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The Fuzzy Furry

The Fuzzy Furry

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Just been thinking, are you going to be making any major or minor upgrades/changes to your yard/fields after this particularly wet winter?

I'm planning to get more planings in (prob June/July when its dry??) for 3 gateways which were last done 10yrs+ ago & were starting to get a little muddy at the back end of Feb.
Also to dig a french drain at the back of the longer block of stables.
I'd like to pop planings over a corner piece of my front paddock to bring down the portable shelter, but thats more a wish - as it gets so wet in that paddock the shelter would end up staying there over the whole winter.

I have to get a run of P&R replaced, as the winds pushed it too hard 1 too many times, this was planned for end this week, but ground is too wet right now.

Your plans? (or wish lists??)

My wish list would be for an indoor arena, but as am on very greenbelt& permission is usually denied even for shelters, that would be very much a 'wish' :)
 
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We're moving house but the house we are buying very much has bad weather in mind when we chose it. The drive (proper tarmac) runs through the middle of the fields so you lead the horses on tarmac to the field gate (we will be stoning gateways)
The yard has a large 40m by 40m concrete square in the middle of it with stables/ barn around the edge of 3 sides and fence around the rest so it can very easily be used as winter turnout on concrete (slippy in frost I know but TBH if it was as bad as last year I'd bed the whole thing down with straw and get tractor to clear it in spring.

My big horse of a lifetime is probably forever retired after doing a check ligament slipping around in the stupid mud/ weather we had last year and I'm not risking that for his replacement.
 
We're moving too, if we weren't, I was going to install some additional drains and a bigger soakaway in the yard, the fields are fine, need bits of re-seeding/spraying etc , but that's just maintenance really.
 
Going to get the remaining muddy gateways/swamps fixed; we put some hardstanding down on the fields the livery uses a few years ago and it was the best thing we ever did, so now we need to do the bits where "our" horses are!!!

Also attend to some very necessary field drainage in "our" bit (did the livery's bit, ditto, a few years back:) ).
 
I rent my 'yard' so there are restrictions on what I can do but these are my plans:

I have a roll of excellent stuff down in front of the stables which has stopped 95% of the mud, I will be adding another line of this to make the area bigger - I cannot make a hardstanding but this stuff does an awesome job

I plan to mow the larger part of my field leaving a wildflower area around the edges and electric fence the grass and move my sheep on to that - this will become the winter grazing for the ponies

The ponies are in a smallish area, I plan to divide this to make a schooling area and a smaller paddock for them for the summer

I have a couple of small shelters to put up for the livestock

The muck heap will be spread on the pig pen as we aren't having pigs this year, this should save the cost of having it removed

The front needs replacing on the haystore

The stables need cleaning and painting inside

Part of the P&R needs to be replaced

one gateway has already had gravel spread on it and the other is fine

Lots to do!!

I would love a barn where the ponies, goats and sheep could all be put when the weather is truly awful
 
I had a stable block built just before the winter which is brilliant, but sadly shortly after one of the stables flooded and sat under water for about 6 weeks!! It was a very wet winter, but its just running off the hill behind. So to remedy it, I have to spend over £1,500 on drainage :(

Wish-list wise, I've always wanted a school but that'll never happen! Will just continue to ride in grass paddocks forever more!
 
WelshD said:
I rent my 'yard' so there are restrictions on what I can do but these are my plans:

I have a roll of excellent stuff down in front of the stables which has stopped 95% of the mud, I will be adding another line of this to make the area bigger - I cannot make a hardstanding but this stuff does an awesome job
Click to expand...

What do you use? Thanks
 
We have jst had the winter field rolled and may split it into two for next year to get more rotation/rest in the worst of the weather although ours love charging around together and a smaller turnout space would restrict that so not sure yet if we will bother but the big change we will be making is that for the first time ever they will all be stabled at night (wet weather only) this is a HUGE change for us and im not entirely sure how my anglo is going to take it, hes lived out his entire life! But his posh new stable is looking lovely :D
 
I'm getting my fields rolled and harrowed as soon as they are dry enough, but all my other plans are on hold because the place has just been put on the market.
 
