Too wet to turnout

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cheekywelshie

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Well that recent storm has just about finished the paddocks off. They’d barely recovered from the last one. Too wet and slippy to torn out I’m going up several times a day to let him roll in school and hand walk down the hard surface track trying to manage this at different times when others aren’t up . It’s going to take them ages to recover and not great the horses being in and exhausting for me never mind the haylage I’m getting through. How is everyone coping?
 
It's just awful, isn't it? My paddocks are on chalk so don't usually look too bad but the gateways are muddy swamps. On Monday we had violent hail, driving rain and a lightning storm. Water was running off the tracks round here like streams. Just keeping my eye on the fact that after today, we have mostly sunshine down here in the South for about a week. I've managed to turn out most days as I have one field that still has grass but yesterday they were in in for 24 hrs - first time in years. The cost of haylage and bedding is huge this winter. Roll on spring.
 
Mine are currently in. Fields sooo wet. We have a few nice days forecast so hoping to turn out on Saturday. Hang on in there everyone, spring is coming!!
 
Mine are coming in overnight and still out during the day. It's so wet that they tend to just stand around eating hay, so aren't making it any worse at least. I'm not sure I'd want to keep them in for as many days that it's going to take to dry the huge puddles up, so I just won't look at the state of the field for now!
 
We are on sandy soil so mud isn't too much of a problem, just muddy around the gateways.
The fields do get wet and do get puddles forming in the low lying areas but, it drains away and dries quickly.
However, we bring in overnight all year round because the grass doesn't grow lush enough to sustain 24/7 turnout.

This is the worst time of year for everyone but spring is on the way!
 
Dino7 said:
We'd never turn out if we kept them in when it was too wet. Always amazes me how well fields recover with a bit of TLC in the spring, so out they go!
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Me too

Monday sent a literal torrent down my winter field with the roadside ditches backing up, so they are in overnight now for the foreseeable (my old shoulder injury is not happy with mucking out). I turn out in daytime though. They'll be off this field in March and it'll bounce back with TLC

ETA grateful to have my own fields to trash at my leisure! But if the god of lottery wins wants to bring me an indoor school I'd be very happy.
 
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I've been lucky at the farm my old girl is at (she's 25). Even though the field has been very wet (imagine horses cantering through puddles to get to the gate) we've been turning out. Unfortunately the last few days of rain have been too much, and without being told I've made the decision to keep my girl in until it dries out considerably. She's a grumpy chestnut mare at the best of times, and did not appreciate the grooming session this morning to get some of the clumps of dried mud off her - think teeth and feet aimed at me! She is getting walked and turned out in the arena several times a day, and that is just going to have to be sufficient (she's not ridden these days) until the field dries out. I don't like it but needs must!
 
CastlelackSportHorses said:
Our fields are under water, but so lucky we have winter turnout pens. They go out at 6.30am and in at 5.30pm! :D
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I think people are going to have to move along those lines as the climate gets wetter in winter.

Owners with horses at home (and land that gets very wet) are going to have to look at ways they can do something else, mini tracks around their hard yard/garden/drives perhaps. More mud control mats to make outside pens, fencing off waste areas to give them somewhere else to go.

Others are going to have to realise, IHMO, that is it not acceptable to keep a 600kg animal in a box all day with an hour on the walker/school. Stable yard design must be improved. Pens in front of stables for example, mini tracks. Lots that could be done but won't happen sadly.
 
cheekywelshie said:
Well that recent storm has just about finished the paddocks off. They’d barely recovered from the last one. Too wet and slippy to torn out I’m going up several times a day to let him roll in school and hand walk down the hard surface track trying to manage this at different times when others aren’t up . It’s going to take them ages to recover and not great the horses being in and exhausting for me never mind the haylage I’m getting through. How is everyone coping?
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Ours are still out, and fence from the last storm is not repaired due to a hole of a fencer dragging his feet. Fields are squidgy and wet.
 
I was greeted this morning by industrial action - a collective refusal of ponies to first enter the wet field and then (despite moving hay to drier parts) to eat or entertain being in there at all. Well…my NF gave in and ate, but that’s just her! They wanted back in, didn’t see the point in being out in that.

I have reluctantly turned them out in the only dryish field I have left (on a steep hill) and I’ll have to hope that this field holds out and no one gets injured. I left them alternately leaping around and stuffing their mouths with grass…

Luckily my friend’s yard has a hard standing turnout area, but her fields are like marshland and even the sand paddocks down the lane are wet!

