At the end of the summer, the Sister and Brother-in-law had the drainage in the paddock area re-done. We get so much rain that all the land ends up with standing water, including both the paddock and the pastures. If it’s not properly sloped, graveled, and channeled, the horses, with their big hooves, can turn any ground into the biggest mud bath. It’s not good for the land and not good for the horses.

There are now french drains all the way around the sacrifice area and across the paddock, carried through one of the pastures to a sump area which then drains into a lovely ditch that continues into the county’s system. Additionally, the surface of the paddock is covered in fabric and then sand gravel. In this soft, yet bone dry area, the horses can walk, sleep, chase each other, and roll around. It’s just great.

I can now easily clean up after the horses. The paddock area is firm and dry. Using a hay fork, I can sift through the gravel and pick everything out that needs to go to the compost. It’s very much like cleaning the cat box, only on a monumental scale. (One bale in equals one bale out.) We’ve started calling it “pony litter”.