I’m looking for some advice on what I can put down to provide a bit of traction over ice at the pasture gates. There isn’t a thaw in sight, and the gate area is highly treacherous. My elderly horse fell last evening and while we got him up, if he slips and gets stuck again he is being put down.
Any ideas? Sand, kitty litter?? I don’t want to create a bigger mess when the snow turns to mud, but I have to do something in the meantime. Thanks for any advice!
Sand, plenty of it.
sand + salt if its warm enough - the salt will help the sand melt in OR
stove or fireplace ash.
Ashes too deep insulate and will keep the ice around longer, so will shavings, sawdust, ect.
Up to you if you want all that salt on your horse’s hooves and your pasture in the spring. Don’t put it anywhere you want anything to grow. It will cause the ice to melt, then refreeze, then melt, then refreeze, it’s a long process.
I’m still shocked to see urea recommended in that other thread; if you consider that advice please do some research first!
Used bedding. It vanishes come spring. Put down in a thin layer the urine helps cut in, and the darker manure grabs sun on even slightly sunny days.
I second sand, and also spray Pam or WD40 in your horse’s feet if you aren’t already to keep the snow and ice from getting packed in his hooves.
[QUOTE=Angelico;8011767]
I second sand, and also spray Pam or WD40 in your horse’s feet if you aren’t already to keep the snow and ice from getting packed in his hooves.[/QUOTE]
Have you had success with this? I have never had these work, same with trying vaseline… my horses walk on snowballs pretty much all the time. I pick them out daily (today they were blocks of ice which I could only partially remove) but I can’t keep the snow out.
Re: ice at the gate – just use salt. A little bit of salt at the gate will do very little damage compared to a horse falling at the gate.
I buy white loose salt to use on the hay in the summer and I keep it around for salting at the barn door/paddock gate in the winter.
[QUOTE=MissMilly;8011556]
I’m looking for some advice on what I can put down to provide a bit of traction over ice at the pasture gates. There isn’t a thaw in sight, and the gate area is highly treacherous. My elderly horse fell last evening and while we got him up, if he slips and gets stuck again he is being put down.
Any ideas? Sand, kitty litter?? I don’t want to create a bigger mess when the snow turns to mud, but I have to do something in the meantime. Thanks for any advice![/QUOTE]
Ashes from wood stove or fireplace work very well! I’ve also used wet stall bedding, the nastier the better. Sprinkle thinly, and don’t trust it for traction too soon, before the sun has had a chance to melt it in for an hour or two.
For PEOPLE-traction, “Yak-Trax” on your boots are a LIVESAVER! They can make your chores take literally half the time, and they’re cheap besides. I would urge everyone (especially with seniors) to catch and lead them in and out rather than “letting them run” as many barns do; even the oldest horse can get the wind under his tail in this weather and have a wipeout!
For seniors who get down in the snow and have trouble getting up, a large load of shavings, used bedding or clean wood chips in a big pile can be a livesaver for them if they’ll use it. Just make sure the tree man bringing you chips has no black walnut or yew in there, FYI!
[QUOTE=cowboymom;8011762]
Ashes too deep insulate and will keep the ice around longer, so will shavings, sawdust, ect.
Up to you if you want all that salt on your horse’s hooves and your pasture in the spring. Don’t put it anywhere you want anything to grow. It will cause the ice to melt, then refreeze, then melt, then refreeze, it’s a long process.
I’m still shocked to see urea recommended in that other thread; if you consider that advice please do some research first![/QUOTE]
Depends on the “salt” when it comes to environmental impact.
“Calcium chloride dissolution is exothermic, and the compound is relatively harmless to plants and soil; however, recent observations in Washington state suggest it may be particularly harsh on roadside evergreen trees.[13] It is also more effective at lower temperatures than sodium chloride. When distributed for this use, it usually takes the form of small, white balls a few millimeters in diameter, called prills. Solutions of calcium chloride can prevent freezing at temperature as low as ?52 °C (?62 °F”
Caveat, calcium cloride can “freeze burn” pet paws. No worries with horse’s feet that I have found.
I vote for a mix of calcium chloride salt and sand. Or just plan sand, dirt, etc.
And or what Lady Ebosi wrote.
We had this problem on a tractor road that led to the pastures. We spread some manure on it and then disced it in the following spring. The tractor road was mostly clay and the added manure with hay and bedding mixed in actually improved it - it seemed like an adobe road after that and for at least a few years (farm was sold so I don’t know how long it lasted) it stayed more solid and dried out faster after thaws and rain.
If you’ve got a pretty thick layer of ice like I do, the rock salt just liquifies the surface and does not seem to improve it’s slippery-ness. if you don’t want to salt / dont have sand, a quick fix is to spread loose hay over the ice, and then pour water over it. It will freeze the hay into the existing ice layer, which provides a lot of traction. Yes, you’re adding to the stinky organic soup that will arrive come springtime, so be aware that you’re making a deal with the devil. But hiring a guy with a box scraper or FEL in the Spring is way cheaper than the vet (or human MD) bill for a broken shoulder.
[QUOTE=HungarianHippo;8012213]
If you’ve got a pretty thick layer of ice like I do, the rock salt just liquifies the surface and does not seem to improve it’s slippery-ness. if you don’t want to salt / dont have sand, a quick fix is to spread loose hay over the ice, and then pour water over it. It will freeze the hay into the existing ice layer, which provides a lot of traction. Yes, you’re adding to the stinky organic soup that will arrive come springtime, so be aware that you’re making a deal with the devil. But hiring a guy with a box scraper or FEL in the Spring is way cheaper than the vet (or human MD) bill for a broken shoulder.[/QUOTE]
If you throw a handful of shavings down with the salt, the shavings will “grip” the existing surface, and remain there if the temps drop well below freezing again. Or shavings mixed with warm water will do the same.
Barn lime spread on the ice also grips well.
How deep is the ice? Can you break it up with a pick axe?
We use barn lime 99% of the time.
If it’s really extreme, we will use shavings/manure/dirty bedding. However, as someone said, you’re making a deal with the devil because now Spring is even worse. Our barn staff know their jobs and I do not micromanage them, but if they want to spread anything other than lime, they must get approval from me. This allows me leave it as a last resort for 1-2 times/year.
Interesting to hear about the lime. I do have some in the barn. I have used dirty shavings but try not to have it deep as it does make a mess in the spring. The dirty bedding from the wet spots does work quite well.
UGLY hay/ shavings pathways from barn to paddocks/ pastures Nov-March
as part of the ‘winter’ batten down the hatches …
Nov 1st I create these UUGGLLYY :eek::lol:
hay/ shavings pathways
from barn to paddocks and to pastures
these remain in place saving our lives til March 1st …
UGLY !!! but it works !
