Field management help!! Long!!

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bumblelion

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Iv got 3 paddocks, approximately 1.5 acre paddock behind house which I can see from house and then beyond that separated by hedges and trees, two other paddocks, one leading off other and these can't be seen from house. I also open them up as the first is about 1 acre and the one adjoining behind is about 2.5 acres. Normally the 1.5 acre is my winter trash paddock as it's close to house. And I normally rest it from start of august until end of September so they've got grass. Problem is this paddock has no drainage!! I can't put drainage in either as we rent. Therefore it gets very poached and literally gets like the himylayas! The other two paddocks get rested from end of sept until march, ready for summer turnout.

The problem is my tb had an accident in field last week and I moved them into their winter field so I could keep an eye on them, now they've eaten any grass that was in there! I'm now stuck, do I move them back tomorrow into summer grazing and back again into winter grazing at the end if this month? Or just rotate all fields in the winter? All 3 would get poached but is it better to have 3 maybe lightly poached or 1 very badly poached? Or should I rotate until say jan and then give one a rest until march time?? The winter paddock gets so poached, there is literally no grass! In your experience do you find that you give your horses more grazing land in winter or summer?

I only have 2 boys, turned out 7-4 every day, in at night. Out 24/7 march until sept/oct time. Can't restrict winter turnout as ones
arthritic and other will not be in work! Do have a ménage but that also floods at one end and turns into ice rink when freezes!! Can't wait to move lol!!

Hope this makes sense!! Ripping my hair out trying to think what best option is!! Hoping you guys may have some great ideas as usual! :) thanku x x
 
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There is no perfect answer, but I think that I would definitely move them back into the Summer Paddocks for October. The grass will probably carry on growing in fits and starts for another month, so hopefully the Winter Paddock will get a little bit on it before the dreaded winter sets in.

And I would rotate the paddocks still ..... it clearly depends on how poached they do get but at least then you can take the opportunity of any fine spells to give one of them a chance to recuperate!!
 
canteron said:
There is no perfect answer, but I think that I would definitely move them back into the Summer Paddocks for October. The grass will probably carry on growing in fits and starts for another month, so hopefully the Winter Paddock will get a little bit on it before the dreaded winter sets in.

And I would rotate the paddocks still ..... it clearly depends on how poached they do get but at least then you can take the opportunity of any fine spells to give one of them a chance to recuperate!!
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Yeah, I was thinking about putting them back out into summer paddocks tomorrow! The winter paddock literally fills with water and it's clay soil so everything just sinks! The little summer paddock is next to it and then behind is the larger paddock. The ground slopes down to my paddocks and the water can't drain away, plus it's clay soil! It's such a pain! They're big boys too, so doesn't take long before it's all churned up! Thanks for your advice :)
 
I personally wouldnt allow they to 'lightly' poach the other two fields. (sounds like eggs not fields!) You'll just end up with three trashed fields not one. Maybe put them back on the 'summer' grazing until the field starts to get damp/soft and then move them off.
 
Well you've posted on my other thread so know my own dilemma! The one thing I don't suffer from is lack of grass, but in winter for me it'd be irrelevant as my TB gets haylage in the field anyway, to keep her weight up. So would that be a possibility for you? Would mean you could probably keep them in your usual winter paddock.

I think the need to "keep" some grazing varies depending on your particular circumstances. For instance when I had an older TB, I would literally be on my knees in the spring, examining the grass to see if it was growing yet. So I'd have been desperate to have good conditions. On the other hand, one of my later ones was a good doer, so I'd rather give her as much grass in winter as possible (no goodness in it, but kept her busy and saved me on hay); because I'd need to restrict her grazing as soon as it started to grow anyway!

Also depends where in the country you are - if you are in the warmer south, your grass will grow on milder winter days anyway; up here it won't.
 
now_loves_mares said:
Well you've posted on my other thread so know my own dilemma! The one thing I don't suffer from is lack of grass, but in winter for me it'd be irrelevant as my TB gets haylage in the field anyway, to keep her weight up. So would that be a possibility for you? Would mean you could probably keep them in your usual winter paddock.

I think the need to "keep" some grazing varies depending on your particular circumstances. For instance when I had an older TB, I would literally be on my knees in the spring, examining the grass to see if it was growing yet. So I'd have been desperate to have good conditions. On the other hand, one of my later ones was a good doer, so I'd rather give her as much grass in winter as possible (no goodness in it, but kept her busy and saved me on hay); because I'd need to restrict her grazing as soon as it started to grow anyway!

Also depends where in the country you are - if you are in the warmer south, your grass will grow on milder winter days anyway; up here it won't.
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Lol, nice to know someone else has mud in a funny kind of way!! See, all summer I have plenty of grass,it's just in the winter. Although when it turns into a big bog, I put half a bale of hay out (got a tb and the companion has to share!!) a day! It's more feeling bad for them in the mud really that's my problem! Wish I could put drainage in!! Another problem, is when it freezes, the ground gets so rutted and they have to be turned out on it daily! Was awful last year as it got poached so early due to all the snow that came and then couldn't drain away :(
 
bumblelion said:
Lol, nice to know someone else has mud in a funny kind of way!! See, all summer I have plenty of grass,it's just in the winter. Although when it turns into a big bog, I put half a bale of hay out (got a tb and the companion has to share!!) a day! It's more feeling bad for them in the mud really that's my problem! Wish I could put drainage in!! Another problem, is when it freezes, the ground gets so rutted and they have to be turned out on it daily! Was awful last year as it got poached so early due to all the snow that came and then couldn't drain away :(
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Hmm could you fence off a small part of your winter paddock to keep it unpoached, then when it freezes just let them in to that small area with hay, so they aren't on frozen rutted ground?

Or field mats? I've heard mixed reviews, but in theory at least you could lift them again? Though I've heard you can only do that if you have a jcb or something!
 
when i had the kids on 2 acres only,then over winter i would eletric fence the land into 4 sections & rotate them around a couple of weeks at a time. it still got poached & very wet but it gave the land chance to rest & settle.
i was in the same boat as you, south lincs clay soil & rented so couldnt deal with the standing water.
 
When I had my horse at home I had similar issues, I three paddocks like you to mids and one large.

Here's how we managed, I would keep them on the large summer paddock as long as possible, leaving the other two to rest and grow.

Then the closest paddock become the trash field, used for most of the winter, we put in hard standing around the shelter in this field

The third field was used in the winter as extra grass for when the fields had a dry patch or early spring. Like this year we had 2 lovely weeks in feb so they would of been in their then,and back to the trash field when the weather turned.

This worked the best for us.

Oh I miss having my horses at home,
 
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