Buy some crushed rock. Wood rots in mud.
Anyone I know of that has used wood chips or hog fuel in these parts (PNW) has regretted it. Same reasons as others mentioned above – it retains moisture and breaks down too much. Definitely better to go with gravel or screenings.
I have seen small round stones about i" in diameter, maybe 2" , used at gateways. They sink into the mud,and water runs down between them. I wouldn’t use and wood product, as it breaks down it becomes slippery.
Don’t, it will decompose. Crushed stone, after you’ve scraped out the mud.
I use hogsfuel and it completely eliminates mud for me for the winter. And I am in the wet and rainy PNW. I usually wait too long to put it in and so I get the “benefit” of comparison as I have a few weeks of mud before we lay it out.
The wood chips may hold moisture (though I don’t find that to be problem of any sort) - but the mud holds a lot MORE moisture 
I would rather have my horses above the mud than in it!
I put it at the entrance to all stalls/run-ins/gathering areas and as a bib around the 30x10 overhang my biggest group of horses eat under. I couldn’t find a recent picture, but here’s the bib around the shelter from a couple of years ago: http://i1280.photobucket.com/albums/a484/PNWjumper/IMG_2154_zpscjhk0cyb.jpg.
It’s an annual chore to get it and lay it out. And I’m sure if I did grids/gravel I wouldn’t have to reapply every year like I do with this. But I don’t pick the manure out of the paddock area (only from under the shelter) in the winter, and so I prefer having something that I can scrape back at the end of the summer to get ready for winter again.
I started using a guy for my hogsfuel last year who sends the wood through a chipper and brings it directly to me. If you buy hogsfuel from a dirt place it’s usually somewhat composted and dark brown in color. The stuff my guy brings is fresh out of the chipper, more of a sawdust color, and holds up from late December until the mud’s gone (usually June - ish). The pic above is from one of my older loads. With that being said, the more composted stuff usually lasted through the season as well as long as we put it down in a thick enough layer.
I tried it and had the same results as some other posters did. It made it slippery. Also seemed to take longer to dry.
You need to be very careful what kinds of trees they have chipped, as well. And, it isn’t like they are going to tell you-- or even are sure.
Many years ago, I lost a yearling who ate the cherry bark on the chips. They had just been chipped that day, and so the cyanide was active. Just like when cherry trees have branches that break, and the leaves wilt, the stuff is lethal. Dry cherry- no- live cherry is fine , too.
One other note- I also had a horse ram a piece of wood from the chips through his frog. The blades in the chipper can leave sharp edges, as they cut.
Chips- sans cherry- are great for a quick fix, but they are a catch 22 down the road- you need to add, or clean it up, and adding is dangerous. Cleaning it out is expensive, because after cleanup, you still need to put something safe in there- like stone.
I have tons and tons of stone around here- around gates, troughs and walking areas. The grass has grown over some, as it has sedimented, but it isn’t muddy, and the horses do not slip.
We have decomposed granite (also known as DG) in the high traffic areas near the gates in the turnout fields and the places we drive the tractor (dumping manure). it makes a HUGE difference. I can actually walk on it without sinking into the mud. We had a huge load of DG delivered a few yrs ago and every winter, we add some more to the high traffic areas. I know I would be slipping all over and falling down in the mud were it not for the DG. And its not that expensive either!
I tried wood chips at a gate area. The chips were fresh from a chipper. A 3-4 inch layer, mix of hardwood & pine. After 6 months, the manure and wood chips made a nasty, stinky mess. Had to scrape it out and replace with sandrock. Three years later it is still walkable after a rain.
I used hogs fuel the first year I lived on my farm. By spring it was broken down and I didn’t want to get a new layer every year so I went with gravel. It was more expensive than the hogs fuel but is cheaper over time since it doesn’t need to be redone every year. I graveled my mare’s paddock 9 years ago and haven’t needed to redo it.
I’ve found it’s best to lay the gravel in August or September when the ground is dry. A friend waited until later in the fall and her gravel sank down and mixed with the mud.
I live in the PNW in an area with a 3-4 foot layer of clay for topsoil, without something added the traffic areas turn into at least knee-deep mud. Hogs fuel works into the mud throughout the season. The gravel, if you get the right type and put it in when the ground is dry, will form a layer on top of the soil.
The barn I where I boarded my horse before I bought the farm, maybe 10-12 miles away as the crow flies, had a different type of soil. More rocky instead of clay. They could use hogs fuel in their paddocks but needed to bring in a new load every year or so. I wonder if PNWJumper lives on a similar soil type?
[QUOTE=Nadia;8513859]
I have heard about 2 barns in our area that uses wood chip in their paddocks for mud control… What kind works best? Do you get the landscape kind or just from a local tree service? Does it work better than gravel? Thanks![/QUOTE]
I boarded at a barn where they laid down wood chips about a foot thick.