So far I have fixed the post and rail that was blown down in the storms. I have also replaced a lot of old electric tape, and a few sections of poly pipe that were leaking.

Still to do:

- clear out a deep litter stable (putting that one off as long as I can!)
- tidy barn
- de clutter tack and feed room
- replace a stable top window

Then all ready for next winter, and whatever it brings!
 
I want to fence off the tarmac outside my stables (about 10m x 10m) so that I can put them on there if it's truly awful outside, with their choice of going in or out.
 
Our yard has been a sea of mud, which is a right PITA as the house is in the yard, makes a mess of going to work shoes. We have a patch outside the stables which was bricked over 20 years ago, it allows for drainage, doesn't need planning permission and looks good and doesn't get slippy when it freezes, so we are biting the bullet and buying enough bricks to cover the yard.
 
I've just got a few bits to do to finish off the yard as the arena and stables were new in last summer. Just some post and rail around the yard, additional drainage as the water butts and troughs couldn't cope this winter and a wider driveway/parking area so friend's have more room turn their boxes round when they come over to go hacking.

My fields held up really well in the wet but I do need some scalpings in one gateway and I need to decide where I'm going to put my muck heap as I currently just make a temporary pile and get the farmer to collect it regularly. After 2yrs I'm no nearer making a decision as to where it should go.
 
stimpy said:
Any joy on this? I don't think I'm the only one to. be curious about what you are using!
Click to expand...

The chap i bought it off is trying to find out the name. I have some pics will try to upload those at lunchtime
Its not a miracle cure by any stretch of the imagination and its not a pretty solution but i dont think i would have coped with the wet as well as i did without it
 
This is the stuff, chap says its called Terram but that looks to be a brand name. Its basically stuff that can be added to an aggregate surface to make it suitable to drive or park heavy vehicles on (or so he tells me)

This is the rest of the roll, this is the underside of it

80fe9774-2079-4fe6-a6a5-3680ece36003_zpsfef5829a.jpg


It could be laid neater but it gave me a good four feet more clean-ish walking space over winter so I could do stable chores without having to walk in the mud, The mud just beyond got quite bad but the covered area was firm to walk on about 90% of the winter and really the only mud came from hooves and wellies as opposed to coming up from the ground

dc2b446e-1611-4fb5-85ac-5c3d81009ce1_zpsa58dd0a7.jpg
 
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LynH said:
and a wider driveway/parking area so friend's have more room turn their boxes round when they come over to go hacking.
Click to expand...

Can I be on the friends list please, pretty please :) (it was a bit tight last time ;) )

WelshD said:
This is the stuff, chap says its called Terram but that looks to be a brand name. Its basically stuff that can be added to an aggregate surface to make it suitable to drive or park heavy vehicles on (or so he tells me)
Click to expand...

Cheers :)
 
WelshD said:
The chap i bought it off is trying to find out the name. I have some pics will try to upload those at lunchtime
Its not a miracle cure by any stretch of the imagination and its not a pretty solution but i dont think i would have coped with the wet as well as i did without it
Click to expand...

Thanks very much WelshD :)
 
New gateway in different part of field-hardcore down there as well, also putting up a small pole yard, more guttering and if we have the money, building a lunge pit. We only moved here last autumn and the place wasn't used for horses before so much to do!
 
I have loads of P&R to fix….. a lot is leaning at an alarming angle after the wind and wet, also 2 smaller paddocks to make- 1 with no grass for my cushings pony (no idea how I'm going to do that yet) and one a bit bigger for my boy recovering from severe ligament damage.
Loads of ragwort/weed spraying to do (never ending), the field shelter needs repainting, my outdoor school lights blew over in the wind (well the poles did) so they need to go back up, some more rubber matting needed for gateways.

New muck heap to make- going to dig out some land and reverse a big trailer into the space and use this as the muck heap- this can then be towed down to the temporary storage site once a month and then it all gets spread on the crop fields after harvest…..at the moment we just have a concrete area that it gets put on hand then shovelled into the trailer.

I have already harrowed and rolled the winter fields and they are not looking too bad considering how wet they were

The stables all need a good hoover and the hay barn needs a good spring clean

Gosh- lots to do- i'm panicking myself now!
 
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