Field Management Tips?

[Arcticc]

Hi, does anyone have any tips on field management, I'm a bit stuck!

I moved livery yards earlier this year, in early November I got a second horse and so was given a larger field for them both to share, the field was previously grazed 24/7 by the previous livery that had it (since at least before July and onwards) and they clearly did not ever poo pick so it was in a real state. The grass was extremely short and sparse from overgrazing, and what you may look at and think is grass is actually moss ? then the roughs (areas of long grass the horses don't eat) are huge!

I poo picked for an entire day and cleared it when my horses moved into it and I also put up a fence to strip graze it and try to allow something to grow (I know it's not exactly ideal to try to grow grass this time of year)
From what I've been told by other liveries they use the muck heap as fertilizer, but I imagine that they must not bother with re-seeding which is why it's so sparse and doesn't seem to grow?

My horses go out during the day 8am-5pm in the winter and have now absolutely trashed the field, the whole thing honestly looks like a massive muddy gateway ?
Because the field is mostly made up of moss and actual grass is so sparse I imagine there are just no roots to hold the soil together paired with the poor drainage as it's at the bottom of 2 slopes, the water just pools in it.
I moved their strip grazing fence back and it took them one day to trash it ?
I've been offered the field next door but the grass quality is exactly the same so I imagine it will easily become just as bad.
I can't turn them out for a shorter time, and I don't want to have to keep them in for weeks on end, they are youngsters so need to be out as much as possible really. There are not enough fields for regular rotation of horses too, some liveries said they've had the same field for years so if I end up with 2 fields I'll be lucky!

Any ideas and tips appreciated!!

 

[Sprogladite01]

There is a group on facebook which you might find useful - it's called 'Land Management for Horses with Dr Lisa Schofield'. It is a real treasure trove of info, lots of informative pinned posts/files and Lisa is generally very responsive on posts. It may be a good guide for you in terms of where to start. Good luck!

 

[Nasicus]

How big are the fields? You can check by going to google maps, right click - measure distance - outline the field - join the start and end dots up. At the bottom it gives you the total area sq, so just copy the number into a google search for X in acres, so for example "65,913.04 m² in acres".

Knowing how big they are can really help formulate a game plan.

 

[laura_nash]

If it was one of my fields (ie one of the ones I own so can spend time and money on it) I wouldn't use it this winter, unless possibly it was very dry or frozen solid. Then next spring I would top it, harrow it, fertilize it (with suitable fertilizer for horse paddocks) and probably overseed (with suitable grass seed). Then rest for 3 months and then put the cattle on it till it was eaten down. Then it would be usable for horses.

I realise this isn't much help to you though.

I think, if you are confident you will have this field next year, I would section it in two and only use one half over winter. Then it's "just" a case of minimising the damage as much as possible and trying to make it ok for the horses. Choose the driest bit, maybe put down some old carpet in gateways etc.

 

[dorsetladette]

My field was over grazed and covered in moss (and ragwort) when we first got it. Its sandy so grass struggles but moss loves it. Once we worked out the dry and wet bits (this takes a full year/all 4 seasons usually with a few mistakes to learn from along the way) we split it into 3 a larger 'winter' paddock and 2 'summer' paddocks. they aren't always used that way but that is how its planned. Anyway clearing the poo is the biggest and most important thing so far to break the worm cycle. Our worm counts went through the roof to start with so please keep on top of your worming and worm counting as previous tenant may not of wormed if didn't poo pick.

We got rid of the moss pretty quickly by chain harrowing regularly. So every time the ponies moved fields the chain harrows went round and some times in between if OH felt like it. The moss is now all but gone apart from one shady corner. The grass has had time to get established and the moss is regularly disturbed.

 

[Polos Mum]

Managing-Grass-Horses-Responsible-Owners-Guide by Elizabeth O'beirne-Ranelagh

Is a really good book. Lots will depend on the time / money you want to invest and the underlying soil.

I would have a bit of caution that if you do loads and have it looking amazing you might find the YO needs you to move and you're back to square one.

To me is sounds like there's too many horses for the land (very common) in which case it's hard to do anything meaningful.

