Are your fields improving yet?

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poiuytrewq

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Has anyone managed to roll and make them beautiful again?
We tried, we got stuck!
I swear we must have a major water leak under every bit of paddock :(
Seemed to dry up over a few dry weeks, rained two days and we are back to square one- Is it the same everywhere?
 
Midlands.

Farmer says another three weeks before attempting to harrow and roll.

Horses leave their ad lib hay to go and poke about in the summer field :( They've broken the gate and fencing to get in there, even though they have good standing, water and ad lib good hay in the winter field.
 
It had dried up and even thought grass was starting to grow - then we had snow washed away by rain and loads more rain forecast over the weekend and cold so def no grass growing - still feels like spring is a while away

This time last year they'd been out over night for weeks and we'd had a BBQ - ha ha ha
 
I'm in Somerset and we have quite sandy soil so we never normally have much of a problem with waterlogged fields. But this year has been a completely different story. Ever since the wet weather started (around June / July?) the horses have been knee-deep in mud, it's been sticky and wet and slippery and horrid :mad:
Normally in winter / wet weather we just get muddy wet gateways but this year the whole field has been the same....hardly any grass left.
Just thank goodness we don't get mud fever, because that would be total nightmare. Now it's started to dry up a little bit but the fields haven't recovered, there's not much point in trying to do anything with ours at the moment :(
When we do get a few dry days there are just great hard ruts of mud which is dangerous when they go tearing round the field, worried they are gonna pull something :(
Just need it to stay nice and dry like this for a few weeks so we can get it sorted. Come on sun :D
 
We had four days of ridiculously hot dry weather about 2 weeks ago, on day four it was dry enough to roll so off we went. Then we had a few days rain and now its back to freezing temps, fields are looking ok but spring grass has yet to come through. We're hoping to put them onto the spring/summer paddocks at the start of april but highly depends on whether the grass has started to come through or not.
 
Managed to harrow and roll down here in Cornwall, they are starting to green up especially as we had a guts of rain over the weekend. The fields that have been left all winter and spread with dung are greening up nicely :D
 
Green shoots coming through but not ready to roll - and forecast 4 days of rain now so will not be for a while (Somerset).
 
North Scotland.... thought it was looking marginally better, then this snow came and I had a digger in today to look at drains, it got stuck. It's a bog :(
 
Cornwall. We fenced 3/4 of the field off to repair and thats growing on nicely but is patchy as needs harrowing/rolling.

The part they are on is now bone dry (woohoo) and possibly to dry to roll.. just need to find a roller :mad:
 
Managed to harrow my fields week or so ago (avoiding the gateways as much as possible) tbf mine look almost totally flat apart from one gateway but have no grass - I dont roll and the horses will eventually flatten the gateway I couldnt do.

Through the winter my 2 opted most of the time to stay on the hardstanding with the adlib haylage which saved the fields (they are clay and low lying !!). I am in North Somerset and we have also been lucky to avoid the snow - lovely and sunny today and my muck heap is hopefully being taken away as we speak but looking at the forecast it doesnt look good for the next few weeks.... boooo !!!
 
Kent - this time last week I was getting excited; then we had *****loads of snow and although today was fab, the next 3 days forecast heavy rain :(

So FED UP! (and if anyone complains of hard ground this summer, I will personally slap them)
 
Last week I harrowed one paddock by hand using a pallet with chainlink fence. It was backbreaking but it worked. Then I drove my car into the field because it's lightweight (a 2 seater KA) and got it stuck in the gateway. Took four of us to get it out. The ground seemed dry on the surface but apparently its really boggy (and stinky) underneath.

Therefore, after a week of dry weather, and apparently frozen ground, I thought it would be safe to drive the range rover inside the gate with my feed. BIG mistake - same thing happened again. Today I spent 2hrs getting the car out and another hour cleaning it. Effing weather's driving be barmy.
 
Our field never got bad :o
It's a combination of naturally well-draining land, having proper drainage in (water off the fields is used on the yard) and having a large acreage for just 2 horses. The only reason mine will be moving off is when the grass starts coming through and I need sheep on to keep the grass down!
 
We were about a day away from being ready to harrow, digger sorted to clear a paddock for all weather turnout and field shelter and the rain came back. Mud and mess is back, all on hold again. So fed up I'm tempted to sell the whole blooming lot bar 2.
 
Ours had just started to dry up when we got the snow.Now it is worse than ever.Plus they managed to get the electric tape down the other night,and drag it across the field.Then there was no possible way they could cross it whilst down,no siree! It might kill them,so they charged madly up and down a small strip,snorting and farting,whilst I attempted to put it back up.Eventually I had to catch them one by one and lead them over it,which they did perfectly nicely,with no trouble at all,but the strip they had trashed looks terrible.:(
 
ariated then harrowed, then the snow came and now its melted hoping the lovely rain will get down to the roots easier and make the grass grow, have one winter field left which i rotate from hard standing with haylidge to the field, happy horses, owner not so happy :)
 
In the last dry spell two weeks last Sunday we harrowed and rolled the winter field it looked fab, turned them back out the weather changed and back to poached but I have to say not half as bad!!!! Our field is on a slight incline do drains really well! Roll on spring!!!!!!! No pun intended!!!!
 
I had 2 manic days last week where I managed to get everything harrowed, seeded and harrowed a 2nd time. Even managed to get to get the winter paddock finished, at 8pm, just as it started to rain.
The horses are currently on a paddock that's been rested since October and are loving eating grass again instead of munching piles of hay while stood in a clay bog.
I have a 4x4 and a 5ft harrow and can't help with feeling rather pleased with how my fields look now compared to the mess a few weeks ago.
 
Am slightly concerned my "spring" paddock which I have rested and saved also has absolutely nothing in it. I trudged up through the field currently using to look yesterday and got soaked feet.... The hole in my willies is above my ankle bone... Depressing :(
 
Central Scotland - my new has totally separate winter and summer fields.

The winter fields are pretty bare but when I walked mine the other day it was dry enough to walk in my trainers and for the first time in a while my boy's mud fever has pretty much disappeared :)

Summer fields were rolled and harrowed a couple of weeks ago and are just being rested for another few weeks until the horses move onto them for the summer :)
 
midlands, sandy soil.

im turning in/out and poo picking in ugg boots-tells you how dry the fields are!

spring grass coming through nicely on summer paddocks, which are bright neon green now.
 
My garden now looks like the field. Blooming pony and hunter had a jolly round the garden & putting green this morning. My hubs is not going to be a happy man!!
 
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