06/02/2026
Really helpful and supportive post from LS Horsemanship for all of us with horses struggling to cope with the relentless rain this winter! 🌧️💨💦🤪
Winter Support Post 🐴
What has become apparent when visiting clients over the last few weeks is that a lot of us are really struggling. This winter has been, and continues to be, relentlessly wet.
When you have just got in from slopping through the mud to drag hay and water to your horses and sat down for your fourth cry of the week, the last thing you need is to read another social media post shaming you for not being able to come up with the perfect solution right now.
There will be no shaming here, I want to offer practical support.
This post will be sort of a two-parter, one addressing people struggling with managing mud, the other addressing people struggling with lack of turnout.
I want to be clear that I am of course not advocating for inappropriate care, but reality is we are all in the situations we are in right now and most of us can’t magic up a quick solution. I would rather offer practical advice than just sit here telling people what they already know isn’t great. We need to do what we can do to get through the next few months and then we can plan ahead for next winter so we are in a better situation.
Many of my clients have horses living out free range 24/7 with access to shelter, but these can also apply to any turnout fields. There are 2 main concerns here, horses not being able to get out of the mud and horses having enough to eat.
If you have a hardstanding area utilise it the best you can so that the horses can stand and eat hay out of the mud. If you don’t have any hardstanding I imagine you’re in a bit of trouble right now, so here are my suggestions:
🐴 Mud mats - I know they’re expensive and out of budget for a lot of people at the moment, please don’t swear at me, but there is honestly nothing as quick and as effective unless you’re going to put actual hardcore down. I sold my saddle this winter just so I could afford another pallet and it has been a lifesaver. Even if you can only afford a small number of mats you can create rafts to put next to your hay feeders to give your horses a place to stand out of the wet mud.
🐴 Old carpet/rugs - This is going to be a mess you will hate come spring time, but for an emergency “give the horses a space out of the mud” area they can work quite well and you can often pick them up free off marketplace.
🐴 Straw/hay bale - Rolling out a bale can give the horses a more solid path to walk on as it gives the mud some structure.
🐴 Resting parts of the field - I am on very small acreage, I still have a rested paddock that I only open when the ground is frozen, it gives my horses a safe place to be when the mud becomes horrible ruts. Even if the ground is already a mess, resting it will help it drain and recover more quickly. I find the bits of the field my horses haven’t used for a while much faster drying than the bits they’re using every day.
🐴 Bedding - I have seen people successfully use old bedding/wood pellets to again give the mud some structure, this will work best if you can then put something else on top
In regards to forage we need to be giving horses access to hay 24/7 if all of the grass has gone, you can save hay by using hay boxes and slow feeders which you can build cheaply with crates/pallets and some netting. Also consider hay replacers if you’re struggling with hay supply rather than leaving your horse standing with nothing.
If you are currently on a yard that is heavily restricting turnout here are some things to consider to help your horse cope:
🐴 Access to forage 24/7 - utilise slow feeders, put several “forage stations” around their stable to encourage more movement and also give the horse the feeling of more choice
🐴 Break the day up as much as you can - turnout in the arena and allow them to roll, take them to go and groom a friend, take them hand grazing or pottering about, do enrichment activities like treat scatters and scent work. Sticking horses on the walker, lunging or schooling them is not a replacement for turnout, we need to make an effort to do things that are enriching for the horse, not just moving their body.
🐴 Add enrichment toys to their stable - carrot hunts, snuffle mats, water buffets etc, every little helps
🐴 Make plans for next winter - if you know the turnout situation isn’t going to improve, its time to find a new yard before next winter
I think the winters are going to get wetter and more difficult, we need to adapt and create the infrastructure needed to meet our horses needs despite the weather. We need to learn from this winter and figure out how we can manage better next year, whatever that may look like.
Spring will come, we just have to muddle through one day at a time. 🐴
I would love to hear your advice/ideas/support for others in the comments.
I was tempted to choose a photo of my hardstanding and lovely, dry shelter to accompany this post, but I decided to post one of my muddy gateway instead to show you the reality of what we’re dealing with.
