Nasty Muck

[Little Wolf Ranch]

Well to make a long story short - we placed our new shelter for the girls in a bad location - turns out with all the movement in and out of the stalls plus the way the water drains off the land. . .it has made it all nasty and mucky everywhere around the barn and it's starting to get into the stalls themselves.

It doesn't matter how much rain we do or do not have - it never dries up and it's nasty looking and very hard to navigate around in. Besides the cosmetical disadvatages - I know it's not good for them to be constantly having to be going through the muck in their hooves and I really would like it dried up or something.

We have thought about putting pea gravel and/or sand down, but would that work or just cause a mucky mess with gravel and sand mixed in?

Any tips/thoughts/etc. would be very appreciated!

 

[Genie]

We have an area behind the barn that gets mucky and muddy in the spring and fall. We had a truckload of material brought in that is what you find on race tracks and the ball diamonds in your local parks.

I forget what he called it but it is easier on the horses feet than I would think the pea gravel would be.

 

[Laura Leopard]

I had the same issue with my barn. I had a guy come and put down crush and run gravel. He really compacted it down and it's worked quite well.

Laura

 

[Zora]

We had the pasture graveled, it fixed it wonderfully.

 

[Bess Kelly]

In "muck" the gravel will be pushed right into it and soon be at least partially covered. So, it won't be the worst thing on their feet. Could be first couple days if it's a lot and not spread/compacted.

Sounds like you built where the ground water runs thru and under, I've got one

Oooops! Gravel helps, a well placed swale in the surrounding terrain may be a solution, also. You can spread without heavy equipment by dragging a weighted log or section of fence. Driving something heavy over it will compact -- a riding mower, ATV, truck, depends on just how wet (would they get stuck, etc). Just be careful where you put the fill so that it does not trap and enhance the water in the wrong area.

 

[Zipper]

We had a area like that right out beside the barn and we scraped a bunch of the muck up in a pile than had lots of that small stone that you can walk on with bare feet. It works and I took my shoes off and you can run over it and it doesnt cut into you and it has worked perfect. Trying to remember what he called it.

 

[Genie]

The stuff we get is the "tailings" which means it's the "left overs" after stone is crushed and is in expensive compared to other gravel products.

It's called stone dust by the gravel operators.

It's available at all gravel pits since it is more or less waste. We also use it in post holes as it compacts and gets like cement with water and time so the posts stay straight.

 

[Jetiki]

Sounds like you need to build a path for the water to go around the barn. We had to do this. You can then put your gravel down. If you put a geotextile fabric before the gravel you will save your gravel otherwise you'll have to replace it more often. You are welcome to come up and see how we did ours.

Karen

 

[candycar]

Q for Jetiki/Karen,

Where do you get the geotextile? How thick is it? is it like the stuff you put down under mulch or is it thicker and wider? How do you keep it down and keep the horses from digging/pulling it up? Do you stake it, or just let the gravel hold it down. I have been wanting to do our mucky area with geotextile and pea gravel, but can't figure where to get it and how to keep it down.

Thanks!

 

[sedeh]

I used what they called "playground" sand in our mucky areas. It's somewhere between sand and pea gravel...doesn't hurt their feet at all. Wish I'd known about it when I did the stalls behind the barn...I graveled them and put sand on top. The horses are always digging up the gravel and I've had to re-sand a few times already.

 

[Jetiki]

I would say a company that does driveways and or landscaping could get it/have it or know where to get it. Its pretty much a heavy liner type similar to the weedbarrier fabric for flower beds but stronger.

We don't get sticky icky black mud, we get sticky slick red clay mud its awful and dangerous.

Karen

 

[Whitewave]

I had the same problem round my barn... we put down pee graven then (dont laugh it really works) rain n ice sheild , the kind that goes on a roof and then load of fresh dirt so it has a slant higher at the barn and lower out so the rain drains away ..had it like this for 2 years and no more water in the barn or stalls..

 

[sundancer]

Well to make a long story short - we placed our new shelter for the girls in a bad location - turns out with all the movement in and out of the stalls plus the way the water drains off the land. . .it has made it all nasty and mucky everywhere around the barn and it's starting to get into the stalls themselves.
It doesn't matter how much rain we do or do not have - it never dries up and it's nasty looking and very hard to navigate around in. Besides the cosmetical disadvatages - I know it's not good for them to be constantly having to be going through the muck in their hooves and I really would like it dried up or something.

We have thought about putting pea gravel and/or sand down, but would that work or just cause a mucky mess with gravel and sand mixed in?

Any tips/thoughts/etc. would be very appreciated!

I agree with Genie, we had a horrible mud problem in our ring. We had riding horses that the shoes would get sucked right off! We had the stuff they use for baseball diamonds put in our ring and worked it in and we have no more mud! When it rains, there are very few if any puddles. Its a stone dust mixture and its awesome!

Julie Flanigan

Victory Pass Stable

Maine

 

[Mellis815]

We have discovered the corn husk bedding, I am not sure of the exact name, but it will soak up more then 10x's its own weight. They were even giving out free bags of it at the Expo we were at and we love the stuff! Another bonus is that its a green renewable product that will not hurt the horses or the environment. Perhaps you could try that?

 

[Ellen]

We used crushed lyme. We bought in a truck load, tamped it down and repeated. Then we went to the Quarry near us and got the used belts, same as stall mats, but way cheaper. Considering it was used for outside, we didn't feel the need to invest as much as we had in the barn, but it works.

Good Luck. There is nothing worse then muck!

 

[rubyviewminis]

Marty has great detail and pictures on her website that would be really helpful to you of what she did. I took some of her advice and we purchased road base and packed it, it is really hard. Around the horse pen that ended up like yours, being on the lowest spot on the property, we put sand, and in high traffic areas, we put pea gravel. Our area is horrible clay, sucks the boots off ya when its wet, and hard and dusty when dry. The locals call it pouf dirt. Anyway after our first winter and spring we put down the pea gravel, and lot of it sunk into the clay mud that winter, BUT, it helped and turned hard that summer, next summer we put more, 4 inches for the big and little horses. It is wonderful, stops the dust, the horses love to lay in it and walk on it. And it has stablized the surface on top of the old gravel that sunk. So it was well worth it. The pen that was a winter swamp that we added the sand to, it also has worked very well. The sand and clay mixed a little, it absorbs all the drainage, and pee. The poo is easy to pick out, and it is not near the little barn so with mats in the barn all is well, with no problems with sand ingestion, or soggy hooves and pens.