Rant about my mud problem

I'll preface by saying I realize there are bigger problems in the world but in my personal little dot on the planet this is a big issue for me this year. MUD. Freaking mud when it should have dried out. Why does this bother me so much? Well, because it won't go away and I can't keep my horses cleaned up, and any number of issues that comes with mud in close proximity to trying to have a life with horses. UGH!


I have a run-in shelter stall to the side of our barn style garage set up for my two Spotted Saddle Horses aka Tennessee Walkers. The area they have to move through to get to the run-in stall is the problem. I was going to post a photo but we changed out computers last week and my IT guy (husband) hasn't decided which photo program he wants to install since the Kodak photoshare we had isn't up to par. Anyway....trust me, the mud problem is more than just an annoyance. I'm thankful each day the horses haven't had a leg wound this year because it would not be pretty trying to keep it clean. Last year at about this time Spirit ripped open his back leg and I was tending to that into August but there was no mud.

So, I realize the weather can't be controlled. Most years the mud dries out by mid June when the rains have usually calmed. Unfortunately this year, the rains keep coming. They're not nice summer showers either. They're gully washers as we like to call them around here.I have been trying to get the property manager (husband) to agree to put something in the mud prone area so I can have piece of mind. Finally, I think he's relented because he's probably tired of hearing me rant about it. We are talking health issues here as well, for us, and the horses, is what I've been explaining to him.

I looked up Geotextile fabrics which I'd read were great for the base of a muddy area. The stuff sounds super! I presented the information to the grounds keeper (husband) who was intrigued by the idea. He then estimated the cost of the Geotextile fabric and the two layers of different size gravel (recommended) and informed me we were looking at $2000+. He insists he can order in 40ton of smooth bank run rock to lay as a base and get a good result. He also informed me that to do that project, the mud needs to dry out and he needs to get the tractor, with blade, in there to smooth it out before laying out the gravel. He has also told me he just needs to cut out the gigantic sycamore tree next to the corral fence, which would allow for sun to dry out the mud. He's been meaning to do that for a couple of years. It's a huge tree and does need to go because if any of it falls, and we've had limbs drop, it could take out a number of fencing sections in the corral area and front field as well as the roof of the run-in stall and garage itself.

How does something as simple as mud turn into a big ordeal?


I've almost quit looking at the long range weather reports, brings on a sense of dread. Lately, I only look to the next day. I think the property manager and grounds keeper have decided to go with the tree removal and the 40tons of bank run.When asked my opinion I said as long as I get the horses better footing and rid of that horrible mud, I'm game for just about anything right now.


To end on a positive note I found this quote by Mother Teresa which I have now adopted as my own life quote:  "In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love."

And do you want some whine with that cheese???

OK, here I go again. I was getting groundwork done with both horses. My guys were responding great, then the rains hit us once again.

I saddled Bo up a couple of Sunday's ago. A beautiful, sunny, spring day! I was impressed and delighted that he stood still while I mounted. We've had to work on that for a long time. He was in the habit of walking off as soon as I lifted my foot to the stirrup. I thought I was going to get some great riding time in that day, alas, Bo decided to be a butt-head. I don't want to talk about the incident in detail right now, but I will later. Let's just say, he had it in his mind he wasn't gonna do one darn thing he didn't want to do that day, except the standing still while mounting part. I was too ticked off to ride him again. I should have, but I didn't. I did make him walk back out to the field on a lead and do some circles, stops, backs and forwards. I was ticked off for a few days over the incident. One thing that happens to me, physically, when I get scared, is that the adrenaline rush makes me shaky and I have to wait to calm down. Result of 13 years of T1 diabetes.

ANYWAY, we have been deluged by rain for almost two weeks now. Mud, once again, up to horse hocks, and my ankles, in the corral area. I'm extremely thankful Hubby extended the roof of the shelter and the mats from the open stall space so the horses have a nice big dry area to spend under roof time, but it's getting out to the field that's like a Florida swamp. There's sloppy mud out in the field. It's really frustrating. I'm not talking mud you can simply work through, if I try to work the guys out in the field, they'll just be slipping. I'll be slipping. It's just not worth it. So, I'm once again back to being behind in my imagined schedule of training and riding. I make a calendar each month to record what I accomplish. April looks pretty sad at the end. May is basically empty so far.

I feel like I'm always whining about this part of my horse life but it's just not something that worked into my "plan". Kind of like the hay problem I couldn't seem to get a hold on. Fortunately the hay problem has subsided a bit. I can turn the guys out into the front field for a few hours of grass grazing now which cuts back on their hay intake. I also have made contact with a very helpful farmer who owns a feed supply store and he's going to try to keep hay for me since we've talked about my need for hay year around.

