Grazing advice needed - is it too late to top fields?

[agmp]

Hello all,

Long time lurker - but finally got round to registering! Not sure if I have put this in the right place! Searching all over the internet for some advice on this, but not got a straight answer.

Am in need of advice, after many years I have finally been able to buy a small-holding, me and long time suffering other half and associated dogs have moved in - with the horses coming next week. I have a 17hh ISH and 14.2 warmblood x welsh sec A (no really, he's teeny warmblood body on welsh legs with what looks like a connie head). Feeling incredibly lucky after keeping various horses on yards for 20+ years to be able to look out my window and see them at home. Luckily have a barn with stables and we have seven acres. There are grand fantasy plans of getting the menage built, had some quotes and provisional chat with planning etc, but having just bought the place, finances most certainly won't permit. Practicing lateral work out hacking is going to have be our new favourite thing!

I am terribly uneducated with grass management, but have been obsessively reading everything I can find about it. They used to graze horses and grow hay here, but its been un-grazed for roughly six months and last topped last week of September. As lovely as the lush grass looks, and my dogs are thrilled with jumping over the tufts of it, its far too much grass for my boys. I have a compact tractor and topper and am okay using it. Can I top a field this time of year? Would be looking to use the two closest paddocks to the barn for the winter months and rotate depending on mud and shelter etc. The boys are in at night and are both exceptionally good do-ers. So I only really need to top two fields, total acreage probably just over 2 (given that we're at a livery yard and their paddock for the two of them is 0.6 acre this in itself is going to be horsey heaven for them!).

Will I totally ruin the grass if I top this time of year? We're not far from a quarry so have stony base underground with reasonably good drainage. Farmer said that due to quarry blast there are micro-fractures in the rocks in the area so water drains through really easily. Ground feels pretty good currently (put it this way, if I discovered this ground out whilst out hacking I'd be very tempted to 'clear the cobwebs').

I am very aware that likely to make some mistakes getting used to managing land and the horses at home (and having frequent panics about it), but having worked so hard this year to get the boys to good weights (my 17hh went from 700kg last jan to 575kg this month - aim is 550) and I think the grass would just be far too much. I will probably still have to strip graze even after topping to limit the grass, but before I set off on my tractor, wanted to see if I will be paying for the decision to top for years to come!

Thanks for reading,
Sorry it's so long!

 

[ribbons]

First thought was the mess a tractor would make at this time of the year, even well draining land will be soft.
Secondly, the toppings won't dry up without decent weather. They will just mulch and rot, pretty horrible mess.

 

[Equi]

NO. There is little in the grass at this time of year, so it will get eaten down. If you top it now it will just die and you will have tufts of yellow nothing. You don't have typical cob live on air horses so grass will be needed. If i was you i would fence it off and leave yourself about 5 acres to cut hay - 2 acres is more than enough for the horses you have

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Don't top it, foggage is great winter grazing for horses. If you have to restrict it, then do so by limiting the area they have access to with electric tape.

 

[Exploding Chestnuts]

You could ask farmer to put some cattle on it for two weeks, that would remove a lot of top growth. If you topped it the toppings would not dry in to hay, but might rot.

 

[w1bbler]

As others have said, it' all mush & rot, electric fence & save a fortune on hay this winter. You could turn out 24\7 & make life really easy.
Recommend thenpony club guide to grassland management. Excellent book for first time field owners.

 

[AngieandBen]

Don't top it, foggage is great winter grazing for horses. If you have to restrict it, then do so by limiting the area they have access to with electric tape.

This 100% this is what I do for three ponies. Start them off on about half an acre and gradually make the paddock bigger.......My 5 acres lasts me all winter with them living out, no hay needed and little mud, they never get fat either as its very rough grass you lucky thing enjoy!

 

[AngieandBen]

You could ask farmer to put some cattle on it for two weeks, that would remove a lot of top growth. If you topped it the toppings would not dry in to hay, but might rot.

Noooo they will trash it and poo everywhere; the horses won't graze it

 

[AengusOg]

Sheep will eat it down, firm the surface, and leave a good deposit of fertilizing droppings.

 

[Dry Rot]

I reseed a couple of acres last autumn and arranged for sheep to come in earlier this year to eat it down. The sheep did not materialise and I was left with a field of 12 inch high young grass. That is a formula for laminitis in Highland ponies, so a bit of a worry. What I decided was to strip graze it but allowing access from another field with no grass by way of an open gate so the ponies had a choice. I was a bit mean with the strips to start with as I was worried about laminitis and colic. As the new grass was grazed down and the ponies got used to the change of diet, I shut off the other field.

