# lean-to footing/mud



## StormWolf68 (May 7, 2015)

The barn I ride at has one path leading between the pastures and to the stalls. It gets extremely muddy once all the grass is pulled up by the horses walking over it. This year we put down mulch once the mud started coming up.

However, not sure how pricey that is, or how well it'll work for you.

This may also be helpful


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

We have the same issue with our run in sheds. We put a lot of gravel down tis year. It helps but you have to add to it every year.

We stay away from mulch as it is not always easy to tell if it has Black Walnut in it - and Black Walnut causes laminitis in horses


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## Alhefner (Nov 11, 2015)

You may need to put in a "drain field" (my terminology) in front of the lean to. That is labor intensive but relatively in expensive.

Get whatever lengths of 4" drain pipe (has holes on one side) so that you can have at least two runs 20' long. The runs of pipe need to be about 2' to 3' apart.

Dig a trench 2' deep, 5' wide, and 20 feet long that ends at least 10' beyond the end of the lean-to.

Place 6" of crushed gravel in the bottom of the trench.

Lay your drain pipe so that the portion in front of the lean-to has the holes on the upper side and the portion beyond the lean-to has the holes on the bottom side.

Fill the trench with gravel to about 6" below the natural grade then put dirt with a lot of clay in it on top of that...

This should help a lot in keeping that area less muddy...not dry...just less muddy.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Alhefner said:


> You may need to put in a "drain field" (my terminology) in front of the lean to. That is labor intensive but relatively in expensive.
> 
> Get whatever lengths of 4" drain pipe (has holes on one side) so that you can have at least two runs 20' long. The runs of pipe need to be about 2' to 3' apart.
> 
> ...


^^^*This should help a lot and you will get "upper body strength" like nobodys business

Also, can you afford to buy some eaves and down spouts for the barn and install them yourself?

Buy the least expensive stuff that will hold up in your weather and securely attach everything. Also buy those cement drain pieces that lay under the down spout and let the water run away from the barn.

We have had some unbelievable gully washers. While the barn sits on level ground, it is much lower than the house. It is 12 years old and has never taken on water, regardless of high wind or driving rains that go on for literally days.

You can't beat eaves and downspouts to keep water away from the barn in the first place.

When you build your new barn or loafing shed, put an overhang on the horses' side. That is one of the other handful of smartest things I insisted we spend money on that DH thought I was an idiot, until he saw the benefits.

It also helps keep the horse entrance bone dry


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

Clay will get very muddy. You can also put down DG (decomposed granite) 
you could try some sand. since it is not where there is feed.


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## zandstrafarms (Feb 14, 2015)

Mud sucks. It is my arch enemy since we began building our farm. However ours is CLAY mud! 

Drain tiles (the pipes they mentioned are a good idea, but here are a few others, less work (gutters are a must though at least on that area of the barn - check out craigslist, or post an ad for gutters wanted. Most people throw out their old ones )

1. Grade. Look at the layout of the ground. Does it slope at all toward the barn, or mostly away from it? If any slopes toward the barn or shelter, you will need a tractor with a box blade (or someone with a plow truck and one) to scrape the ground and re slope it away from the area to divert water flow. I don't recommend doing it by hand. Way too time consuming!

2. "Road gravel". It's a mixture of gravel, clay and sand for driveways. We put some in our mud track driveway and it's never been muddy since. You will want to pack and smooth the wet area as much as possible first, and will need 1 to 2 loads depending on size of muddy area. By load I mean loader full.I think that's 3 cubic yards.

3. Sand works great. We had to add some in front of the barn thanks to clay mud. Keeps things very dry. 

But I feel for you. We re routed water in our pasture which created new muddy areas, lol. Now instead of a big mud hole they can avoide, they have 2 mud pits they MUST walk through! Sigh.

4. Gravel. I think this is the route we will go. My farrier highly recommended it to keep feet clean. 

You should take some before and after photos!


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

if you have clay , depending on the area you live in, if we dig a hole of any sort, back fill etc,
it seems to always end up a low spot. i would be happy for plain mud, and not clay mud .
this dirt gets wet, it gets slippery and by the time you leave the pens and get to the house you are 3 inches taller..


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