 

[Arcticc]

How big are the fields? You can check by going to google maps, right click - measure distance - outline the field - join the start and end dots up. At the bottom it gives you the total area sq, so just copy the number into a google search for X in acres, so for example "65,913.04 m² in acres".

Knowing how big they are can really help formulate a game plan.

Just measured, the field they are in and the field I might be getting are both 0.8 acres

 

[rextherobber]

Echo the recommendation for Dr Schofield. Also look at Equicentral , Jane and Stuart Myers.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

You won't be able to recover it unless you rest it-the more damage you cause, the longer it will take. Can you rest one and trash one?

Overgrazing knackers the roots-if the grass is less than a beer bottle on its side in height, the root system is damaged. it also leads to compacted ground and next year, weeds. If you can rest one now, and depending on where you are, mulch (with old hay), muck spread on one and leave it until spring you might be ok. Will you get to keep both paddocks? With limited ground like that, constant rotation is key.

 

[ImmyS]

There is a group on facebook which you might find useful - it's called 'Land Management for Horses with Dr Lisa Schofield'. It is a real treasure trove of info, lots of informative pinned posts/files and Lisa is generally very responsive on posts. It may be a good guide for you in terms of where to start. Good luck!

I also follow this above group and have found it really helpful.
Your problem is the ground is already trashed and with nothing growing it won’t get any better until spring. I would continue using the field and feed hay. Come late February/March I would then put the horses on a small section or preferably a track around the outside. Then Harrow and reseed the rest of the land.
I personally think it is better to have as much grass as possible in the winter to protect the ground and keep horses in a small area over summer providing they get plenty of exercise and field space is limited.

So I would keep the horses on the small section/track and supplement with hay if needed and rest the rest of the field until late autumn when the grass stops growing.
If you look after the rested section with regular mowing and leaving the cuttings as mulch you will grow a much thicker and resilient sward. It will take a few years of carefully management to get the sward healthy.
Also worth looking into mud control mats or similar to create a hard standing area for winter for feeding hay/somewhere dry for horses to stand.

 

[Arcticc]

My field was over grazed and covered in moss (and ragwort) when we first got it. Its sandy so grass struggles but moss loves it. Once we worked out the dry and wet bits (this takes a full year/all 4 seasons usually with a few mistakes to learn from along the way) we split it into 3 a larger 'winter' paddock and 2 'summer' paddocks. they aren't always used that way but that is how its planned. Anyway clearing the poo is the biggest and most important thing so far to break the worm cycle. Our worm counts went through the roof to start with so please keep on top of your worming and worm counting as previous tenant may not of wormed if didn't poo pick.

We got rid of the moss pretty quickly by chain harrowing regularly. So every time the ponies moved fields the chain harrows went round and some times in between if OH felt like it. The moss is now all but gone apart from one shady corner. The grass has had time to get established and the moss is regularly disturbed.

My field was over grazed and covered in moss (and ragwort) when we first got it. Its sandy so grass struggles but moss loves it. Once we worked out the dry and wet bits (this takes a full year/all 4 seasons usually with a few mistakes to learn from along the way) we split it into 3 a larger 'winter' paddock and 2 'summer' paddocks. they aren't always used that way but that is how its planned. Anyway clearing the poo is the biggest and most important thing so far to break the worm cycle. Our worm counts went through the roof to start with so please keep on top of your worming and worm counting as previous tenant may not of wormed if didn't poo pick.

We got rid of the moss pretty quickly by chain harrowing regularly. So every time the ponies moved fields the chain harrows went round and some times in between if OH felt like it. The moss is now all but gone apart from one shady corner. The grass has had time to get established and the moss is regularly disturbed.

If the fields were big enough I would definitely split them up, but having 2 horses on a field that isn't really big enough for 2 as it is makes things quite difficult. I regularly poo pick and both horses are wormed so I'm trying to keep on top of that

 

[Arcticc]

I also follow this above group and have found it really helpful.
Your problem is the ground is already trashed and with nothing growing it won’t get any better until spring. I would continue using the field and feed hay. Come late February/March I would then put the horses on a small section or preferably a track around the outside. Then Harrow and reseed the rest of the land.
I personally think it is better to have as much grass as possible in the winter to protect the ground and keep horses in a small area over summer providing they get plenty of exercise and field space is limited.

