Winter is a cruel mistress

Hang in there too. Have you cut your own hay before? Its my first time managing my own grazing (after a 10 year horse break) so I feel you there too. When to cut hay when to Harrow. How deep to harrow, do I roll etc etc. I have seen some helpful posts on here about hay making and harrowing etc. If you have a search for them I found them really helpful and full of great advice x
yes 40+ years of it. small bales. its so exhausting.
 
OMG that sounds horrific, I feel for you! I really hope you can manage to treat the abscess successfully.

makes me feel like my stress over keeping a abscess hole clean is nothing compared to what you're dealing with.

sending positive vibes
Oh yes the abcess. Started writing about it then got reply from farrier so parked that part for a bit 😅 as you are dealing with one any advice on something i could cover her feet in. Want to coat them in something - perhaps red horse hoof paste - as worried about both getting re infected after i treat this one - or one of the others getting one as her poor hooves are cracking from all the wet then frozen spells so want something i could slap on the front as well as underneath to try and keep us going while long term hoof care plan put in place. Got her in October so again first round of winter and getting to know her feet.

Farrier back from holiday Friday and will try to get down if poulticing doesn't draw out by then. Got to do battle with that tonight in the pitch black with a head torch and amber warning rain. Its set to continue to belt it down until tomorrow morning.

I am going to work on the - if she is very silly or fussy when I try and do it then she she is well enough that I can wait until I can see tomorrow morning to poultice if neccessary.

I managed to dig up a trench of top soil from around the gateway this morning (back killing me) but ran out of time to poultice before work, so I at least have a tie up spot with hard standing underneath so she isn't placing the hoof back in any top soil mud while I work on it.

She is out moving around eating with others and bright and herself and getting better so am hoping it is making its way out already and I can clean disinfect and then work out some sort of barrier to get us to the finish line.

But it's times like this when the loss of the field shelter - even just as a dry place to properly clean and poultice before going back out to walk around on it - really stings.
 
Oh yes the abcess. Started writing about it then got reply from farrier so parked that part for a bit 😅 as you are dealing with one any advice on something i could cover her feet in. Want to coat them in something - perhaps red horse hoof paste - as worried about both getting re infected after i treat this one - or one of the others getting one as her poor hooves are cracking from all the wet then frozen spells so want something i could slap on the front as well as underneath to try and keep us going while long term hoof care plan put in place. Got her in October so again first round of winter and getting to know her feet.

Farrier back from holiday Friday and will try to get down if poulticing doesn't draw out by then. Got to do battle with that tonight in the pitch black with a head torch and amber warning rain. Its set to continue to belt it down until tomorrow morning.

I am going to work on the - if she is very silly or fussy when I try and do it then she she is well enough that I can wait until I can see tomorrow morning to poultice if neccessary.

I managed to dig up a trench of top soil from around the gateway this morning (back killing me) but ran out of time to poultice before work, so I at least have a tie up spot with hard standing underneath so she isn't placing the hoof back in any top soil mud while I work on it.

She is out moving around eating with others and bright and herself and getting better so am hoping it is making its way out already and I can clean disinfect and then work out some sort of barrier to get us to the finish line.

But it's times like this when the loss of the field shelter - even just as a dry place to properly clean and poultice before going back out to walk around on it - really stings.
no real advice on anything that you could cover the hoof in, especially with it being so muddy. I'd probably just spray with iodine once its done. I had my horses in a clay field last year and my gelding blew an abscess, that I didn't even know he had, and it never caused him any further issues.
this year, however, my poor mare has had a stubborn one and the vet mis-diagnosed her, so didn't dig out the abscess, which then tracked up and tried to come out of the coronet band but also got trapped, so £1150 later, the vet had to dig a massive hole, right up to the top of her foot to release the pus! so now I've got to keep her booted and wrapped up, so it doesn't reinfect. thankfully my field is on chalk, so not too muddy but its still be a massive stress
 
