud and all bring it on!

 

[stencilface]

Gate areas are a mess, but they always get like that - they recover enough in the summer by being fenced off. We don't reseed, it self seeds, probably helped by all the hay they get fed, and waste

Bottom of field is a little sloshy, but still lots of green there, stone trough sunk in the ground is full now thanks to the spring being replenished. Top of hill (steep hill) is probably v good ground, I haven't been up there for a while.

Horses don't much enjoy eating their hay out of the tyres in the mud, but if they would eat of the racks in the field shelter and get on with one another, we wouldn't need to feed them outside!

 

[juliette]

We're on clay, so if you stand still you find you can't get moving again! The gateways are getting awful, rest of the field pretty muddy. My horse did have white legs...................!

 

[scrunchie]

Awful.

The girls' field is a bowl shape and large sloping banks but a horrible soggy middle which runs to the gateway. The gateway is particularly muddy.

Hubby has banned me from going in the field because he's worried I'll slip in the mud (I'm 6 months pregnant) and so is feeding them himself. I appreciate the sentiment but I'm missing my cuddles. The girls' live out so my interaction with them has been severely limited . He also insists I stay in the car if the drive is icy. It's driving me nuts.

The boys' field, however, is lovely and not at all muddy except round the gate. I'm allowed over there - thank God!

 

[pottamus]

I fare well even though I am on a flat clay field. I have one horse and three acres which he hardly uses really. I strip graze him in winter onto some of the two and a half acres remaining. I give him a bit each day and so there is no real problem with mud. There are no gateways either as the gateway is at the other end of the field to him he just has hedges and his fencing. He never has muddy feet and comes in every night anyway so dries off. He makes up for the clean feet with rolling though...loves to roll and is not rugged so he is never clean looking in winter at all. When I ride I brush the worst of the mud off his saddle area and that is your lot!