[Junction Farm]

Hope do you all cope with the mud on the land??? I have 80 acre but 30% of that is woodland with old established trees which im hoping to put my pigs in spring. But the problem i have is the horses are out 24/7 i have over 15 horses out and the gates and gateways are in such a bad state. Its never been as bad as it has this year. I understand im limited to what i can do right now for prevention but going forward into Winter next year i am thinking about grass mats, road chipping, wood chip?? Trench's?? Anyone tried anything that actually works?

[landroverroy]

The easiest way to stop your ground being churned up by 15 horses is to put them inside once the weather turns wet. In this country large animals are usually housed overwinter not because they can't stand the cold, but because of the damage they do to the land.

I've had up to 15 donkeys at a time and found it SO much easier for us in winter to house them in our cattle building. It's not a lot of fun for the animals either, tramping about in mud.

We have them on a deep litter system where they are bedded down daily with fresh straw, then the whole lot is mucked out in spring, by tractor, when the animals have gone outside again. The other advantage is that you can spend quality time with your animals in winter - inside, in the warmth, and caring for them becomes a pleasure, not a chore.

No doubt your answer to this is that you don't have a suitable building - to which I would say "Well get one!" You can build a simple pole barn relatively cheaply and then improve on it as funds allow.

With 15 horses you are never going to beat the mud; even if you put a load of hardcore in your gateways each year. With 80 acres you can maybe move the animals round in winter as each area gets destroyed. But then you end up in spring with a total mess.

[pharnorth]

our first year here was very very wet and all the gates and up to about 30 m into each field got trashed. I now have hardcore under each gate about 5m each side of it. An electric wire fence about 1/4 way up the field means they stand behind the wire rather around the gate. The wire fence has a gate each side so the horses never know which one you are going to so don't crowd it as much!  And none of the horses are shod. Shod horses cause 3 or 4 times more damage than unshod ones.

It's not perfect but it has never got as bad as that first year.

[Old Shep]

With so many big hooves around the land will get compacted and get worse year on year.

[paddy1200]

You have 48 acres for your horses, you say over 15, how many do you have? have you not counted them? if you do not have a building to house them then Ideally separate your land into paddocks instead of giving them free rein, this will minimise the footfall on the gateways and allows you to move them as and when the need requires, and you could also reduce the number in each paddock. Of course failing that you could increase the size of the gateways on a temporary and reversible basis. Big animals are going to ruin the ground in the winter no matter what. Better housed for your, and particularly, the animals benefit.

[juliem]

Bit worried about your woodland...will there be much of it left if you put pigs on it...or is that your intention?
With our increasing mild winters ....your mud will get worse.....
I have sheep on mine and even they manage to tread the gates up......but its not the same kind of loosing wellington boots mud that you get with large animals.

[harmony]

Road planings are excellent in gateways and to make paths. Unfortunately for every mouthful they pull up a horses push four in. As Paddy1200 says separate, rotate if you can't bring them in.

[TracyC]

We're going to get some poach mats down this spring and bring them in sooner next year.  Winter turn out will no longer be a reality for us I'm afraid.

[oor wullie]

Not sure where you are but we are having the driest winter in a very long time.  In the last 5 months we have only had 1 storm of note, next to no snow, next to no rain and temps several degrees above average. 

Yes the mud can be bad but it is nothing like as bad as it is in a normal year.

Wintering indoors is the only real solution (says he who has cattle outdoors because the new shed still isn't finished).

[bazzais]

Yeah we get alot of poaching, always mainly in the same traffic areas.

We have ponies out all year who cope with it and need it and are given love too. (as well as mud)

Our main mud areas are feeding areas, water areas, gates and fencelines where they (as in 'any' animal, (esp ponies)) can see you walking about busy doing other stuff

Fences and gates - never feed them over it when its dry and you can get into the field.

I hate mud - if i had the money I'd be collecting plastic bottles to make a raft.  There is only so much stone you can put down - but if you do it, do it properly.  I have been putting down scalpings in the yard and gates and it works pretty well but it needs doing every year as it just sinks.  all the places where we have put a foot or so of big rock down to and scalpings on top are like concrete.  They wear still so you have to redress but at least you dont have to get rid of the mud thats been pushed up and through and grown grass on in the summer