It was nice to walk on, but it holds water like a sponge. Within a year the owner had it removed.
I too live in the land of the wet (PNW). I used it last year in one area as I had read some bad reviews from this forum. I didn’t wan to put it everywhere and then be sorry I did and not be able to remove it due to not having a tractor. It actually worked really well. It only lasted one season and I haven’t had a chance to get more this season yet and the mud where it was is no different than it was last year before I put it down.
I would say if you want a long term solution, this is not it. The best would be gravel as others have said. On the other hand if you just need something cheap and don’t care if it only lasts one rainy season, then I think it would work well for you.
I’ve used them. They were free and I put them down thick- like over a foot thick. Depending on the area, they lasted anywhere from a few months to over a year. They didn’t make any more of a mess than I had before. On the dirt drive to the barn at my old place, the mud never did return full force, probably because they raised the level of the path just enough to allow water to drain better.
I finally caved in November and took in several loads from a guy giving it away. I put it in front of the stalls and in the areas of the feeders, all of which are on the north side of the barn (doesn’t get much sun in the winter).
3 months in, and I’m thrilled. For years I’ve worked hard to keep organic material out of the paddock to help with the mud. It was still muddy. This keeps the horses above the mud, and it is not at all slick. We are in the heart of mud season at this moment, and I love it. I do plan to scrape it this summer/fall and replace it if I need to.
Wish I’d have done it long ago!
What type of soil do you have? If black or top soil, try adding sand, play sand. I also like the idea of pellet bedding, soaks up wet & then breaks down like sand. Try a few bags & see
I think it depends on your type of mud and the location and how its used. If its a sticky mud that just won’t dry, the wood will keep the moisture there. If its a sandy mud that does eventually drain off, then the chips can dry out.
If the horses are going to be constantly on it, like a feed area, you run the risk of having it ground into the mud and staying water logged and breaking down creating eventually even more muck. If its a path area where the traffic is intermittent, it won’t get destroyed as quickly.
I tried it in a intermittent area with good draining soil that was a low lying spot that would get flooded from time to time.
The next day after spreading the chips, my Morgan came up lame. Found a huge, 3" plus, thorn buried in his frog. Assuming it was from the wood chips I’d put down.
A week later, we had a huge rainstorm. The area I’d treated became submerged and the wood chips floated away. It sure did look pretty while it lasted though.
Geo-textile is your friend.
Anytime I lay aggregate, I first put a layer of geo-textile down to keep the aggregates from mixing with the soil. It’s water permeable so water goes through; aggregate stays on top.
Last time I experienced a tornado and lost a stand of large trees on a slope in front of my house (about 80’ x 36’), I put down a layer of geo-textile before I laid bulk mulch - was afraid of erosion. Four years later, the mulch is really thin (need to get some more), but still there. The geo-textile layer is showing no sign of wear whatsoever. It gets a ton of foot traffic but no horses - only myself, dogs, deer and plethora of other critters.
I also used it in a covered turnout area for a foundered mare. There I laid the geo-textile, then put down gravel for drainage, then put another layer of geo-textile, then topped it off with a sand layer. It’s been down for almost a year, and it looks the same as the day I laid it - no mixing of layers, no issues. It’s tough stuff - even drove a tractor across it and had no tears whatsoever.
Organic material just makes more mud, over time.
I am planning to use “hogsfuel” next year in the paddock that I need to walk through to feed the horses. My plan is to not use that one during the winter except as a route for me (and maybe my wagon if it will roll on the chips – it sure doesn’t roll on the mud so I currently take the proper amount of hay and tromp my way to its destination very carefully).
In the horse paddocks themselves? I’m still undecided. Gravel or screenings with geotextile under it (can’t possibly afford the grid and wouldn’t do it on a rental property anyway) would be the way to go. I’m wondering if any of the problems listed about the hogfuel would be improved if I put THAT over geotextile? In my mind’s eye it wouldn’t get muddy and the water would drain into the ground below. Any thoughts? I know I’d have to pick poops out of it if I went that route.
IME, it all depends on the underlying drainage. I’m also in the PNW. If your drainage isn’t working, neither sand nor hog fuel will work. If your drainage is working, I actually find that fresh hog fuel sheds the rain water faster than sand. You need to keep it topped up so the top layer is fresh. Once it breaks down and starts turning into compost, it does get very soggy and slimy, and doesn’t drain.
I see lots of sand paddocks in the winter, at various barns, that are full of green slimy puddles.
I don’t think there is anything you can throw down on top of plain mud, that won’t go down into the mud eventually and just make it … muddier.
