Yard Logistics Help…please?!

[throwaway2022]

Throwaway as I don’t want anyone to know yet.

I’ve been fortunate enough to secure a little sole use yard, it’s been a long time coming. Little bit apprehensive though for a couple of reasons.

1. No hard standing, other than inside the small barn which contains the three stables, tack room and a toilet. The gate on the right hand side is the only access meaning everything will need to be brought over the field (1.5 acres). Not awful in summer but can you imagine doing that in winter? Landlord is open to some sort of pathway around the outside, what do I use? It’s been left that I’m going to research and come back to him with ideas for that.

2. Muck heap. Previous occupants bagged it up and removed it themselves. That’s a total last resort for me, it’s labour intensive and time consuming. I posed the idea of having a muck heap in the top left of the field, away from the houses. LL is conscious of non horsey people living there and not wanting smell/flies which I totally understand. How would you approach the muck heap? Could I get someone to move it using some sort of grabber going over the hedge from the adjacent road?

Any ideas would be so welcome, I want to be excited but feel worried about these two issues.

To park, you just go into the field and there’s a hard ish surface for two cars. Not ‘formal’ hard standing.

 

[meleeka]

congratulations!

If you are planning on using the stables you’ll want your muck heap close to them. How it’s removed is more difficult but i’ve always had two and used one while the other rots down. They do disappear to next to nothing over time.

 

[meleeka]

As for the path, road planings, laid in the summer are a cost effective solution and not classed as permanent. Obviously need to be deep enough to prevent mud coming through.

 

[bouncing_ball]

I'd have a trailer in a corner for muck heap, then it can be hitched up and emptied every so often.

How much hay storage do you have and how much will you need delivering over winter? Every week / month makes a different.

I'd think two lines of mud control mats from gate to barn could make a track you can push barrows on / drive on for deliveries. Wont be cheap, but you can take them with you / sell them on if you ever move.

I'd probably also use mud control mats to surface the area in front of the barn, and to surface a hay feeding area, and a tie up area.

Sounds great set up.

 

[bouncing_ball]

I'd also potentially spit the field up and strip graze / rotate to better manage grass.

Can you use the barn as a field shelter and give them free access? Or is in not set up that way?

 

[dorsetladette]

Yours is a similar layout to mine. I have a road the goes behind the barn. I've put a stile in and park in a layby (self made) next to it. So I don't have to drive into the field twice a day.

If your putting a track in you could have a trailer for the muck and have a farmer remove it every so often. Road plainings work really well for a cheap (ish) surface. You could put some rubber grass mats outside the barn if you need to tie up outside. I've got my old lorry mats down and that works perfectly well for what I need (bathing etc).

 

[TPO]

Mudslabs work really well the downside is that they are expensive and don't go as far as you'd expect/hope. Upside is they work and are moveable should you want to change their location or if you move.

What is the ground like and have you thought the land management? 1.5 acres is on the small side for horses. General advice is an acre per horse (& then half an acre per horse over 2 I think?).

Assuming that you have a least 2 that leaves you no space to rest and rotate grazing. Is the plan for a track system? If so that will need considered in your access/egress plans.

Is there hay storage? It might be a bit of a pain (& damaging) having a tractor driving in frequently

 

[throwaway2022]

Thanks everyone, heading out now but will catch up properly later.

Land management will need to be tight, it's either going to be my own 12.3 and I'll get a little companion or my friend is hopefully going to move with me with her two 12hh ponies. She's coming to see it with me over the weekend so will know for sure soon. Planning to either track or strip graze as well as haying as needed. Turnout will have to be restricted come winter, not ideal but virtually every yard is limited around here so no real difference.

Hay storage is non existent, if my friend doesn't come with me I can use one of the stables as storage for small bales otherwise it'll be a case of tarps over round bales.

Unfortunately the setup won't work for them to use the barn as a shelter, it's just about big enough to tie one up. Depending on what ponies are there and the dynamics, it may turn out that I can do this with their stables opened up but I don't want to bet on it.

Road planings sound great, will have a chat to LL. I don't mind investing to make it right, I can't see a reason so leave so I'm definitely viewing it as a long term setup.

 

[TheHairyOne]

Thats a tricky one!

At our field with only one gateway we sectioned off a bit by the gateway (safer as well) and have the hay needed delivered monthly onto pallets inside here. Its then tarped and delivered to the horses in barrows by hand. However, we dont have stables so dont need to worry about mucking out. The pile from poo picking is near the hedge line on the road and collected when it gets too unsightly (it sits in quite a big dip).

If youve only 2 horses then the 3rd stable could do as storage for bedding etc. If not then Id be building a lean too on the side and using stable mats in the bottom of it for storage.

