Winter Preparedness Tips

Fall preparations make winter life easier
article and photo by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water

Who can forget last winter’s weather? Record snowstorms, arctic temperatures, then all the flooding. Many of us (along with our horses) were cabin-bound for weeks on end. So…are you ready for another potentially wet and wild Northwest winter? As with most things, now is the time of year when an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Below are a few of HCW’s top tips to help get your horse property ready for the worst that winter can dish out.

1) Bring in footing material for paddocks and other high traffic areas. It is much easier for delivery trucks to back into paddocks and drive through pastures now, rather than once these areas have become slick and muddy in January. These materials are usually more available at this time of year, before the demand gets high. Plus, getting footing now will avoid creating a mud mess later on. For more information on choosing footing types, refer to the handout “Footing Findings” at http://www.horsesforcleanwater.com/.

2) Check gutters and downspouts. Now is the time to clean and make needed repairs or additions to your roof runoff system. Think “keep clean rainwater clean” by diverting it away from your paddocks to areas where it won’t get contaminated. Good places to divert to include grassy ditches, a dry well, rain barrels, stock watering tanks, a fish pond, well-vegetated woods, or an unused portion of your pasture. Doing this will reduce the amount of mud your horse stands in this winter and will make daily chores easier for you.

3) Close down your pastures. If you’re lucky enough to have pastures, then fall is the time to baby them. Pastures grazed too closely in the autumn are subject to winter damage and slow regrowth in the spring. For winter protection, it’s best if you allow grass plants to produce at least four inches of leaf growth. During the winter months, pasture plants are dormant so they simply cannot survive continuous grazing. Also, soils are saturated and easily compacted during our soggy winters. The best option for managing your horses during winter is to create a winter paddock or sacrifice area. Confine your horses to this area during the winter and in the summer when pastures become overgrazed. For additional help with sacrifice areas, refer to the Horse Farm Management articles in the December 2008 through February 2009 issues of NWHS, which can be found online at http://www.nwhorsesource.com/.

4) Tarp your manure piles. This will help keep the nutrients you are trying to save in the compost and not allow them to get washed out into the surface waters where they can cause problems and contribute to more mud and yuck. Be sure to store manure as far away as possible from streams, ditches or wetlands to avoid potential environmental problems, as well as away from fence lines to be a good neighbor. More information about composting is available at http://www.horsesforcleanwater.com/.

5) Spread compost. Fall is a great time to spread compost. Compost is a rich soil enhancement that adds micro and macronutrients and replenishes natural microbial life, which improves the health of the soil and plants. Spread compost in pastures during the growing season, no more than a ½ inch layer at a time or a total of 3-4 inches per season.

6) Consider liming your pastures. Have a soil test done on your pastures. If it indicates your pastures need liming, then fall is an excellent time to do this. Fall applications allow the lime to neutralize soil acidity as it reacts with the soil over the winter. Changing the pH allows grass plants to be more competitive next growing season.

Good horsekeeping to you!