I have horses, too, so understand your problem. Our gateways are a quagmire
at the moment and we're on clay as well. I'm sure you can imagine!
Unfortunately, I don't think the chippings will be any good for anything
bigger than a small pony. The ground is so wet at the moment that it gets
poached very quickly and shod horses will do a better job than those who are
unshod. I can't think of anything that could help you - sorry. If you
owned the land, it would be a different story. The biggest problem, as I'm
sure you're well aware of and this may be your primary concern, is mud
fever. Keep the legs unclipped and, if the hair is very short, use a
barrier cream to repel the water. Is it possible to stable the horses for
some time during the day or night? I don't like continual stabling but it
would help if you stable them at night. It gives the legs and feet a chance
to dry out and helps to prevent the bacteria breeding that causes mud fever,
as well as giving the land less of a battering. A short period of stabling
during the day would help the legs, too, if the ground is seriously bad -
say an hour at lunch time. Of course, this means being around to bring them
in and turn them out again. You could also try some neoprene turnout boots
but you need to make sure that the skin (not just the hair) is absolutely
dry before you use them, otherwise you're just trapping moisture in. You
can check them out here
http://www.stabletalk.co.uk/focus/sp...noutadvert.php
I know this isn't the kind of help you're looking for but I hope it helps a
little.

Jaqy


Simon K wrote:
Very odd this one!!

I have horses, but don't own the land we keep them on. I need some
form of "hard" standing for them as the area they stand on now is too
muddy.

So, (here's where hopefully someone can give me some ideas here, and
you'll hopefully see the reference to this NG) I thought about using
something like wood chippings, not shavings, but the thicker bits,
like the bark you mulch with.

Does anyone have any ideas of a material, or a construciton method,
that has to be :-

1) eco friendly (basically, it must either rot down over time, or be
easily removed)

2) not require any form of planning permission - our landlady is
somewhat elderly, and is unwilling to aid us in any way useful,
however, in return, we only pay a pittance for what we rent, so its
all swings and roundabouts

3) not be too expensive - this is really the killer for the outright
packed down woodchip/woodfibre idea - £25.00 per cubic metre, and i
need 30 odd cubic metres at least.


Any "helpful" thoughts/ideas?

Si