Some sort of track will almost certainly be needed to make life a whole lot easier though! The best one ive used at a yard without planning (so not permanent) and relatively cost effective was a membrane laided directly onto very rolled ground, then covered in some sort of dark coloured gravelley stuff. That never got muddy.

 

[ponynutz]

Muck heap wise might be worth speaking to the people surrounding. We were worried our neighbours (who don't have horses at all but have a meticulously maintained garden) might not like having the muck heap so close but actually after speaking to them they don't mind at all. In fact they use some of it for their own garden as free fertiliser! Think everything's worth a conversation and then you can go from there.

Agree a path around instead of dragging things through a large field would be the best option:

Some sort of track will almost certainly be needed to make life a whole lot easier though! The best one ive used at a yard without planning (so not permanent) and relatively cost effective was a membrane laided directly onto very rolled ground, then covered in some sort of dark coloured gravelley stuff. That never got muddy.

Think this is a particularly good shout ^ (we used this as a temporary and it worked so well it ended up staying that way for a good few years).

 

[ponynutz]

Also this is so exciting for you, congrats!

 

[ester]

Whichever way you do it I suspect that in 6 months of using it you’ll be nah it would be better like this, why didn’t we do it that way in the first place ?. So I would try and make do for a bit before spending too much.
small ponies I’d likely set a track up and save the middle for winter grazing- but also If you did put road planings down as an access track you could then use that for winter turnout too and feed hay on it?

mud control mats are great, and we have them partly because we can sell them when we don’t need them anymore but even if doing two tyre width only tracks they might be cost prohibitive to go half way round your area.

muck heap wise we’ve had a few iterations. Initially all one pile, then we had 2 areas, one built with Earth banks to make a pit like area and would have it dug out a few times a year - and farmer would take to the village allotments.
We now have a side opening trailer on site because the farmer was selling it because not using it enough. There’s an Earth bank that makes the ramp on one side shored up by railway sleepers.
we do still try not to get it moved for most of the winter though as they do have to drive over some of the field and it makes a hell of a mess

 

[Leam_Carrie]

When I had my own land a local farmer put in hard standing tracks and hay area. All were hardcore topped with plannings.

For hay I bought a small shelter and put a round bale in it. This had a larger area of hard standing under it and it was near the gate. The farmer that did the work also delivered my hay so thought it through.

There are people who takeaway muck heaps. I didn’t need this so not sure if details.

 

[throwaway2022]

Whichever way you do it I suspect that in 6 months of using it you’ll be nah it would be better like this, why didn’t we do it that way in the first place ?

Exactly what I've said to my friend!! Moving at the right time really, can get a feel of the place with plenty of time to sort plans before winter.

I think a road planings pathway around the edge would be the perfect solution, easy access for a muck trailer plus everything else. Does anyone have a rough idea of cost? Looking at 100/110 odd metres of pathway, it's not going to be cheap is it...

 

[ester]

For several years we walked down one side of some fencing with the wheelbarrow, and back up the other side.

Then we eventually cut a human sized gap in the fence ?

 

[Lyle]

I like the idea of a track around the edge of the field from gate to barn, as this can double as hard standing and haying area. What about a small 20ft shipping container? Could be a handy storage area for hay etc.

 

[Leam_Carrie]

Exactly what I've said to my friend!! Moving at the right time really, can get a feel of the place with plenty of time to sort plans before winter.

I think a road planings pathway around the edge would be the perfect solution, easy access for a muck trailer plus everything else. Does anyone have a rough idea of cost? Looking at 100/110 odd metres of pathway, it's not going to be cheap is it...

i think I paid £1 - 2k for 50m. Costs have gone up significantly since.

 

[meleeka]

I paid around £170 for 20 tonnes (a big lorry load) a few years ago and borrowed a digger to lay it.

Have a look for local companies on FB. Cost do seem to vary.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/13401765...E647P2LQB2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

 

[Equi]

You wont' own this land? The cost to make a path around the edge will be thousands and you can't take it with you. If it isn't fenced off the horse will destroy it. I would look at buying a tractor trailer to set by the barn for mucking out, make sure its empty before winter and have a tractor tow it away when very full and be a little savvy with mucking out. Throw most of the pure poo into the least offending hedge. Use the 3rd stable to store hay that you get in late summer before it gets wet so the field won't be driven on over winter. If you can only park the car at the gate, make a pathway for humans out of rubber mat cut offs/carpet cut offs fenced off by electric tape.

 

[MissTyc]

Use mud control mats to make hard standing/paths - not cheap but you can take them with you if you ever need to leave and they really do work.

