Rubber 'holey' matting, gateways?

PlodCob

PlodCob

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Hi

Anyone use holey rubber matting to avoid poaching/reinforce the ground around gateways?

The sort you lay and peg into the ground and grass grows up through the holes.

Is it too late to lay if we already have a muddy patch?

I can get 1metre by 1.5metre for 15 quid off a local supplier.

PlodCob
 
I put some mats down a couple of months ago - decided to move the gateway as the original gateway was wet and uneven. Grass has grown through newly laid matting but not started using it yet as in winter field so cant comment on how good it is yet. I would def. lay on unpoached flat ground or I think you will probably be fighting a losing battle both to get it to lay flat and not to disappear into mud, I think the idea is that any wet soaks though mats as ground underneath not compacted !
 
Probably a project for next year then, I've taped off the worst area by the gateway to keep it from getting much worse.

The rest of the field seems to drain ok and is quite firm underfoot, just pools a little by the gate and our cob Linda has taken to standing in it.
 
We have some in a couple of gateways that aren't concreted. I was told by the supplier (Fieldguard)you could lay onto mud and they'd be fine,tho laying in more favourable conditions is, of course,better if poss. (Spring say&then seed with grass). We laid onto a slightly muddy gateway,didn't seed and they 'took' themselves,grass grew up pretty well but had it had time to grow more,firmer grassroot bases would've formed& meant less mud and less movement (IMO). They didn't move as such but edges of edge ones lifted a bit and they 'ruckled' when my 16.2WB did sliding stops from gallop onto them:-/ They did straighten out tho(but took some effort-they weigh a ton!) There is as i speak still quite a lot of mud in that gateway BUT I think it would've been worse without them and you can feel there's a solid base beneath the mud,so you don't sink deeply into it,just as far as the mat underneath(2 or 3 inches). They did of course start out with no mud on top of them so whilst they've sunk into it a bit,they haven't moved anywhere else/out of position in the gateway. They were really quite expensive tho and in hindsight I kinda wished I'd saved up to concrete those 2 gateways,like all the other gates are:-/ They are better than nothing tho!
 
Thanks for sharing, might be worth it then.

Could drop a couple of mats on the worst gateway, seed and leave, as we've moved her into the second lot of paddocks, so it would get some rest time to establish.
 
Have used them in the past but I wouldn't try doing the job now if the gateways have already been messed up. It's a job that's needed doing before the winter so the mats can be put down on firm ground, pegged down & then the holes get filled with soil & the grass grown through & this helps them remain in position. They are then established & will do the job they are supposed to. Many people only consider doing this when the gateways have been totally trashed, they throw the mats down & lose them into the mud & then complain that they don't work. They do work if they are installed correctly & at the correct time. :)
 
You could use crushed, clean (not building rubble) local stone in the gateway. I've done this in the past and the grass eventually grows through but the ground is still firm three years later. I think it was 40mm size and was about £60 ton delivered and I found one ton just enough for the gateway approx 4x2m but probably need two if you want to extend out a bit more. It's usually cheaper per ton if you have more. Some people suggest shavings/bedding but IMO only good for very short term benefit as it rots down and you end up with deeper and deeper compost-like ground which holds the water.
 
Thanks Toby_Zaphod and horserugsnot4u.

We've laid some building aggregate sand/stone mix in another gateway and rolled it in place, seems to have stabilized the ground quite well.

£60 seems quite reasonable and we have a local quarry/stone supplier just a short distance from us.

Will have to ask the owner if he would mind, as we rent the fields.
 
I think it greatly depends on the ground. We have tried various methods on our wet clay land. One, not so bad gateway (probably bad by most people's standards) we put grass mats down, and stable mats next to them. The grass mats did an OK job, bettter than nothing. The regular stable mats were much much better. We knocked down a wall in our house, and smashed up the rubble, which we put about 8" thick in a wet gateway. 18 months on it is about 3" above the field level now! The best solution on a really muddy area, was about 1'6" of rough hardcore (broken bricks and large stone) covered with about 8" of hardcore. That became our winter turnout area, and it is perfect so far (a year on).
 
I use Fieldgauard mats and have been absolutely delighted with them. The area around our concrete track to the stable yard used to be a quagmire. I laid Fieldguard mats in 2011. They do advise that they are taken up each spring and re-laid; because I had a very bad back at the time I didn't do this, so they have sunk in a little. But now the horses walk through perhaps two inches max of mud whearas prior to 2011 they would have walked through 6-7 inches. Next spring, even if I have to employ someone to do it I will get the mats up and re-lay them.

And a not so heavily used bit is now actually grazed. The mats are expensive but, in my book, worth every penny.
 
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