So I would keep the horses on the small section/track and supplement with hay if needed and rest the rest of the field until late autumn when the grass stops growing.
If you look after the rested section with regular mowing and leaving the cuttings as mulch you will grow a much thicker and resilient sward. It will take a few years of carefully management to get the sward healthy.
Also worth looking into mud control mats or similar to create a hard standing area for winter for feeding hay/somewhere dry for horses to stand.

I was wondering if I should keep them on the trashed field with hay, but with how wet and muddy it is I don't want them getting mud fever or hurting themselves in it.
If the yard owner lets me have the one next door I might try to rest that until spring to give it a chance to grow then the trashed one can be sorted out?

 

[ImmyS]

If the fields were big enough I would definitely split them up, but having 2 horses on a field that isn't really big enough for 2 as it is makes things quite difficult. I regularly poo pick and both horses are wormed so I'm trying to keep on top of that

If you also have your own muck heap and have low worm counts then I also do recommend spreading muck as fertiliser. It does make a huge difference! But land needs to be rested for a while (a couple of months or until manure completed rotted) once muck spread.

 

[ImmyS]

I was wondering if I should keep them on the trashed field with hay, but with how wet and muddy it is I don't want them getting mud fever or hurting themselves in it.
If the yard owner lets me have the one next door I might try to rest that until spring to give it a chance to grow then the trashed one can be sorted out?

If you’re allowed access to both then yes I would probably move them but accept the other field will probably get trashed also. But once drier weather sets in you can put them on a smaller area and get ti work improving the rest

 

[Tarragon]

How big are the fields? You can check by going to google maps, right click - measure distance - outline the field - join the start and end dots up. At the bottom it gives you the total area sq, so just copy the number into a google search for X in acres, so for example "65,913.04 m² in acres".

Knowing how big they are can really help formulate a game plan.

That is so useful to know! A very handy tip Thank you

 

[laura_nash]

Just measured, the field they are in and the field I might be getting are both 0.8 acres

Okay, that's smaller than I imagined so splitting it in two is probably not an option. You might just have to accept that you will trash it and do what you can come spring. If you could get the second field too and keep that one for spring that would be better.

 

[L&M]

if you are not prepared to compromise on the length of turnout 0.8 of an acre will quickly get trashed by 2 horses, even keeping 1 horse on that size would be a struggle if you want the land to do any good.

I would try and secure the other paddock, then you have half a chance........I think if I was in your situation I would keep the second paddock and start using it come the New Year, which would then leave the current paddock some recovery time.

I wouldn't waste time or money on maintaining land that wasn't my own (bar weed removal and poo picking), but it is amazing how land can recover with rest. Also the winter rain will flatten back any poached areas and hopefully it will green up towards spring.

Then from Spring maintain some sort of rotation between the 2 paddocks, so one is always resting and growing whilst the other is grazed.

Good luck!

 

[thefarsideofthefield]

We've got two retirees living out 24/7 on 1 1/2 acres . They have free access to their stables and are fed hay on the concrete yard area which does help stop them churning up the ground , but they spend most of their time mooching around the field . With a small acreage it can help if you stop thinking of it as grass/grazing and see it as an exercise area instead . Ours is divided up into three small paddocks which lead onto one another ( origionally the kids ponies paddocks ! ) but I found , through trial and error , that if I tried using the small paddocks on a rotation basis they got churned up really quickly whereas if I give them free range of the full acreage it doesn't cut up at all ( we do have pretty good drainage though ) . The grass does come back in the summer , to a certain degree , but not enough to really provide any significant contribution to their diet and the 2 oldies are fed pretty much the same hay/feed rations all year round .
Try thinking of it as a big stable rather than a small field !

 

[twiggy2]

2 youngsters on poor wet grazing for 9 hrs a day will trash it, not much you can do about that, I have never fertilised grazing for horses, I would be wanting a field of that size per horse though, I would rest one this winter, poo pick it and it the spring mow the long areas (strim then mow if needed), strip graze and give some hay all yesr round. I was on clay a lot of the time and managed on that but if the ground sits wet I would be looking to move yards.