Not as rough as your situation but yes this winter has been/is tough! Moved old retired horse in March to field-share with a companion horse - moved in March so likewise haven't really worked out the best set-up yet. Great all summer, field is split into 2 to try and rest some grass. The bit they are on now is hilly so top half is ok and dry but bottom half is the wettest part of the whole field and now just pure mud and a slog dealing with every day and I want to cry for my poor horse sinking hock-deep in it (he doesn't seem to mind and can of course walk over to the dry bit of field, but it still upsets me). Companion horse is a bully around food so a military operation every day to separate and feed them, stables are old and rotten (which I knew but only wanted to use them as a shelter o rin emergencies) but this means when other horse finishes eating it just barges straight through the closed door, so I have to supervise at all times during feeding when I could do with getting on with other jobs. I want to cry every time they decide to run around and churn the field up more. I'm dragging out 2 builders bags of hay every day for them, through the knee deep mud and my back is knackered from it. No idea where I'm actually getting my next hay order from when this bale runs out as everyone has sold out, don't ask me about that 🙃

You're not alone! I know it will soon be spring and everything will dry up and it will all be lovely again but dear god.....
 
no real advice on anything that you could cover the hoof in, especially with it being so muddy. I'd probably just spray with iodine once its done. I had my horses in a clay field last year and my gelding blew an abscess, that I didn't even know he had, and it never caused him any further issues.
this year, however, my poor mare has had a stubborn one and the vet mis-diagnosed her, so didn't dig out the abscess, which then tracked up and tried to come out of the coronet band but also got trapped, so £1150 later, the vet had to dig a massive hole, right up to the top of her foot to release the pus! so now I've got to keep her booted and wrapped up, so it doesn't reinfect. thankfully my field is on chalk, so not too muddy but its still be a massive stress
Oh gosh so sorry to hear that. And the vets bill! Spring can't come soon enough - or just an end to all this blooming rain so the fields don't get any muddier and we can all breathe a sigh of relief.

Shall we appreciate the irony of what my immediate thought to respond with was....

"Remember you can't do anymore than you are already doing to keep her tucked up and safe from the mud and you can only do as much as you can do."

..... am totally aware this entire thread is about my own inability to apply that thinking to my own situation ....

😅
 
Not as rough as your situation but yes this winter has been/is tough! Moved old retired horse in March to field-share with a companion horse - moved in March so likewise haven't really worked out the best set-up yet. Great all summer, field is split into 2 to try and rest some grass. The bit they are on now is hilly so top half is ok and dry but bottom half is the wettest part of the whole field and now just pure mud and a slog dealing with every day and I want to cry for my poor horse sinking hock-deep in it (he doesn't seem to mind and can of course walk over to the dry bit of field, but it still upsets me). Companion horse is a bully around food so a military operation every day to separate and feed them, stables are old and rotten (which I knew but only wanted to use them as a shelter o rin emergencies) but this means when other horse finishes eating it just barges straight through the closed door, so I have to supervise at all times during feeding when I could do with getting on with other jobs. I want to cry every time they decide to run around and churn the field up more. I'm dragging out 2 builders bags of hay every day for them, through the knee deep mud and my back is knackered from it. No idea where I'm actually getting my next hay order from when this bale runs out as everyone has sold out, don't ask me about that 🙃

You're not alone! I know it will soon be spring and everything will dry up and it will all be lovely again but dear god.....
Dragging the hay through the mud isn't fun and I totally feel for your back.

The only silver lining to all this back breaking manual labour of winter is I havent been this slim since my early 20's. Shame it will all have piled back on by summer when it could be shown off in dresses 😂

Oh the hay situation as well. I hope you find someone to sell some. That's been another huge stress for everyone this year. Let's hope it means we'll get a bumper harvest next year.
 
Dragging the hay through the mud isn't fun and I totally feel for your back.

The only silver lining to all this back breaking manual labour of winter is I havent been this slim since my early 20's. Shame it will all have piled back on by summer when it could be shown off in dresses 😂

Oh the hay situation as well. I hope you find someone to sell some. That's been another huge stress for everyone this year. Let's hope it means we'll get a bumper harvest next year.

I actually tell myself this every evening - I have lost over a stone since start of winter so silver linings 😅

I can get small bales but at £8 a pop and I reckon I'd be putting out 2 a day, nobody seems to have big-bales left round here. Yes I keep telling myself next winter will hopefully at least be easier without the added hay dramas!
 
