Mud Control for Horses - oh those muddy paddocks!

<----BEFORE

Behold - the MUDDY Horse Gate

You know what's rather funny? I'm so allergic to horses I can't get within about 10 feet of them... but then I'm not the horse expert. I leave that to the pro - JX.

JX's the horse guy... and if you think of the word, "cowboy", and imagine someone from those old Marlboro Ads (sans the cig) - then you're probably thinking of JX. Just tuck a blackberry in his pocket and give him a couple of Catahoula Leopard Hound mutts... and there he is. When he's not cowboying he's probably working with grid.

And this guy knows more about horses and mud control then probably anyone in North America. When we get a call about someone with muddy paddocks, someone looking to fix up their farm or ranch, someone who wants to talk to a horse expert - they'll get probably end up talking to JX. Last week it was a fella designing a show ring and a woman who was building stalls.

There was also a guy who wanted to put down grid around the barn and still be able to drive a tractor through the area. He was in North Carolina - and had a few horses, a bunch of dogs and a small "farm". I'm not sure what he was farming but we spent a while talking about the mud issues. Even small tractors can compact an area around a barn pretty well, and the pathways sounded like a disaster.

The problem with compaction is pretty simple. The soil gets harder and more compacted as we walk, drive, trample on it. A lot of people throw down gravel which works fine for a while.... but then that gets compacted. So they put down more gravel. And so on and so on...

That's what makes the permeable paving so brilliant... and so simple. Put down gravel. Put down some grid. Put down more gravel. Drive over it, walk on it, ride your horses over it... and stop worrying about it. For the guy I spoke he's getting the heaviest product - because he needs to back up the tractor - so he's going with the e50. He said he's going to put in some gravel in one area and put down a sand soil mix in the rest. Maybe plant some grass along the edges.. sounds like it will be clean and stable - and get rid of the mud problems too.

The grid product basically stops your walkway from becoming one muddy, mucky mess.

Anyway, it looks like the equestrian side of the grid business is really starting to catch on. Its great that people are looking for long-term enviromental paving solutions.

I guess I can show up a BEFORE and AFTER photo of one of the projects that JX did, because it really doesn't look like much - lol. It looks actually kind of boring - until you realize what it looked like before. And then you think about what it looks like years later - and then its more obvious. :D

<----AFTER

The rather Boring but much cleaner, unmuddied horse gate.

I think there might be some more photos and stuff over on the Equestrian Web site - Equestrian Solutions

Since i'm no horse expert - I'll leave that to the professionals.

Help! the Dogs are Digging up my Lawn..

So its something I'd not really considered... dog runs.
We had a lot of the usual calls this week about people wanting to put in their green driveways - actually more about them wanting green parking areas, so it was the week of discussing permeable paving solutions - talking for ages about green parking pads.

Then i got a call... quite funny really, "Can you help me? My dogs are digging in my lawn!" and her tel #. I pictured myself flying out with a big stick and protecting the lawn...
but then we got another dog call..

Then suddenly everyone's dog must have started digging up their lawns. Seriously! What's with the dogs? Maybe the muddy spots are nice and cool? Are the dogs as happy as I am about the summer?

I understand though - and we've used EcoGrid for dog yards before - and it makes sense. The people i spoke to had large dogs - one woman had 4 dogs! 4! and although they don't dig a lot - they keep running around and making a mess of her lawn. Anyway, she's going to put permeable grid down - mostly in the wet, mucky area - and then hope the dogs won't mess it up too much.

Her original solution - putting down a all-cement yard - makes me wince. I can only imagine what that would be like - its a small yard - but all cement? eep. Adding another 600sq/ft of cement into the world. Sure it might look okay for a while - until it cracks and gets stained - but it would be so bad for the environment. All that cement just holding the water, letting it sit there - and the heat? wow.

Up to my boots in mud

Interesting day yesterday. I love talking to people across Canada and the US. Yesterday it was a man who loves boats. This year is the 400th Anniversary of Dutch Arrival in New York Harbor - which i didn't know. :) So this fellow is looking for a solution for some boats ramps.

I've never really thought much about boat ramps though I know we've used the EcoGrid for boat ramps. I guess dragging your boat into the water - or driving it down on a ramp - pretty much tears up the soil. We'll be doing some testing with him - but I know this will help. Lay down some gravel, put down the grid, more gravel = and he'll have himself a boat ramp. I'm going to keep checking back over the next few years to make sure it works well for him.

=======
Last night I walked home a few extra blocks because the weather was just perfect. It kept threatening to rain in the evening but it didn't happen. I noticed that there are more than a few laneways - alleys - and parking pads here in Toronto in desperate need for repair. I wish I could go over and talk to these people about considering using the EcoGrid like they did in Vancouver. They really have it going there - especially in the alleyways.

There's a few spots where the leaves and soil have collected around the drains - and all I can think of is the volume of storm water rushing into the drains. A few weeks ago all the frigging drains were plugged up in the local alley - so there were these big pools of water.

Its such a simple solution = they could put down grid. Grid n' Gravel maybe? I think that would be a good solution - because it doesn't take the maintenence of a regular gravel drive / area. Basicially the water would soak right through the grid / the gravel - and return back to the soil instead of forming big puddles. Then the drains wouldn't flood out.

Dang, I wish I knew who to talk to about this stuff. sigh. Sometimes I feel if i could just sit down and talk to the people they'd get it. heh.
Anyway,
Green Girl from TerraFirm Enterprises,
out for the day.