Preparing for Winter - while the Weather is nice!?

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winchester

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Ok I hate to do this – but need to start preparing for the winter!! Need advice on some ideas I have had....

Firstly the mud – has anyone ever had concrete put in their gateways? Any views good or bad? We are on clay so it gets very sticky and very deep so mats just seem to sink...

Hay – With the farmer delivering hay each week during the winter to the broodmares the gateway gets very cut up. Has/Does anyone buy hay off the field in the Summer and store it outside in the field, on pallets and covered up – so in the depth of winter can just give them hay (throw one off the pile) without having to drive through the gate each time? Do you think this would work or be more hassle than it is worth?

Or should i just be having Haylage (already wrapped put there so i can store outside easier?

Any other preparing for winter ideas you can think of that I can do before the Bad weather kicks in???
 
Have tried storing hay in the field on pallets under tarpaulin . . . fine, except that mine are very adept at destroying the tarp to get to the hay . . . . :( It is now very close to field but firmly fenced off . . . . . .
 
I probably can't give much advise as I am also sorting for winter right now! I am having to lay the stable yard and driveway with road planings, as we spent our first winter slipping about in the mud and unable to drive up to the stables = nightmare!!!

I am also on clay, so completely know what you mean re the gateways, I will be interested in the replies you get. Our winter gateway is on a slope so I was wondering about properly preparing the ground, rolling it, digging in channels and filling with gravel to create soakaways and then laying with ground mesh and rubber grass mats over the top. I don't know how well that will work though! I'm loathed to create a whole area of road planings for them to stand on as it looks so messy.

I will be aiming to get hay in august time and storing under tarps too!
 
Concrete in gateways won't work very well - you will just move the problem further into the field, PROPER ground stabilising mesh however will make quite a bit of difference:)
I wouldn't be to keen on storing hay outdoors, but you can get the hay wrapped after bailing, similar to haylage, then stack on pallets and cover with tarp - should keep birds and horses away and will be protected from all weathers.
Make sure you rest the pasture enough to get a good covering of grass before winter, it will save the ground for poaching a bit.
 
Agree with Martlin re the hay and the concrete.

If you have the mesh already, take up and put down some hardcore then lay over that now, so the whole area has time to settle down before Winter.
 
I personally wouldn't want concrete in the gateway. for one it is potentially dangerous if they are prone to a hoon around, also, when it freezes, you run the risk of ice. I would personally dig out some of the mud and put hardcore / rubble down with planings on top or similar. As for the hay, dependng on the man power you havre to move them, big round bales of haylage might be easier storage wise but you'll need two or 3 people to push them off a stack and manouvre them... into the field..
 
R2R said:
This post is SO DEPRESSING!
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I agree, we've not had summer yet!!

But.... I wouldn't concrete, it moves the problem further back and makes a "step". We had one that didn't pick his feet up and tripped on the "step" (Where soft mud meets the edge of concrete) and skinned his knee, to the bone and put his neck out when he bangged his head!!! I kept haylage next to my field, as horse some how found away in evey day. I just used to put some over the wall where he could reach it.
 
I usually feed hay in the field in the winter! Would it be ok to give them big bale of haylage instead - say one a week for a group of horses - or is this dangerous in case they suff themselves when first opened?
 
winchester said:
Im SORRY - just really need to prepare for the Winter while the weather is good!!!
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Absolutely, it's got to be done!

Totally agree with the others re the concrete, I'd probably be inclined to do at CBFan or Martlin suggest instead.:)

Also, raise water troughs off the floor by putting them up on bricks, then if needs be you can put straw underneath in the gap, might help to stop them from freezing quite so easily.
 
Get your rugs cleaned whilst the weather is perfect for getting them well dried and aired. Theres nothing worse than having to wash and re-proof heavyweight rugs in November believe me - I do it (for customers).
 
Move to somewhere sandy :)
I did 8 years on clay :mad: and now 18 on sand :):):)
At the risk of repeating myself... move to somewhere sandy :);)
 
I'm soon to buy 450g rugs x 2 for my skinnies in case the snow is bad again,i'm also debating whether or not to get some bark to put in front of the gateways,the fields are quite well draining bar one fiels that on a slight slope but i'm going to probably leave that one all winter and use it as a summer paddock only. Also saving for a poo sweeper/flicker as can't bare the thought of having to poo pick through winter again by hand. I'm also putting up new rug hooks for each horse in my barn so they have an indoor and outdoor rug peg each so it's clear who's who's,couldn't be bothered to sort it all out through winter so will finish all my plans like also getting a fridge and table with kettle etc and put in all before autumn hopefully.
 
We're on slight clay so know how you feel. Don't bother with concrete in gateways it will be VERY expensive, instead get some road plainings. They're only £90 a lorry load and work wonders :)

Also ditto on growing the grass. The longer you can get it before winter the better.
 
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