Across North America, many horse properties are showing the effects of a wet spring and heavy precipitation. Muddy paddocks with horses standing up to their ankles in filth make for miserable horses and their owners alike.
Living in mud creates an unhealthy environment for a horse. Mud harbors bacterial and fungal organisms that cause conditions such as abscesses, scratches, rain scald, and thrush. Mud is also a breeding ground for insects, especially mosquitoes and filth flies. Horses fed on muddy ground can ingest dirt or sand particles, leading to sand colic, a very serious digestive disorder.
Mud also creates slick, unsafe footing that can cause slips and injuries and makes chores more difficult. Furthermore, mud in the spring becomes dust in the summer. Research shows that exposure to dust is a potential health risk for both horses and their owners.
In addition, Mud has serious environmental implications, something we need to consider as we strive to reduce our impact on the world. Mud can carry sediments and nutrients from manure into streams, ponds, and wetlands, which is detrimental to fish, shellfish, and aquatic wildlife. You don’t have to live near a creek or lake for this to have a negative impact, as nutrients and sediments can also cause problems for ground water—a special concern if you are on a well.
Here are some horse-friendly tips for unraveling the mud, manure, and dust problems on your horse property.
Create a Sacrifice Area
Using a sacrifice area or paddock helps keep your pastures from becoming overgrazed, particularly during winter. This area should be on higher ground located away from ditches, creeks, or water bodies. Using a sacrifice area keeps horses from destroying pastures and confines manure and urine to an area where you can more easily manage it. Surround this area with a grassy buffer, such as lawn or pasture, to act as a filter for contaminated runoff.
Use Appropriate Footing in Paddocks and High Traffic Areas
Adding footing such as coarse washed sand, crushed rock, or hog fuel will help cut down on mud problems in the winter months and make it easier for you to keep these areas clean. These footing materials keep horses off the dirt and allow rainwater to percolate through. Hog fuel also has the added benefit of helping to break down the nitrogen in your horse’s urine and manure. Use 3-6 inches of footing throughout your paddock, depending on how deep your mud is.
Clean Out Your Paddocks
Pick up manure in your paddocks and sacrifice areas every 1-3 days. This helps maintain your horse’s health by reducing parasite reinfestation. Some species of worms hatch as frequently as every three days! It will also greatly decrease the buildup of mud. While you’re at it, pick up stray clumps of bedding or leftover hay as well. All organic material eventually decomposes and leads to mud.
Tarp the manure pile
This will keep your manure pile looking like a pile of compost and not a pile of mush. The nutrients you are trying to save will stay in the compost and won’t get washed out into surface waters, where they can cause serious problems. Store manure as far away as possible from streams, ditches, and wetlands to avoid more mud problems and potential environmental impacts.
Deal with drainage
Look for ways to divert surface water away from barns and paddocks. Consider installing French drain lines, water bars (like a speed bump for water runoff), grassy swales, or dry wells.
Divert Rainwater
Install rain gutters and roof runoff systems on all barns, sheds, and outbuildings to divert clean rainwater away from high traffic areas. This will reduce the amount of nutrients (from manure and urine) and sediments (from soil) washed off into surface waters. This also has the added benefit of substantially reducing the amount of winter mud created in your sacrifice areas.
Practice Rotational Grazing
Cross fence pastures and rotate horses to prevent overgrazing and soil compaction. At least three inches of leafy material is needed for rapid regrowth and for the biofiltration of nutrients, sediments, and chemicals. Compaction of the soil makes water filtration and root growth difficult. Poor pasture management results in reduced quality and quantity of grass and increased soil erosion, nitrogen runoff (from manure and urine), and weeds. It also increases feed costs due to reduced pasture productivity and potentially increased vet bills if your horse eats toxic weeds.
Plant and maintain native trees and shrubs
Plants use a lot of water and can potentially reduce the amount of unwanted surface water around your horse facilities. Planting water-loving native shrubs along the outside of paddocks can help keep the area dry and reduce runoff. A few plants to consider include willow, cottonwood, red osier dogwood, and hybrid cottonwood. Evergreens are also good options, as they even use water in the winter, when deciduous trees are dormant. A mature Douglas fir can drink 100-250 gallons of water per day.
Reducing the amount of mud on your horse property will create a healthier place for your horses, a nicer place for you to enjoy, a prettier picture for you and your neighbors, and a cleaner environment for all.