I have three horses on aubiose 12 hurs in/12 out between September and April (then they head off to different summer grazing). When I took on the little area where I keep them, I "inherited" a muck heap 6ft tall, 10ft wide ... For one whole summer, my friend and I delivered well rotten manure to the nearby allotments and advertised all over Facebook. We got rid of it all and got a few pennies towards fencing. Three years later, I build up one side for 8 weeks then start on the other side - by the the time the new side is even half filled, all the old has been picked up by local residents. They turn up with wheelbarrows, buckets, etc - note we're not in a village, but proper residential neighbourhood, but we managed to get people on board with the Facebook posts, showing the cost of manure from the garden centre, joking about the healthy aspect of digging your own, showing photos of the "FREE WORMS" you get with every spadeful. My horses can't poo it out fast enough, and people LOVE the rotting the aubiose as mulch. I just have to remember to regularly post on our community facebook to remind people *now* is time to mulch thick; *now* is time to dig in manure, etc ... It's also seriously improved community relastions as I love chatting over the fence about land management and wildflowers and I have photos of my own manure-fuelled vegetable garden. The previous occupant was apparently of the "what you looking at; get away from my fenceline" variety.

 

[TGM]

I would echo what MissTyc says and use Mud Control mats to make hard standing areas and paths. You can take them with you if you ever leave and you can move them around to improve the layout if you need to. We also let local gardeners come and remove our well-rotted manure and they are very grateful!

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Another vote here for mud control mats. They hold their value so if you ever leave and don't want to take them there will be no problem selling them.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

And another vote for mud control mats!

 

[maisie06]

Mud mats are brilliant and ask around/post leaflets at local allotments - most will be happy to come and bag up the muck themselves!

 

[throwaway2022]

I’m back! The weekend has been hectic. Visited the yard again and got some photos, feel a million times better now. Think I was so overwhelmed at the first viewing that I forgot what it was really like!

Going to bed on Aubiose or chopped rape to minimise waste and assist with rotting down. Will nip into the allotments which are just round the corner and pass on my number as well as posting on FB. Going to site the muck heap right by the stables, will I get away with some sort of freestanding pile or am I going to need a trailer? Bearing in mind that the trailer could only be emptied when the ground is dry enough.

Where the bird cage currently is, under the hedge, thinking about some sort of shelter to store hay. Big delivery end of summer to last til spring. I can always get small bales if we run out but trying to minimise having to carry everything over the field ? Mine can even go on haylage.

The big stable with the bird stuff in will be mine, planning to separate it off somehow to enable bedding storage. Again, try to get enough to last over winter.

The area outside the stables is bad so will need matting.

Any further thoughts after seeing these photos??

 

[Annagain]

It looks lovely. How excitiing! Is there any chance of putting a gateway in directly off the road in the opposite corner to the one that's there now? It might work out cheaper than putting a track in along two sides of the field, would keep more of your (limited) grazing and would be less likely to upset your neighbours. Road planings would be a good option. You could even pop some more down around the barn to create a small winter turnout area? I'd maybe invest in a small trailer for muck and deliver it to allotments when you can.

 

[throwaway2022]

https://www.arleymosssupplies.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=362&product_id=2845

Something like this looks like a good option for winter? I don't think they'd be moveable though to get one under shelter. I'm not going to get through a round bale (which we could roll) fast enough and won't want wastage to get rid of. Decisions decisions...

 

[throwaway2022]

It looks lovely. How excitiing! Is there any chance of putting a gateway in directly off the road in the opposite corner to the one that's there now? It might work out cheaper than putting a track in along two sides of the field, would keep more of your (limited) grazing and would be less likely to upset your neighbours. Road planings would be a good option. You could even pop some more down around the barn to create a small winter turnout area? I'd maybe invest in a small trailer for muck and deliver it to allotments when you can.

Love the idea about the gate, will definitely see if that's feasible!

 

[ponynutz]

Looking at it mats probably are needed esp in winter.
No extra thoughts other than it looks like such an adorable little yard though - how exciting!

 

[Vodkagirly]

https://www.arleymosssupplies.co.uk/index.php?route=product/product&path=362&product_id=2845

Something like this looks like a good option for winter? I don't think they'd be moveable though to get one under shelter. I'm not going to get through a round bale (which we could roll) fast enough and won't want wastage to get rid of. Decisions decisions...

I get 2 sizes of bales. Large ones are more economical and last long enough when it's cold and they are hungry. Small ones for warmer weather.
I use rape straw bedding and it rots down really well. Been here 2 winters and not had muck heap removed yet - though we did use some on veg beds. Definitely better on that side than straw or shavings