Field management for a newbie!

[Aragon56]

This has been our first winter having horses at home, and we've underestimated how trashed our fields would get

We have two fields-one is around 2 acres, and the other is a big 5 acre field. Only the 2 acre is properly secure, so we've been using that, but its so muddy at the moment its hard to see how the grass is going to grow back.

There's 2 horses on it, out 24/7, plus a field shelter which has rubber matting in so its not poached in there. Most of the damage was done within a week of my horse being there-she was kept on her own for about a month before I found a companion for her-not an ideal situation and in that time she did quite a bit of belting round and so we had huge pock marks in the field before the second horse even arrived.

At the moment I have sectioned off a large area in the big field with electric tape (about 1 acres worth) which I move round regularly but even that is being grazed down really quickly, and the horses go in there during the day. We did want to keep the big field free because its our hay growing field & exercise area but had no choice but to use it. At night they both move back into the poached 2 acre field and have ad lib hay. I'm concerned that a few hours during the day isn't enough resting time for it. The mud is more sticky than full of water and squelchy.

Apart from harrowing/rolling in March time, what else should we be doing? I'm just trying to do some research on it. Will the field recover for spring?

ideally I would put up some more permanent fencing in the five acre field, however this will only have to be moved when the grass starts growing for the hay. I figure that the grass won't start growing until March/April time, so I may as well use it until then for grazing.

Next winter we'll have stables and be generally more prepared for it, I'm hoping.

 

[JamesEarwaker]

Sure it will recover, its looking bad now because how cold and wet the weather is, once it picks up you will see a diffrence plus harrowing/rolling will make a huge diffrence.
If you want to be sure you could re-seed it, have some seed spread over before the harrow goes over it or maybe even give it a light dose of fert.

 

[L&M]

I appreciate you are wanting to keep the 5 acres for hay, but is the hay your making just for personal use, or to sell on for profit?
If just for your own use, and assuming you get around 100 bales per acre, then I would permanently fence off 2 acres from the 5 - giving you 3 to play with for hay and excercise. You would then have 2 x 2 acre fields which could be rotated and should be plenty for 2 horses even out 24/7.
Your muddy field will recover, they always are at their worst at this time off year but in a couple of months time you will be suprised at the grass that comes back. We have a walkway that connects all the paddocks, which is just pure mud with no grass to be seen at this time of year, but by mid summer I have to mow it to keep it down!

 

[louisevictoria]

my winter paddock is completely mud now with 3 horses on it. But like last year it will recover. Mine are just getting adlib hay whilst they are out (they all come in at night) but there is no grass to speak of.

FWIW - last year I ended up having to mow it by June as the grass was too much

 

[Aragon56]

The hay is for our own personal use, but as we won't possibly use all that we make, the rest will probably be sold to a friend who has 5 horses. Good idea about permanently sectioning off 2 acres of the big field. Come summer there will also be another horse joining my two but hopefully we'll still have enough space.

I'm relieved I'm not the only one with a mud pit for a field and that it will recover! Our next door neighbour seems to have almost perfect fields still, so we thought we'd mismanaged it.

Thanks.

 

[Jericho]

If you can maybe try and fence off more of the 5 acre field for the time being and let your horses graze that then they should help the really boggy parts. Once the grass starts growing in the secure 2 acre field you can then close the 5 acre field off again to save for hay. Even if they eat all the grass down in the 5 acre field there should still be enough for hay if you taken them off once grass starts to grow again.

 

[ISHmad]

If you take the horses off of the field you want for hay sometime in March it will recover in plenty of time. This is a horrible time of year and you think the grass will never come back. But it does and normally it's then the opposite problem - too much of the stuff!