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[RC] Mud mud mud, ice ice ice, snow snow snow - Kristi Schaaf

Our rich black Iowa soil becomes nasty mud, so I've
experimented with different things to try and
alleviate the slipping and sliding in the paddock. The
number 1 crucial thing is drainage. We had a bulldozer
come in and angle our large paddock slightly toward
the back creek, just enough for the moisture to WANT
to leave. There's literally a small man-made gully at
one end of the paddock where the water now naturally
flows. Another bonus is that the horses have learned
to jump - they leap over the gully when they tear
around. ; - ) Even if you live somewhere flat as a
pancake, consider trying to create some kind of an
angle. For the surface, we've tried different types of
rock/gravel. Pea rock is expensive and disappears into
the quagmire too quickly. Regular road gravel is ok,
but does seem to sink and disappear. Sand is really
good IF it doesn't wash away (ours tries to leave in
heavy rains and hubby has to go shovel it out of the
gully and put it back where it belongs). The horses
also LOVE the sandy section for rolling. We've had the
best luck with white limestock ROCK - the kind used on
driveways in parts of the midwest. It mixes into the
dirt very well when things get wet, but doesn't
quickly vanish from sight. It's also nice during ice
storms because the rough surface gives more traction
than a smooth one would. A few years' worth of layers,
and the surface is very very stable. The downside is
that it can be as hard as cement when dry, as the rock
breaks down into smaller pieces; I'll pay that price
for the stability it gives during wet conditions. I
still haven't figured out how to safely feed hay in
their feed bins on anything except bare dirt, so
making so much of the paddock sand and white rock does
limit the feeding area. It's all a give and take, I
guess. Kristi (where this week we've had rain, then
ice, now snow - ugh - hate that combo)        

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