Does anyone strip graze in the Winter?

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CobsGalore

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My horse may be going into a winter field in November that has been rested since April and has a lot of grass.

But... I was looking forward to Winter so I could get the weight off him, and this isn't going to help!

Does anyone strip graze in Winter? Or is it not worth worrying about as there isn't a lot of sugar/goodness in the grass over winter anyway?
 
i do, i have and fence behind them too so as the field opens onto new ground it closes the same distance behind them. it means the ground does not get so poached up, last year the grass hardly stopped growing before it was off again so I then grazed back down the field
 
I do to gradually open the whole paddock up. Only a small paddock though, otherwise I'd probably be strip grazing all winter in a large field.
 
So long as the horse has space to move around have a canter when he feels cold. I'm not a fan of it as it is very hard on the grass especially during wet weather. You need to move it a couple of times a day to ensure that you don't permently damage the grazing.

Where I keep one of my horses the person sharing decided to strip graze the winter and the paddocks now look horrendous with bald areas where her horse has walked back and forth. When I think back to how lovely the paddocks were before it makes me so angry as we now have a padock with around a ¼ heavily poached and with no grass in it.
 
Sophstar said:
People are going to think I'm more bonkers about having mine muzzled most the winter if our grass stays as good as it is!
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If for one reason or another we can't strip graze then I will be keeping his muzzle on too! I wanted to be able to give him a break from it though, but if we have a mild and wet winter I might not be able to. :(
 
Yes I will be strip grazing this winter, hay fields that didint get cut. What i do is put them in at night(the strip grazing) then move them into a fairly well grazed field during the day, this seems to work well. Or how I have it at the mo, opened up some fence so they can acess strip grazing at all times but also have free access to a grazed out field. When the strip is grazed out I move the eletric fence on down the field. Might not be so easy if you are a livery .
 
We gradually open the field up, one line of fencing that gets moved further into the long grass every week until the whole field is eaten down. They then get hay once there is no grass left. We struggle a little with our two as I have a very good doer and my friends horse is a poor doer so we have to get a balance where they have enough for skinny boy but not too much for fat boy. Not ideal field mates but we manage.
 
I do too! I rest two acres in the summer (April - Oct) then strip graze it for my 2 cobs and shetland pony. It works really well and stays dry as the field has a real good bottom in it with resting it over the summer. I also hardly feed hay at all in winter using this system. Last winter I managed without feeding it till Feb.

It's the future!
 
cblover said:
I do too! I rest two acres in the summer (April - Oct) then strip graze it for my 2 cobs and shetland pony. It works really well and stays dry as the field has a real good bottom in it with resting it over the summer. I also hardly feed hay at all in winter using this system. Last winter I managed without feeding it till Feb.

It's the future!
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Do you rest the other field while strip grazing them in the 2 acres, or just start opening up the 2 acres so they have bare field + a bit of grass?
 
Yes I do as I have a welsh that has had laminitis in the past. I have a 2 acre field and he lives on half an acre for the rest of the year. When there is nothing left to nibble on I start moving the fence accross the rest of the field one day at a time. He never uses all of it but it gives him something to eat for a few hours and then nibble on the bald area again.
It works really well for me and the field is never trashed because of it.
It means I never feed hay in the field because even in thick snow, he can dig through to his new patch of grass.
 
I do too. In March we split the field in half and the grass has been so good we have not had to move the fence until a week or two ago.
We move a post a day until we reach the top which is normally around December. By then they are in at night out during the day so they have the whole field. We will put the fence back up when they get turned back out in the spring.
Make sure your electric fence works as they will always want more in the winter :)
 
When do you start putting your horses out on your winter fields?

I have so much grass and will strip graze but i dont know how long to wait until i turn them out on it!

They are on a bald field now so dont know when to bite the bullet and put them in the Winter field!
 
I think its really useful for taking care of your field as well. Also I hate poo picking when the whole field is opened up as I still have a lot of long grass and it is a mission!
 
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