I actually tell myself this every evening - I have lost over a stone since start of winter so silver linings 😅

I can get small bales but at £8 a pop and I reckon I'd be putting out 2 a day, nobody seems to have big-bales left round here. Yes I keep telling myself next winter will hopefully at least be easier without the added hay dramas!
🥰 for the weight loss

😳 for the cost of hay
 
I have no lighting or electric either. I use these


I have a lot of them now so have charged ones in the car, charging ones at home and 'good' ones in the feed room. They are magnetic so you can stick them to gates etc. I have a shipping container as a feed room and tie up against that so this is where I stick them when I need too. You can also balance them on kick board etc in shelters and stables if needed. I love them. They are not to bright that they blind you like my OH head lights (I can never see what I'm doing when he's 'helping' in the dark).
 
I have no lighting or electric either. I use these


I have a lot of them now so have charged ones in the car, charging ones at home and 'good' ones in the feed room. They are magnetic so you can stick them to gates etc. I have a shipping container as a feed room and tie up against that so this is where I stick them when I need too. You can also balance them on kick board etc in shelters and stables if needed. I love them. They are not to bright that they blind you like my OH head lights (I can never see what I'm doing when he's 'helping' in the dark).
That is a brilliant tip thank you! We have solar ones (currently on the water logged field shelter) that we are moving at the weekend to outside the haystore we built ourselves out of reclaimed fence panels and roofing felt - (so much cheaper and bigger than a garden shed) so it will give me light at the feed stations but these would be perfect inside for now and future. Ill be ordering today!!
 
That is a brilliant tip thank you! We have solar ones (currently on the water logged field shelter) that we are moving at the weekend to outside the haystore we built ourselves out of reclaimed fence panels and roofing felt - (so much cheaper and bigger than a garden shed) so it will give me light at the feed stations but these would be perfect inside for now and future. Ill be ordering today!!

The longest ones for best light coverage!!

They make great replica light sabras too 🤣
 
As lots here have developed their own yards over time, does anyone have any mobile stables recommendations that aren't up in the sky expensive but still half decent quality? I'd love it if they could install too.

I'm exhausted and whilst previously I had visions of saving a bit of money installing ourselves I am honestly at the stage where I'd pay pretty much anything not to have that task to do. Will also take a pro couple of hours and us days probably.

We are based in south West.
 
Think of this year as the Learning Year. You are discovering things, changing and amending those things.

You are a Super Manager who is in the midst of carrying out a detailed programme over several months of Continuous Improvement Process.

Along the way you are learning new ways of doing things - these are your Marginal Gains.

You will be compiling a list of all the jobs that will need doing during summer when the ground is dry.

All of that gives you the total satisfaction that next winter and subsequent winters, you will ace it!
 
I did several years on a boggy winter field with only natural shelter. No hardstanding and a lot of praying that there would be somewhere I could put hay out where it wouldn't get blown into the next county before they could eat it. I recall a lot of falling over in the mud too. You have my sympathy.
Just remember, it will never be this bad again!
 
Litle tips I've learnt over the years...might be helpful to others.

Builders sacks make excellent "sleigh bags" that you can fill with hay and drag along the ground easily when it's too wet/muddy/poached to use the wheelbarrow

Sweep any hardstanding (inc roadplanings) daily and it saves a gradual unseen buildup of mank and mud

Use a woolly hat or cap with integral head torch

Fit solar powered and USB-rechargeable lights inside stables and above inside of any feedroom door

Put roadplanings, mud control mats down in summer onto levelled dry ground.

Install gutters on any stables or field shelters to direct water away and into IBC tanks. Install overflows on such systems for when those tanks are full!
 
Think of this year as the Learning Year. You are discovering things, changing and amending those things.

You are a Super Manager who is in the midst of carrying out a detailed programme over several months of Continuous Improvement Process.

Along the way you are learning new ways of doing things - these are your Marginal Gains.

You will be compiling a list of all the jobs that will need doing during summer when the ground is dry.

All of that gives you the total satisfaction that next winter and subsequent winters, you will ace it!
Love this. Great way to look at it. The Learning Year.

