Happy New year to the few

[tinkeralison]

I actually have 9 in total 😁 they mostly live out, but usually have 2 or 3 living here on the yard. I do have a friend who comes a couple of hours a day during the week, she keeps the place shipshape and also rides a bit.
It's tiring at times, but I just do a bit, sit for a bit, do a bit more ☺ I don't go to work as such anymore, just do work from home, I'm a semi retired sh*t shoveller 😂

[harveydales]

9 ponies!!!! I don't know how you manage even with a bit of help! I feel exhausted just thinking about it.I've been a semi-retired sh*t showeller for many years now - great isn't it?

[Fi]

Whereas I work full time so can only shovel sh*t in my spare time, it definitely looks better in the dark, blends in nicely so is harder to find 😂

I don’t think I could cope with more than 2 on a traditional stable/turnout routine. I’d love another Dales but I’d have to have them living out otherwise it would just take up too much time and energy.

[Debbie]

I"m so pleased to hear Fashion has turned a corner. I'm going to continue keeping everything tightly crossed for her complete recovery. And I'm also going to do some research on liver abscesses as I haven't heard of those either.

9 is quite a few, I'm glad you have help for them! I couldn't imagine doing so many alone.

[tinkeralison]

Went to see fashion yesterday, she was very subdued and looked very little in the stable 😐 still on the drip, full range of antibiotics, going back today xx

[tinkeralison]

Jan 5, 2019 20:26:44 GMT -1 Fi said:

Whereas I work full time so can only shovel sh*t in my spare time, it definitely looks better in the dark, blends in nicely so is harder to find 😂

I don’t think I could cope with more than 2 on a traditional stable/turnout routine. I’d love another Dales but I’d have to have them living out otherwise it would just take up too much time and energy.

No I couldn't cope with a traditional routine , I just do what I please, they get used to it. I'm really pleased the weather is holding up, I've done a lot to have them in/contained this year but they only just came back, see how my new system works over the next 3 months

[Fi]

No I couldn't cope with a traditional routine , I just do what I please, they get used to it. I'm really pleased the weather is holding up, I've done a lot to have them in/contained this year but they only just came back, see how my new system works over the next 3 months


Alison, I’ll be very interested in how it goes. I’ve been doing a bit of reading recently about that sort of thing and am moving away from the idea of a stables and ‘traditional’ routines.

[harveydales]

Poor Fashion. All fingers and hoofs crossed for her.

I was dreading this winter after last year when it was so wet. How the ponies avoided mud fever I don't know. I had hoped to have some drainage work done in preparation for this winter but it never happened. A feww people have said thes "mud slabs" are really good and I was considering getting some. Have any of you tried them? ANyway, so far so good this winter. I've opened the fields up so the ponies have access to 7 acres and can come down to the field shelter and stables on their own. Last year I had to lead them down which was a nightmare.

[Debbie]

Blossom and I are doing inside for the winter routine, actually it's her yearly routine. After having lived out 24/7 as a youngster, Blossom throughly loves her stall. She has a set routine, and as we've so many cougars this year, plus roaming elk that damage fencing, plus drivers that sometimes sail into the fields, I much prefer her to be up for nights as well.

I'd be interested in hearing your new system. Always keen to hear how other people keep theirs

As for mud, mostly I kept the ponies closer to the barns and had to bring them into the barns/paddock behind the barn for our winter rains. If the rains weren't too bad, I could let them run on the front pastures, but mostly the ground was too wet and their feet tear it up. I did have a big problem with the gate for my front paddock, but I bought about 30lbs (3 bags) of rounded river rock from Home Depot and dumped them all right at the muddy spot and that firmed the ground up.

There's a boggy spot at the back of the front barn where the water dashes right off the roof with no way to run a gutter really. I'd considered putting in a product called Lighthoof. www.lighthoof.com/

They are a thin grid system that holds and stabilizes the packed gravel so it doesn't disappear into the black hole of nothingness. I didn't get around to fixing that spot, but I've got the company's website as I think it's a brillian idea. They are up in Washington state, so they deal with the same non stop winter rains as we do. Just putting the idea out there as there may be something similar in the UK that you could use Pam

editing for Fashion I so hope she gets to feeling better soon! It's sad when they are so poorly.

[harveydales]

Debbie - just had a look at the link you provided. I've not seen anything like that in the UK but maybe there is. I understand the principle but find it hard to beleive the system could cope with the deep, clay gloop we have here, althugh you say they do. I would be intrested in seeing the system in action. In the past the best system we've tried is to dig deep, put in land drains, fill with stone, flatten and put grass mats on the top. A big and expensive job but it has worked for the area infront of our field shelter for several years now. But I wanted something simpler to install so have been looking at these: www.facebook.com/mudcontrol/ I need to be able to drive the quad and even tractor over the area. I can't see how these slabs would remain level though. Maybe the grid system you mention would work?

[Fi]

Pam,

I’ve been keeping an eye on the mudcontrol FB page as well, and had the same thoughts as you about the grids Debbie mentioned on our UK mud!! If their posts are to be believed they look pretty good.

I believe Alison has laid some mud control slabs, I saw she had commented on a post. Hopefully she’ll have some positive reports!

Much as I prefer a forum for discussing topics, FB has its uses for throwing in new ideas sometimes!

[Debbie]

Our soils out here get heavy with the rains, but they are not clay. I suppose you could inquire to the company to ask how it copes with deep clay as we have huge sections of America that are just that. My own Dad is struggling with the exact same issue, very deep clay soil and non stop rains for almost a year. He has to navigate with the tractor to hay his cows and he's just about at wit's end with the boggy ground. I did describe the gridwork system to him, but (Dad's a bit frugal) he said what he'll do once it's dried a bit, he'll dig out the soil, then lay down gravel that's over two inches. Pound or compact that, and then lay smaller sized gravel over the top, and then compact it all again.

Sometimes it helps to see different systems, as you can integrate the idea into what you're working with. They say the military uses it, but I'm with you, I'd have to be shown how it handles in heavy clay situations.

I just looked at the MudControl system and those look very nice. I guess one way would be to buy a small amount and test them over winter?

[tinkeralison]

Yes I've bought quite a lot 😐🤔 pics below





Due to some slightly unreliable builders we kind of ran out of time to lay them, the ground is not perfectly flat either which hadn't helped, however ponies came home last Friday, so we'll see how it works out.
I seem to have put the feeder on the boggiest bit, some mud is coming up thru the slabs but they've not moved

[tinkeralison]

Also, Fashion is off the drip today, bit brighter when she saw me today, but soon got tired and slumped again x

[harveydales]

Really pleased to read Fashion is off the drip and a bit brighter. Fingers crossed she will continue to improve and be home very soon.

WOW!!That area of slabs looks brilliant! What would I give for an area like that! I am sooooooo jealous! It is absolutely perfect for ponies. Do let us know how it holds up through the winter, especially if it turns wet again. What sort of land are you on? We have heavy clay and the stable/field shelter area is at the bottom of a hill which isn't ideal but can't be helped.

How did you prepare the ground to lay them? I think it says they can be laid straight onto unprepared ground but then surley they wouldn't lie flat.