Author: Lisa Smith
If you own horses in New Zealand, you know the struggle. One day it’s a green pasture, and the next, you have a bog that sucks your gumboots off.
In New Zealand with our heavy clay soils and high rainfall, heavy hooves can churn wet soil into a thick sludge and become a serious issue. It’s not just messy, it can damage your pasture’s root systems, creates a breeding ground for bacteria, and can lead to serious health issues like abscesses and equine dermatitis which is often referred to as mud fever.
Here are 5 ways to manage mud and keep your horses (and paddocks) healthier this season.
1. Create a ‘Sacrifice’ Paddock
Sometimes, you have to sacrifice the few to save the many. A "sacrifice paddock" is a designated smaller paddock where you keep your horses during the wettest weather to prevent them from churning up your main grazing pastures.
The goal is to contain the mud damage to one manageable area rather than ruining acres of good grass.
-
The Setup: Choose a high, well-drained spot. Many Kiwi horse owners reinforce this area with crushed gravel/limestone or sand to create a hardstanding surface.
-
The Rules: According to Environment Southland’s guidelines, it’s important to manage these areas carefully to prevent runoff into waterways. Ensure your sacrifice area is set back from streams and drains.
2. Embrace Relocatable Shelters
If you don’t have a permanent hardstanding area, then a rotational paddock strategy can be your secret weapon.
Stationary buildings often develop a "mud ring" at the entrance where horses congregate. With a relocatable skid-mounted shelter, you can simply tow the building to fresh ground as soon as the entrance starts to get boggy. This gives the soil in the previous spot a chance to recover and regrow grass before it turns into a mud pit. Outpost Buildings Horse Stables have heavy-duty skid mounted bases to allow them to be towed to different fields as needed.
-
Why it works: Spreading the "hoof traffic" load across the paddock prevents deep soil compaction (pugging), which Waikato Regional Council notes can permanently damage soil productivity.
3. Divert the Rain with good Drainage
You might be surprised how much mud is actually caused by roof runoff. A standard 6m x 2.5m horse shelter such as the Homestead Horse Shelter can dump hundreds of litres of water right at the front door during a heavy downpour, which is exactly where your horse stands.
-
French Drains: Digging a simple trench filled with drainage coil and gravel on the uphill side of your shelter or gate can intercept surface water before it creates a swamp.
Effective drainage isn't just about convenience, it's a welfare requirement. As noted by the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI), ensuring animals have a dry area to lie down is essential for their health.
4. Position for the right Location & Orientation
Often, mud isn't just about how much rain falls, but how fast the ground can dry out. The positioning of your shelter plays a massive role in this, yet it’s often overlooked with fixed barns.
-
Catch the Sun: In New Zealand, facing your shelter North or North-East allows the sun to hit the entrance area, drying up moisture much faster than if it were in the shade.
-
Block the Wind: Orientate the back of the shelter against the prevailing cold wind (often Southerlies or Westerlies). This stops rain from blowing into the opening and turning the bedding into mush.
If you build a permanent Horse paddock shelter in the wrong spot, you're stuck with it. With an Outpost relocatable shelter, you can test different spots in your paddock. If you find a location isn't drying out as well as you hoped, or the wind direction changes in summer, simply tow the building to a better position on higher ground.
5. Horse Manure Management
It sounds simple, but manure is a major ingredient in the recipe for mud. Manure breaks down into fine organic matter that holds water like a sponge, turning wet soil into a sloppy, deep mud pit.
-
Health Check: VetSouth recommends removing horses from muddy environments as the primary prevention for mud fever. If you can't eliminate the mud, cleaning up the manure will at least reduce the bacterial load attacking your horse's legs.
-
Reuse the Manure as fertiliser: Horse manure is nitrogen rich and makes a great alternative to store bought fertiliser for fruit trees, vegetables and flowers. For more information about how to use the manure, check out the Outpost article about using Horse manure in the garden.
Summary
Winter in New Zealand is inevitable, but the mud bath doesn't have to be. By combining smart drainage, strategic positioning, manure management and the unique flexibility of an Outpost relocatable Horse Shelter, you can protect your pasture and your horse’s health.
If you are ready to upgrade your paddock management, then check out the full range of skid-mounted Horse Shelters and get your property winter-ready today.
