A: It is a common misconception that muddy horse properties are unavoidable. However, I live (and teach horse keeping) in one of the wettest parts of North America and if we can achieve dry paddocks here, then it’s possible elsewhere! I will outline for you seven key points for reducing mud. And by the way, mud in the winter becomes dust in the summer – another downside to having mud!

Create a sacrifice area or paddock to be used during the winter. This area should be on higher ground and away from creeks, wetlands, ponds or other bodies if water. Surround this region with a grassy area. Keeping horses in a sacrifice area prevents them from destroying pastures and turning them into a mud mess. It also confines manure to an area where you can easily pick it up to compost. Surrounding the sacrifice area by vegetation provides a filter for contaminated runoff.

Use some type of footing in sacrifice and high traffic areas. Use of a footing material will cut down on mud problems by keeping horses off the dirt and allowing rain water to percolate through. Popular choices include hogfuel (chipped wood), gravel (crushed rock) or sand. Hogfuel has the added benefit of helping to breakdown nitrogen in the horse’s urine and manure. Use three to six inches of footing throughout your paddock depending on how deep your mud is.

Pick up manure in your paddocks and sacrifice area every one to three days. This is important for your horse’s health because it reduces parasite re-infestation and it will greatly decrease the build-up of mud. While you’re at it, pick up stray clumps of bedding or leftover hay. All organic material eventually decomposes and leads to mud.

Tarp the manure pile. This will keep your pile looking like a pile of compost and not a pile of mush. Plus, the nutrients you are trying to save will stay in the compost and will not get washed out into surface waters where they can cause problems. Store manure as far away as possible from streams, ditches, or wetlands to avoid more mud problems and potential environmental impacts.

Manage surface flows. If surface flows run into your barn or paddocks, look for ways to divert the water away. Possibilities for dealing with surface water drainage include French drain lines, water bars (like a speed bump for water runoff), grassy swales and dry wells.

Install rain gutters and downspouts on all barns, sheds and outbuildings and divert clean rain water away from high traffic areas. A 12' x 14' shed can produce as much as 6,000 to 12,000 gallons of rainwater in one year. Diverting this clean rain water away from your paddocks and high traffic areas will substantially reduce the amount of mud produced. This has the added environmental benefit of reducing the amount of nutrients (from manure) and sediments (from mud) that get washed into the surface or ground water.

In the winter and early spring keep horses off saturated, rain-soaked soils and dormant pasture. This is critical if you want to avoid mud this winter (and dust next summer), and if you want a healthy pasture next summer. Soggy soils and dormant plants simply cannot survive continuous grazing and trampling in winter months. Horses are particularly hard on pastures – the pounding of their hooves compacts the soil and suffocates plant roots. In addition, when soils are wet, horse hooves act like plungers by loosening fine particles of topsoil that are then washed away by the rain, creating mud and more environmental concerns.

Plant and maintain native trees and shrubs. Plants use a lot of water and can potentially reduce the amount of water around your property. A mature Douglas fir can drink 100-250 gallons of water per day. Evergreens have an added advantage in that they keep on using water in the winter when deciduous trees are dormant. Using water-loving native shrubs along the outside of paddocks may help keep the area dry and reduce runoff. Examples of plants that might work include willow, cottonwood, red osier dogwood and hybrid cottonwood.

Having these techniques in place will make life easier and more chore efficient – plus, it will make your place healthier for your horse. Reducing mud and managing manure will create a nicer picture for you and the neighborhood to enjoy – and it will keep contaminates out of our valuable water systems.