4 acres field seeded - how long till grown enough for horses?

[Smith123]

4 acre field seeded about 4 weeks ago. How long will it be till suitable for horses? Apparently sheep will need to go on it a bit first to pad the roots in. How long on average does it take? Hopefully someone on here will have done this before!!

 

[JillA]

I had one of mine done one October. I took a cut of hay off it the following summer and then horses on the hay aftermath. It is worth leaving it almost a full year because the horses will pull it out by the roots. If you want to put sheep on it I would be thinking about putting them on it early summer once it has got going, and if it is too long for them, top it first, but otherwise take a crop of hay.

 

[HappyHooves]

It'll depend on the weather next spring as well but I left a year and was very careful not to let it get too short; better to lightly graze for 18 months but soil conditions will make a difference too. An application of potato fertiliser is supposed to help roots and better growth without the nitrogen risk - applied in autumn I think so you can plan that for next year.

 

[Highlands]

It'll depend on the weather next spring as well but I left a year and was very careful not to let it get too short; better to lightly graze for 18 months but soil conditions will make a difference too. An application of potato fertiliser is supposed to help roots and better growth without the nitrogen risk - applied in autumn I think so you can plan that for next year.

Exactly this! 8 acres sown in march, been topped several times and being lightly used!

 

[Polos Mum]

Ours was sown in September, hay taken the following summer then very lightly grazed (3 horses over 12 acres rotated round so it stayed nice and long) for a couple of months, then left all winter, more hay taken the second year
We're now 5 years down the line and some patches are still pretty sparce - I had a soil sample taken this year and we're really low on one of the key elements for root growth so we've had a good dose of that and borrowed sheep this year - fingers crossed it'll get better.
I suspect to turn a ploughed field into a horse friendly mixed perminant pasture could take 20+ years sadly

 

[Abby-Lou]

Sowed my new field August plan to cut for haylage next year & put ponies on it next summer. Like others suggest put some sheep on to paddle down the soil. I had drainage completed begin of August love watching the water flow of the land ! very sad I know LOL