OklahomaHorses Magazine March 2021

28 OklahomaHorses • March/April 2021 Horses and Mud Problems and Management Strategies WRITTEN BY: Dr. Kris Hiney Equine Extension Specialist | Oklahoma State University O klahoma weather is characterized by dry winters and the return of rain in the spring. Recent years have featured significant flooding events, but even without record flooding, spring rains can be a significant headache for owners. Typically, we recommend owners preserve pastures from overgrazing and trampling by creating sacrifice or dry lots. How- ever, if not planned or managed properly, small lots combined with horse manure and rain can create a real problem in the form of mud. Mud can pose health hazards for both hu- mans and horses. Humans can face hazards as simple as a lost shoe or boot, or more dangerous slip and fall hazards. This can result in serious injury and put you in harm’s way when on the ground around horses. Horses are not well-adapted to mud. They evolved to be on the move, grazing on the plains, never spending a lot of time in one place in the mud. Issues for horses can be as simple as a pulled shoe (just like us!), to more serious slips and falls that can cause injury to tendons, muscles and bones. A particularly serious issue for horses in mud is the health of their hooves. The following are health issues that can be caused by prolonged exposure to muddy conditions: Thrush – characterized by black, foul-smelling anaerobic infection from bacterial or fungal origins in the frog and the clefts of the hoof. Thrush can eat away at the soft tissues and even result in lameness. Bruised soles – Continual exposure to wet conditions can also soften and weaken the sole of the hoof. The horse may become quite tender-footed if asked to travel over firmer or uneven ground. Bruising of the soles can even lead to the development of hoof abscesses. White line disease – an infection which travels up the inside of the hoof wall at the junction of the sensitive and insensitive lamina. This condition can be extremely painful and in severe conditions can result in loss of the hoof wall. While white line can result from other conditions such as laminitis, a weakened hoof wall from wet, filthy condi- tions can cause white line disease. Scratches – a skin infection around the pastern and fetlocks. The long hair around a horse’s fetlocks can help to trap moisture and mud against the skin. It should be noted that scratches can be caused by a variety of conditions other than just an unhygienic environment. Since we can’t stop the rain, we need good strategies for dealing with mud. Careful planning is the first step. When planning a dry lot, choose a location with good drainage and no low spots. Because horses will spend a large amount of time in dry lots, especially in the winter, consider where water is going to flow. The critical areas of the dry lot will be where horses spend the most time—around their shel- ter, water, feeding locations and gates. Often, we don’t have good options when siting a dry lot for drainage, so management of the issues is the next best option. One simple thing that can help control mud is to keep the manure cleaned up. Horse manure holds a lot of moisture, and as it gets mixed in with the mud, it tends to make the mud deeper and longer-lasting. Some other management strategies take a little more effort and money. The easiest and least expensive solution is to use wood chips, shredded bark or other wood waste in an 8- to 12-inch layer over the muddy areas. This will create a firm, dry mat in most situations. There are some drawbacks in that wood chips tend to hold moisture, although not as badly as manure, so in a really wet year they may be less effective. Over time, wood chips will deteriorate and need to be replenished (usually every year), so plan for this as an ongoing expense. You’ll want to be sure that you know the source of the chips/material you are using. Be sure the chips are free of woods that can be dangerous for hors- es, such as black walnut. A longer-term but more expensive option is