Help - I'm in despair!

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Patchworkpony

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OK - so at home I have a beautifully fenced post and rail paddock (about 1.5 acres) proper pony accommodation, a tack room, water, electricity and oodles of love to give a couple of miniatures. At my age now and still vulnerable from a past accident, I feel they are the safest option to fulfil the great need and desire to keep something equestrian around us. So why am in despair? The b******* grass - it won't stop growing and growing and growing! We have topped it 4 times already this year, we have 6 Shetland ewes grazing it (which is enough in the winter) and yet I know it would kill any pony within days, if not hours. I hate the idea of keeping such free spirited animals confined to tiny paddocks and from past experience I totally hate, hate, hate grazing muzzels.

So what do I do - give up ponies for ever, kill off every bit of grass or pray for a miracle? The farmer who rented the ground before we bought it smothered the land in fertilizer so hence we have 6 inch rich grass, even though it was only cut a fortnight ago.

I ache for ponies every day but am frankly terrified of killing them. Never had this problem before as we had old ley that never saw nitrates.

Any suggestions welcome to help mend my broken heart.
 
Get a couple of standard shetlands and either drive them or take them out for walks and show them inhand. A couple of standards will be fine on what you have, or split it in half if you want.
 
Make a track round the edge for summer (look up paddock paradise) keep ewes in middle and porky Ponies on edge in track!! You need your pony fix!
 
EKW said:
Get a couple of standard shetlands and either drive them or take them out for walks and show them inhand. A couple of standards will be fine on what you have, or split it in half if you want.
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I don't think they would be fine - I wouldn't have even put my fell ponies out on this grass. I don't really want standards as I am no longer able to drive with my back or walk that far. That was the point of minis which I also think are adorable and funny.
 
Yes I would go for some extra grazing power in the form of sheep. We borrow a few from a neighbouring farmer when our grass gets too much and then back they go when they have finished, works really well. The only thing is that they hog the field shelter when it rains :)
 
Thanks guys so much. I think the paradise paddock system could work. I thought of it before but a dirty great sycamore stood on my neighbours land at one end of the paddock. However she has now agreed to take it down so things may be possible after all. I would kill off the grass on two thirds of the track just leaving the ponies with a small area down on side to graze which if it got too rich could also enclose the sheep as well. This is why I love this forum everyone is SO kind and helpful. Have been looking on YouTube and systems with even small amounts of land. It seems a trackway of 2.5 metres would be plenty wide enough and I would incorporate two shelters in that. I would of course do the whole thing in post and rail, not electric - well they would be shetlands on it! I would love to see photos from anyone who has done this themselves.
 
Dubsie said:
Why not offer the grazing locally for a month - our field could do with a rest for example. Or cut hay? You could even do it the old fashioned way (scythe, stook, etc)
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Thank you Dubsie for your suggestion but none of the farmers round here are interested in small grazing areas (bloke next door was let down and now his field is 2 feet high). Also I would never bring in other stock as I don't want foot rot transmitted to our land. A month wouldn't solve the problem the b**** grass even grows in the winter. I think though a paradise paddock may just be the answer.
 
This is mine...acre paddock...the track incorporates the shelter and yard and has two small grass areas at the two corners. I used it all year round so they trashed the tracks and so minimal grass comes back

020620094108.jpg
 
_HP_ said:
This is mine...acre paddock...the track incorporates the shelter and yard and has two small grass areas at the two corners. I used it all year round so they trashed the tracks and so minimal grass comes back

020620094108.jpg
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Wow - this looks great. Could you please tell me what do you do with the middle grass, how wide are your tracks, does it get very muddy in winter and do you pick up the droppings or let them get trashed into the soil? Many thanks for putting up this inspiring photo.
 
Also another suggestion shetlands can be a handful even with their size you could maybe consider some slightly bigger ponies if you don't want something too big maybe a Welsh section A or B my friend bought two youngsters very cheaply from a horse auction they were nervous when they first came but are so loving now and love nothing more than to stand by you and follow you around the field. Obviously you may find a lovely quiet Shetland just trying to think outside the box with your grazing available :)
 
If it were me, I would look at maybe one/two larger rescue types? Maybe retiree's or someting that can't be ridden? And then a few mini's - Biggies keep the grass down and you get your mini fix :) OR buy more sheep!!! :D
 
We have a small paddock which a local farmer puts his rams on over the summer - they're generally a bit skinny after all their "work" and they do really well on it and keep it down. I think there are about 8 on 1 acres. Where we lived previously there was someone who had a flock of badger face sheep who owned no land of his own at all but moved his sheep (about 30) around all the locals who had too much grass. It worked a treat as he'd ring and say when he was coming and how long for and then would top it as payment.
 
Another that would put a track in, for minis it wouldn't have to be very wide at all, so long as they have enough room to get away from each other if need be.

Re the middle bit, we had 2 14.2s on a track round 3 acres, the middle bit we cut for hay then let grow up as foggage and they used the middle in winter. On low lying (somerset levels clay) so the track would have struggled in winter and we didn't need to restrict then anyway. You could leave the sheep on the middle possibly?

I now have a track for my welshie round the edge of his 3/4ish acre paddock on our livery yard, it's not perfect but it does the job and much better for them than strip grazing. Tracks are very useful things.
Always poo pick still and how they cope in winter does very much depend on your soil.

some pics from home- it took a while for them to be allowed the whole of the outside, started on this strip in March

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we added a gravel area by the yard gate, wouldn't bother again though, we needed to do something with the gateway and were rehabbing one barefoot so.
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May, after a wet 6 weeks, having made it all the way around the field (this is the other side to the first pic)
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Looking the other way from the yard, this bit is wide as it is the last bit they were on over winter and also we needed a grazed patch we could lunge/school on, moving fence in and out every so often for fresh grass.

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More grazers!

As other's have suggested get some sheep etc - or even better some retired or rescued horses who need companion homes like Mongoose11 has said you could offer them a wonderful home :)
 
The thing is that what 1.5 acres will sustain in summer is very different to what it will in winter. So more grazers aren't always the solution long term.
 
Track works for me (but mine are, er, slightly bigger!). The middle is autumn/winter grazing, I would suggest you electric fence the inner track fence with rope and polyposts then you can gradually move it towards the centre when autumn comes, effectively strip grazing. My big PPID/laminitic horse has a track round a half acre paddock, which is no more than 6ft wide in most parts, with a larger corner for him to have a roll if he feels the need. If you space out water and any feeds they will move a lot more than they otherwise would, and that can be the key to keeping them healthy. The long grass round the edges won't be mega sugary so don't worry about that.
 
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