I would love a large barn for winter. Big enough to split off for the different herds and for them to be able to socialise, mooch around and be dry! Many years ago I was on a yard that bred TBs. They had a barn for the youngstock for winter - it was huge and they could mooch around, lie down, eat, be horses basically.
 
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paddy555 said:
I think people are going to have to move along those lines as the climate gets wetter in winter.

Owners with horses at home (and land that gets very wet) are going to have to look at ways they can do something else, mini tracks around their hard yard/garden/drives perhaps. More mud control mats to make outside pens, fencing off waste areas to give them somewhere else to go.

Others are going to have to realise, IHMO, that is it not acceptable to keep a 600kg animal in a box all day with an hour on the walker/school. Stable yard design must be improved. Pens in front of stables for example, mini tracks. Lots that could be done but won't happen sadly.
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Agreed.We used to turnout in our fields during the day in winter and the horses were miserable, up to their hocks in mud.
We have them in large pea gravel pens now with a round bale and hay bell and their all very content, can roll, buck, gallop around and play. No matter what the weather!
Best investment ever.
 
Its relentless, ours are in a lot over winter as the fields are a boggy clay mess. They have gone out for a few hours today though. But yes its miserable.

Our pony has newly diagnosed arthritis and my boy has recently been treated for ulcers...so really they need a better lifestyle with more turnout which is making me really consider a yard move despite there being very few options comparable to what we have re facilities and support, its just so depressing.
 
:rolleyes: Field, well that is a misnomer to start... Swamp at the bottom, is not holding up well against a heavy horse (850kg) and a medium size mare who loves sideways moves in the field. They are out from 7:00 to 16:00hrs. with hay. Electric fence provides rest for parts of the field but we are just fencing off mud at the mo! Still at least there will not be much grass for them to be kept off in the summer...will there??? And it is only January.
 
So lucky to have our own place. We have winter and summer paddocks, so the winter paddocks do get in a mess but get maintained and rested and come back as good as new. Mine are out everyday until about 2pm. They have big hay crates and are so desperate to go out. Next winter we are having turnout pens put in as well. But i do feel for those who don't have the choice. It makes it a very long expensive winter.
 
I don't have anywhere to bring them in or hard standing as such. They have a field shelter that has mud mats in, and a yard space made of mud mats so the can get out of the wet if they want to, but they have been quite happy wandering through a little copse of trees and sheltering in the lee of a hedge so they can munch grass during this last storm session. The fields are very wet in places, but I have paddocks to rotate, so what gets trashed will get rested.
 
Mine are trashed. The rain over the past week was the last straw for the ground. I actually had a sink hole appear by the water trough. I was throwing bricks down it. After losing lots of sleep, this morning I put them onto the summer paddocks. Aim is to bring them back onto winter fields when they are looking a bit better.
 
paddy555 said:
I think people are going to have to move along those lines as the climate gets wetter in winter.

Owners with horses at home (and land that gets very wet) are going to have to look at ways they can do something else, mini tracks around their hard yard/garden/drives perhaps. More mud control mats to make outside pens, fencing off waste areas to give them somewhere else to go.

Others are going to have to realise, IHMO, that is it not acceptable to keep a 600kg animal in a box all day with an hour on the walker/school. Stable yard design must be improved. Pens in front of stables for example, mini tracks. Lots that could be done but won't happen sadly.
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Couldnt agree more. The climate is IMHO the biggest threat to our hobby. When you look at the amount of yards that just dont have either enough land or the right set up its scary. Wet winters are here to stay and we all need to find ways of keeping our horses happy during these months.
We invested in a hardstanding pen area for the foals, and its been an absolute godsend. the foals/1 yearling have been out for the majority of the winter. Its been interesting to watch them, they have an area of hardstanding with a ring feeder and a 24x 12 field shelter. The shelter has rubber matting and plenty of shavings. This has access to 2 fields. When its wet they havent come out off the hardstanding at all. Choosing instead to stay in the shelter and all 4 sleep together.
We started a second one for the ridden ones but only got part way and the weather turned. So that will be finished when the land dries up. So theyve all been coming in every day. Either during the day or overnight. Turning them out has been interesting as none of them have wanted to go back out in the wet fields.

I was chatting to a breeder friend and theyve seen a general decline in people buying /keeping youngsters. The costs are getting to a point where its just not viable for people to keep stores anymore.
 
