Can my horse graze in this part of the field?

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StellaArtois

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Hi wondering if anyone can help I currently half my field due to my mare been a right glutton it has been like this since April only her in the field. This part of the field has not been grazed in since them so you can imagine the length of the grass, I was going to strip graze throught the winter so she had something to chew on. Yesterday after coming back from my lesson the bottom part of my field has been topped leaving thick piles of long grass lying everywhere plus some short stuff too. I didnt realise he was going to do it. I remember seeing some like this last year and as it died off it left the grass underneath dead too because it was so thick, it left it all black and horrible.

Any suggestions on what I can do (Too big and area to rake) will it harm my mare, as it wont dry up now because there is no heat, will it just turn to mush.

Or will it be fine and I need not worry.
Cheers
 
I have my rented field split in a similar way, the ungrazed part is very long and thick, a local farmer is coming (if it ever stops raining) to cut it and take it away for silage. I would see if whoever cut your field would pick it up, otherwise as you say it will kill the grass underneath, and if it is very thick will not dry properly so not good for your horse to eat.
 
Not sure we have turned cobs out onto fields which have been cut for hay and they have been ok but they have concrete stomachs,it really depends on your mares constitution. If she is a greedy girl you may have problems. Could try a bit at a time and see how she gets on.
Next year split your grazing into 3 areas.1area being eaten,1 rested, 1 growing. Failing that ask your landowner to top the field once a month when it's busy growing and when it slows down in the autumn you should be ok to leave it
 
Would love to do that but the livery owner is a nightmare and he wont top the fields unless he wants to and when he feels like it hence why I was just going to strip graze. It is far too big a field for my mare as she just eats constantly and I am trying to keep a check on her wait. He topped it but I know he wont pick it up, doesnt see why he should have too, would rather see me rake!!!
 
it won't harm your horse to eat straight away but as already said if you don't plan to use it til winter then the grass will have died off and leave nothing left anyway so I would agree that you need someone willing to come and remove it asap.
 
there is a difference between topped grass and cut grass with a lawn mower.Aparantly topping produces no chemical reaction which mowing with a lawn mower does.The reason is supposedly because topping just chops the top off whereas the mower literally mashes it up. We had to have part of our field topped this summer as there was too much grass for the horses we had turned out on it. The horses were kept in the field while it was done and suffered no ill effects whatsoever.
 
The problem is that short grass does not need to be chewed much and therefore is eaten with little saliva added. Long grass will still need to be chewed properly and should do no harm. However, as it is obviously quite thick on the ground, it will start to rot and ferment, so it really does need to be removed.
 
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