There have been marginal gains and a few:
- knowing water logged field is summer paddock only makes much easier to work out decent grazing rotation. It is also the flatest field and a big square so will make perfect summer riding paddock after a full winters rest and a harrow.
- I now know that rather than use this small paddock to make hay (my original plan) use it for summer grazing and rest half the big paddock in spring for 1 hay cut later on if possible and then rest again to be a winter paddock after with horses having run of lower half and smaller paddock during this time.
- And knowing how wet that field is now do not put any structure there - imagine if we had extended on what was already there unknowingly during summer. Would have been awful!
- discovered that underneath a thin layer of top soil we do have a considerable area of hard standing underneath which shouldn't be hard to reveal and gives us an instant place to install mobile shelter and stable that won't sink or flood next year.
- It is also next to gate and will allow us to drive in and out of field to load/unload safely be it to take horses somewhere or with hay 12 months of the year.
- this discovery resulted in a few satisfying weeks or horses eating out of the mud and felt like things were if not together functioning for a while.
- said hard standing will also serve us as a perfect feeding area next winter once properly exposed will be next to a shelter/stables and will mean we don't wreck other parts of field (as I did throughout autumn, feeding in the wrong places)
- we already have a perfectly good big field shelter that can cheaply and easily be mended once cleared out and put back into use for shade and summer fly cover as well as muddy winter as its at the top of the hill. (We are working on this tomorrow)

Writing it out like this really does hammer home how valuable all this information is now and that forewarned is forearmed. Is that the saying?
 
How are we all? Anyone else experiencing constant heavy rain that looks set to continue?

Managed to hack down the tree growing out of the broken field shelter on Saturday but its a death trap of dumped old wood, nails and vines so no way it can be brought back to use until we can get proper equipment in to clear, take the trailer up to get it all out in one go and scrape up a layer of soil to make sure no old nails or screws get left behind from all the debris we pull out so that's a no go until spring.

Decided there and then on Saturday afternoon I'm putting up mobile stable shelter combo on the hard standing as soon as I can. running an excel spreadsheet to try and find something we can afford right now but turns out its a few K more £££££ than I'd bargained for by the time you add in VAT, installation and delivery.

It has rained now for over a week solid and heavy rain. Went to bed last night with it belting it down. Still belting it down when I've just woken up now and forecast to continue for another week.

Feel bad for the field. Its doing its best but nothing would stand up to this ridiculous deluge.

Thank god for their rugs right now is all I can say.
 
How are we all? Anyone else experiencing constant heavy rain that looks set to continue?

Managed to hack down the tree growing out of the broken field shelter on Saturday but its a death trap of dumped old wood, nails and vines so no way it can be brought back to use until we can get proper equipment in to clear, take the trailer up to get it all out in one go and scrape up a layer of soil to make sure no old nails or screws get left behind from all the debris we pull out so that's a no go until spring.

Decided there and then on Saturday afternoon I'm putting up mobile stable shelter combo on the hard standing as soon as I can. running an excel spreadsheet to try and find something we can afford right now but turns out its a few K more £££££ than I'd bargained for by the time you add in VAT, installation and delivery.

It has rained now for over a week solid and heavy rain. Went to bed last night with it belting it down. Still belting it down when I've just woken up now and forecast to continue for another week.

Feel bad for the field. Its doing its best but nothing would stand up to this ridiculous deluge.

Thank god for their rugs right now is all I can say.
We invested in a metal detector to find screws, nails and other assorted stuff on our yard. It paid for itself the day it found a part that had dropped off the tractor, that was going to be mega bucks to replace. Just a word of advice if you do use one, do not wear steel toecap boots.
 
We invested in a metal detector to find screws, nails and other assorted stuff on our yard. It paid for itself the day it found a part that had dropped off the tractor, that was going to be mega bucks to replace. Just a word of advice if you do use one, do not wear steel toecap boots.

OH has a massive magnet to do the same when were building random stuff.

Yes OP it's pouring down here too. It's very glamorous stripping your wet weather gear off in the office car park in a morning :p
 
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Pouring here as well, and looks the same all week. The fields are muddy by the gateways but still have some clear patches, not that they tend to stand in them, why? No point moving them, new fields would be the same in a day. We have 2 Egyptian geese who have moved into the lake in the bottom field. The quad gets stuck taking hay down to the boys at the back, very boring, and I get covered in mud splatters. Really getting that blue Monday feeling…
 
We invested in a metal detector to find screws, nails and other assorted stuff on our yard. It paid for itself the day it found a part that had dropped off the tractor, that was going to be mega bucks to replace. Just a word of advice if you do use one, do not wear steel toecap boots.
Such a good idea - my other half suggested this on Saturday and won himself some extra Brownie points lol. Not that he needed them after hacking that tree/weed monstrosity out of the corner of the shelter.