More rain and storms Friday and Saturday. This too shall pass....................I think I'll go fix a ham and Swiss cheese sandwich while I ponder my predicament for a few more minutes.

MUD!!!!!

Need I say more?
Bo & Spirit

Mud, mud, EVERYWHERE! The back field is my sacrifice field where the boys stay December through April.

Don't get me wrong, on one hand I'm happy to have the April showers. The rain means my measely grass pasture will surely green up by May 1, when I allow my guys to get into into it for a few hours a day.

However, I had just gotten back into working with my guys again after the long winter break. We were doing pretty good too. Spirit is so eager this year makes me look forward to working with him! Bo, well, as usual, he just needs saddled and ridden.

I don't have an inside or covered arena. We're completely o'natu-ral, meaning barefoot horses, run-in stall/shed area, 24/7 outside horses, and we try to do the best we can with what we've built. When Hubby and I designed our little farm area, we thought we had things pretty well covered. Some things you just never see coming................at the time neither of us saw the disadvantage of putting the corral area at the base of a hill. Live and learn!

Green pasture grass ready for grazing by May 1.

At my next farm I'll remember to have a 60x120 barn with indoor riding arena, stalls AND acres upon acres of lush green pasture grass. Probably have to be in my next life though.......so, I deal with this muddy crap every cotton pickn' spring and fall.

Good news, we're looking at sunny skies and warm temps Thursday through Saturday! Just enough to probably get dried out enough to get muddied up again when the rain comes through next week. I need to quit watching the Weather Channel!

Horses & Mud

Not having lived my life around horses until recently, there have been quite a few things I've learned in the past 4 years about them and their behaviors. The one little item I never realized about horses is that they LOVE to roll in the mud. Honestly, I never knew this! Makes me laugh now. It's really a very simple concept. New rain produces muddy field. Target for horses to go for it!

This morning when I went out to feed, my guys were a little wet when they came in to eat their morning grain. I sort of expected them to already be muddy and was a little surprised they hadn't been at it yet. We've been dry around here for the past month. It's been getting dusty dry. Grass is near nothing. We definitely needed the rain but I was enjoying not having to deal with mud yet.

Fed them their grain, gave them their hay for the morning and then I left to go get some groceries. I was gone for a couple of hours. When I got back, my two boys were waiting at the gate, and yes, covered from ears to hooves in mud! They actually seemed proud of themselves and seemed to be showing me what they'd been into while I was gone.

My illusion of most horses had come from seeing them in shows I'd attended as a spectator or some other event where the horses were always cleaned up and pristine. The thought never once crossed my mind that horses would enjoy mud. Shows how much I didn't know!

We had one little black pony mare, Gloria, at the ranch where I worked. She would always, and I mean ALWAYS, run into the field after we'd bathed her, and roll in the mud or dirt. None of the other horses did it right in front of us, just Gloria. Yeah, we finally figured out that when we bathed her, she needed to go back into the stall for a while and not out to the field right away. It's just so comical when I think about it now.

Then there was big Kleo. She was a 17 h sorrel QH, with a nasty personality but that's for another time, who would literally come in from a rainy night covered in mud. My guys this morning reminded me of Kleo, but even they hadn't gotten anywhere close to being as mud caked as what I remember Kleo. Kleo would have mud caked and baked into(so it seemed) her coat. She had to have rolled with all her weight more than a few times. I hated cleaning Kleo up after one of these episodes, which seemed to be constantly during the rainy fall and spring seasons and just before weekend programs, of course.

Then there was Dusty, who did not like to get muddy. Imagine that! She was always the cleanest horse in the barn. Evidently she didn't care to roll in the mud. We were never quite sure what breeds Dusty was crossed with, but she was a big bodied, almost draft-like mare with the fullest main and tail I'd ever seen. Dusty seemed to pride herself in her cleanliness. She was our little princess as well as our drama queen. But, of all the horses, I don't ever recall seeing her having her way with the mud in the fields or coming into the barn with much more than a small splatter of mud on her coat.

I guess I'm just lucky to have a couple of mud dogs for horses. They do like to roll and get covered in the stuff. Maybe they have a plan in their heads. Maybe they just get covered in mud because they know I'll eventually come out and clean them up when it quits raining. Which works right into their plan of running out and rolling in the mud, again, when I walk back into the house!