All the new grass has now been grazed down and I have harrowed the poo to spread it and that will benefit the regrowth. It will be cut for hay in June. Isn't it nice when a plan comes together?

I would suggest rationing your grass by strip grazing with an electric fence. As others have said, that will supplement your hay and keep the horses occupied. But I'd start out being a bit mean as they could colic with the change of diet.

There are several purposes to topping. But doing it now will, as has been said, leave a mat of dead material that will take some time to rot down and could kill the grass underneath. First, the best time to top is when weeds have sent up seeding heads. Cutting these off before the seeds ripen well help prevent them from spreading. Second, you are cutting the seeding heads off the grass and encouraging regrowth from tillers which helps it spread (so different to weeds). Third, you are encouraging new growth which is more nutritious and palatable to grazing animals. Fourth, worm eggs and larvae in poo are killed by sunlight and regularly topping with let light into your sward and help with worm control. Fifth, it makes your fields look pretty by removing the longer tufts of grass left where horses poo. The end result looks a lot nicer than a rough tussocking sward.

Yes, you could graze it with sheep and cattle. But you will need good fences for sheep and probably won't find anyone who will pay a decent rent anyway. As a rule, farmers prefer to have as little to do with horses as possible!

 

[Auslander]

Second the foggage suggestion. Mine are out on 8 acres, divided into paddocks, which hasn't been grazed for years, although its been regularly topped. They get an acre of new paddock every couple of weeks, and are looking spot on - not thin, not fat, and the resident porker hasn't shown any lami signs, despite getting grass that looks like this every time they move.

 

[agmp]

Thank you all so much for the advice - have ordered the grassland management book from amazon - some light bed time reading!

To be honest the plan was to have sheep on here for a few months. We had hoped to complete and move in around July time, eventually completed last month! (bought through probate and thought it would be easier, turns out, buying a house remains complicated regardless of the situation!) The other benefit of completing in the summer, if we could have, would have given me plenty of time to figure out my paddocks and get on top of everything for winter. As it is moving horses in winter is never my favourite thing, but not sure I can face another winter of livery yards, restricted turn out etc.


Auslander - my grazing doesn't look quite this long, but certainly in places the tufts are similar.

Would love to make the move with my two (and future horses) to being out 24/7, trouble is my 17hh is such a wimp. Oh mum, look, moisture, I couldn't possibly be out in this. Oh mum, I felt my mane ruffle in the breeze, its too windy, please can I go in. Hoping to look at a field shelter for next winter so at least he has an option, but being out with my work would be amazing!

Am quite lucky that five of the seven acres are post and rail (with some hedgerow) and interconnecting via 5 bar gates and ring fence the house. So actually quite easy with a series of tape and gates to control their space.

Thanks for all your help. Decided going to start with the smallest paddock when they come next Saturday (so flipping excited, had a delivery of hay and straw this morning - and spent all last night 'creating' in the tack room). The smallest one is adjacent to the house and furtherest away from any road, and then gradually open one of the gates to the bigger paddock and strip graze it.

Starting to think that I have seriously underpaid for livery all these years - no idea how much went into running a place! lol.

I keep wandering down to the barn and wondering how on earth I got so lucky to be able to bring my boys home. As daunting as I am finding it all, keep reminding myself that I am so lucky! Took us over a year to find the right place and the right compromises to make, and over a decade of savings ploughed into it as well delaying our wedding by a year, but hoping it will be all worth it! (better be, OH is very unhorsey and took much persuading!)

 

[AngieandBen]

Oh it will be worth it It does seem a huge expense to start with; I remember having to buy things like rug racks/saddle racks/tie rings etc etc, it all adds up, but once bought that's it

If you manage your land well, there's no need to be spending £££ on hay/bedding.

I still walk up onto my field, take in the surroundings and pinch myself, I've been here for 13 years and the thought of leaving it would break my heart.

 

[honetpot]

I have just moved the electric fence for the last time on my foggage, although the ground is water logged in parts the mares have eaten all of it and if anything are a bit too fat, but my wind break hedge is still only three feet high so they need a bit of fat to keep warm, they are not rugged.
I have invested in a few sheep, buying castrated males that are going to the freezer next spring, these are excellent tidiers, I didn't really want them but farmers tend to want to leave sheep for long periods.
Try http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?action=unread , loads of advice. Mine would be is no two fields are a like and you have to get to know your land before making any big decisions and spending a lot of money. We live in one of the driest areas of the country and have already spent £10,000 on drainage.