Pouring here as well, and looks the same all week. The fields are muddy by the gateways but still have some clear patches, not that they tend to stand in them, why? No point moving them, new fields would be the same in a day. We have 2 Egyptian geese who have moved into the lake in the bottom field. The quad gets stuck taking hay down to the boys at the back, very boring, and I get covered in mud splatters. Really getting that blue Monday feeling…
Feel you. I keep wondering if they would rather have the wet side of the field so they could stand in the soggy shelter if they wanted to but keep reminding myself it would be trashed in 5 mins flat and sure they would appreciate the Spring grass more in 8 weeks time.

OH has a massive magnet to do the same when were building random stuff.

Yes OP it's pouring down here too. It's very glamorous stripping your wet weather gear off in the office car park in a morning :p
I am lucky enough to work from home so no one needs see the carnage when I get back from feeding. Change of jumper and I at least look presentable from waste up. And blessedly no one can smell you on camera! 🤣
 
I am on Devon pink clay, which is in one of two states: either Summer it is as hard as a bloomin' brick; or Winter it is just pink glue.

I keep mine at home (lucky I know) and this morning I could just hear the rain against the window; like OP it seems like every single day there is a weather-warning or something nasty falling from the sky. OR it is too icy on the roads to ride. Now we have yet another storm forecast for Friday, and the folks down in Cornwall are still clearing up from the last one.

Feeling your pain OP. But..... may I ask, is this actually YOUR field?? Because if it is not, then my counsel would be not to spend too much on someone else's land. It is easy to do, but seriously it would be throwing good money after bad because what you don't want to happen is for you to get the place sorted, and then your Landowner says well thank you very much for spending money on the place, and gives you notice. Sadly I've seen this happen. Hope you don't mind my saying.
 
I am on Devon pink clay, which is in one of two states: either Summer it is as hard as a bloomin' brick; or Winter it is just pink glue.

I keep mine at home (lucky I know) and this morning I could just hear the rain against the window; like OP it seems like every single day there is a weather-warning or something nasty falling from the sky. OR it is too icy on the roads to ride. Now we have yet another storm forecast for Friday, and the folks down in Cornwall are still clearing up from the last one.

Feeling your pain OP. But..... may I ask, is this actually YOUR field?? Because if it is not, then my counsel would be not to spend too much on someone else's land. It is easy to do, but seriously it would be throwing good money after bad because what you don't want to happen is for you to get the place sorted, and then your Landowner says well thank you very much for spending money on the place, and gives you notice. Sadly I've seen this happen. Hope you don't mind my saying.
It is a very good comment about the money. It is rented with friends who have had it for more than 8 years and I am pretty confident that they won't do that to us as they have rented it out for about 15 years to others before that. They love us because we don't make huge demands on them to maintain stuff as we get stuck in ourselves which previous tenants didn't do.

It hasn't been expensive as we are handy so can do things like bang in a few new fence posts and I have a good relationship with a local timber merchant who gives me free off cuts or ex display stuff so we can always make what we need using that. For example repairing the roof on the broken shelter with be done using free roof felt that I was able to get and our 6ft by 6ft haystore we built for £100 using ex display fence pannels and timber. So its solely a case of manual labour.

The hard standing is already there so just needs revealing (happening tomorrow fingers crossed - again for free via a friend with a digger) and I plan to confirm an order on mobile shelter and stable on Monday. Sadly won't arrive until end of Feb but I also plan to take with me or sell when I do leave.

This weather is really making it hard for me to stay positive. My back has totally given out on me shovelling wet hay and top soil out of their feed stations everyday and now I don't really know what to do next. Waking up in pain every morning but no choice but to keep forcing my back to shovel more wet shit.

This morning I'm going to inspect the field shelter and figure they may even appreciate standing in that despite the wet at this point because the whole place is wet. Will trash our spring grazing but such is life.