We've been lucky and seemed to have dodged the worst of the weather but it's still very soggy and i've never had so little grass. Mine are still out most of the time though with plenty of hay put out. At night I put the hay in the yard area in front of the barn so it's not on the mud but in the day they have the hay in the field unless it's actually raining. They do come in for a few hours in the morning and when the weather is really bad they come in at night, only had to come in about 10 nights so far.
 
paddy555 said:
I think people are going to have to move along those lines as the climate gets wetter in winter.

Owners with horses at home (and land that gets very wet) are going to have to look at ways they can do something else, mini tracks around their hard yard/garden/drives perhaps. More mud control mats to make outside pens, fencing off waste areas to give them somewhere else to go.
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Its definitely a challenge. I have enough land to rest and rotate but my winter field is so, so wet at the moment (& more rain due in tonight) that its really now just 2.5 acres of soggy turnout for them to wander around in daylight hours. Normally I'm all for leaving them out but the shelter has flooded 3 times this winter already we've had such heavy rain the drainage isn't coping.

Mud mats are fine in areas but the ones outside the shelter have water over the top of them (ground water) so I don't think they'd work for a large area on wet ground.

Ideally I'd dig out a loafing area and lay drainage and hard core but I doubt I'd get that done without drawing the attention of the local planning office who have recently been a total PITA for a community garden round the corner. I'd also struggle with showing any net bio diversity gain even though I know it would improve the land. If I thought the local planners could be sensible and I could show that replacing grass with hardcore was actually beneficial then I might attempt it, although £££ as well as the hassle is putting me off at the moment.

I'm not quite sure what the solution is. My friend on a farm appropriated her dad's junk yard, got all the scrap taken away and found someone getting rid of an old school surface. With that and the existing hard core track to her stables she has given her horses loads of room to play and move that doesn't involve the field. She has the cleanest grey gelding I've ever seen at this time of the year!!
 
Asha said:
Couldnt agree more. The climate is IMHO the biggest threat to our hobby. When you look at the amount of yards that just dont have either enough land or the right set up its scary. Wet winters are here to stay and we all need to find ways of keeping our horses happy during these months.
We invested in a hardstanding pen area for the foals, and its been an absolute godsend. the foals/1 yearling have been out for the majority of the winter. Its been interesting to watch them, they have an area of hardstanding with a ring feeder and a 24x 12 field shelter. The shelter has rubber matting and plenty of shavings. This has access to 2 fields. When its wet they havent come out off the hardstanding at all. Choosing instead to stay in the shelter and all 4 sleep together.
We started a second one for the ridden ones but only got part way and the weather turned. So that will be finished when the land dries up. So theyve all been coming in every day. Either during the day or overnight. Turning them out has been interesting as none of them have wanted to go back out in the wet fields.

I was chatting to a breeder friend and theyve seen a general decline in people buying /keeping youngsters. The costs are getting to a point where its just not viable for people to keep stores anymore.
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I havent quite found the same. My horse lives out, and has 4 tonnes of mud control or WF Racing mats in the field (two patios, a large feeding area, and a path, a bedded shelter, and some pegged carpet. My horse does stand on the mats to eat hay, as he has no choice (that is where the feeders are). But he doesnt seem to particularly avoid the mud, and is happy to walk / stand in the mud. I did put the mats in the worst mud and the do help. I do think this year (and last year) have been grim. I have sloping chalk but definitely have mud. I have a perimeter track, and multiple small internal paddocks. I open one internal paddock at a time, trying to keep sufficient grass cover in each to prevent mud. I think I am lucky with the ground that the track is possible all year round, but the lower side does get muddy.

poiuytrewq said:
How big an area do you have and do you actually shut the horses on It or have you done the bad areas of a field?
I'm very much considering doing an area of mine for next winter.
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They dont go as far as you would hope.

Each tonne is about 35 square metres.

I havent shut horses on the mats. My set up doesnt support that. but you could and people do.

I think you'd ideally want at least 4 tonnes, sand on top, and access to stables / shelter at the side.
 
Rooni has been out as normal. He is a fair weather child so prefers to stay in on awful days (and I mean truly horrendous sideways wind and rain, not just a bit of drizzle). Thanking my lucky stars for sandy soil fields. Having experienced clay and restricted/no turnout I practically kiss my fields every day!!! Even I had puddles in a few areas, that’s how wet it’s been.
 
CastlelackSportHorses said:
Agreed.We used to turnout in our fields during the day in winter and the horses were miserable, up to their hocks in mud.
We have them in large pea gravel pens now with a round bale and hay bell and their all very content, can roll, buck, gallop around and play. No matter what the weather!
Best investment ever.
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How do you find the poo picking on pea gravel? Do you find you end up taking loads of the gravel out with the poo?
 
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