We are experiencing the same weather front as you and not seen a gap in wind and rain for a good 10 days and set to continue for the foreseeable. No field could stand up to it to be honest. Its stupid because I can't control the weather but I desperately wish it would give us a break. Very very bleak.

In 6 weeks we will have mobile stable set up and a huge area of hard standing and things will look very different. Then have the spring to reroof the other shelter so they will have 2 shelter options for the whole of next winter and throughout summer and I will have option to bring in next winter when weather does this even if only for a few hours for them to have a snooze and chill. Once we are at that stage we will be laughing.

But even that knowledge isn't sustaining me right now. I know horses would rather live out but I feel at this stage they would all love nothing more than a few hours in the dry to eat sleep and recouperate a bit. Mind you would I want to put myself in a situation where they have to stay in for 2 weeks straight because of restricted grazing at livery? No.

It's just frustrating when you feel like despite every effort (and physical pain) you can't make it right today. People are so kind about helping but you have to be patient waiting for things to happen which I really struggle with when faced with the conditions twice a day. That makes me selfish I know but my desperation to make the changes as quickly as possible is very real.

Sorry not very positive post but struggling to keep my spirits up in this weather 😪
 
Honestly today I've topped waters up, checked their under their rugs and threw treat balls in the field. (Mine aren't given bucket feeders as their chunky and argue over them (and the sheep steel them)). I'll do the same again later. They've a newish bale in the hay feeder so have everything they need and I really don't fancy doing much more. Don't beat yourself up - it's nearly the end of January, nicer weather isn't far away.
 
Honestly today I've topped waters up, checked their under their rugs and threw treat balls in the field. (Mine aren't given bucket feeders as their chunky and argue over them (and the sheep steel them)). I'll do the same again later. They've a newish bale in the hay feeder so have everything they need and I really don't fancy doing much more. Don't beat yourself up - it's nearly the end of January, nicer weather isn't far away.
Dorsetladette - I saw a comment you shared on another thread. I believe it was '2 weeks of rain coming so at this point I'll just be keeping them alive.' I loved it. I think we are in the same storm zone as I'm south Somerset and that is absolutely the attitude I need to be taking. I'm keeping them alive and they have food, water, natural shelter and dry under winter rugs.

This AM I rammed as much food at every hay station that I could fit in, checked everyone is dry under rugs and no leaks, gave them a breakfast so they had a bit of extra fuel, looked around at all the mud and s*** and thought oh f*** it, the digger is coming tomorrow and my back is killing me and walked away for the day 😂.

A friend very kindly offered to go top up all the hay stations for me tonight and do a check as she said I'll be useless to everyone if I don't give my back rest. So I've had an amazing hot soak in the bath and forgetting about it all until morning.

Just working out which wine to test first 😉
 
As DL said, unless you absolutely have to I wouldn't be scraping back wet hay and mud etc.? It's a back breaking never ending task that you can never win. Can you dump hay in piles around the field instead?

I have to admit I get to this time of year and it's about making life as easy as possible. Jobs that can be put off to when you don't need a snorkel and waders are shamelessly done so.
 
Still drowning in mud! But I’m setting myself small goals to get me through 😅

There’s only ONE WEEK of January left, and January is the worst right?! So I’ll have survived January….then February is a short month so just 4 weeks to get through, and we sometimes get the odd nice day in February and it starts feeling ‘almost’ spring. Then we’re technically into spring, I’m hoping it will be dry-ish enough to bite the bullet by then and move them back onto the other field. There won’t be much grass growth but they’ll be out the mud and the hill can rest and recover.

I’m also having 10 round bales of haylage delivered tomorrow so I’ll feel less anxious about life once that is sat in my field.

I have the farrier on 2nd Feb and I’m telling myself this will be my last appt for this winter where I have to battle with getting them out the mud and legs dried and towelled off. The end is in sight!
 
I've been following feral to family dartmoor hill ponies on FB and she has set herself goals in bite size chunks. She's given herself a list of jobs that take an hour or less and picks through them when she has available time. In the dry spell she got a fair bit done.

I've brought tack home to clean ready for getting started when the weather is kinder (It's not been cleaned yet, but it's home).

F to F are a business so full time on the job so to speak so I'm not comparing myself to her/them, just a good idea I thought.
 
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