Horses refusing to eat certain parts of field?

[Anna2015]

We had 2 acres with very long grass and turned out 4 horses on to it and once grazed planned on moving them to another field. They ate one half and refused to eat the other. We even tapped off the over grazed part keeping them in the opposite part. Still refused. They ended up waiting at the gate?

The horses only eat hay if there is no grass. Give them some when there is grass and they are not interested. I tied up a hay net on the fence to see and they all started eating it????

I now had to open up my other field as they wasn't touching any of this grass. They are now happily munching the new field. I even done another test. I have a fattie who needs restricted grazing. He's very greedy! I moved his little section over the grass that the others will not touch... and he won't touch it! Been there for 2 days and the grass is still tall. No patches missing. Tied hay net again on fence and he's eaten the hay!

Anyone have experience with this?

 

[be positive]

The grass is probably tainted, either by urine or old droppings that were not picked up, possibly years ago, most fields will have some areas that dont get grazed and is always used as a toilet area, topping regularly can help but sometimes it will still be left, it may look fine to us but if it tastes nasty they will often prefer to go hungry that to eat it.

 

[Supertrooper]

100% agree

 

[Dry Rot]

Also, using the area as a toilet will not only taint the grass but eventually change the grass species as the fertility and acidity of the soil in that area will have changed. So even resting those areas won't make them palatable. The 'regular' grass species have actually been replaced by a new species that can survive the conditions created by the regular addition of poo and urine. Selective grazing by horses will also gradually eliminate the taller and more palatable grass species because horses graze closer than sheep or cattle. That's why farmers don't like them!

 

[DD]

horses don't eat around their own muck .

 

[MyBoyChe]

Ive got one spot in my boys paddock, an area about 6 x 6m that he wont eat. The previous occupants of his field were mares who were quite meticulous about pooing in this spot. He has been in this field for 4 years and will not eat in this area, ever! The grass grows quite coarsely here, although never gets really long so I just ignore it. I have noticed he wees there a lot though as the grass is longer than the rest of his field so Im not surprised he doesnt want to eat it!

 

[Carlosmum]

About 10 years ago a corner of my paddock had pigs on it. Ponies still wont graze there.

 

[NiceNeverNaughty]

i found after i chain harrowed, rested, then grazed sheep - ponies grazed it all again

 

[Cortez]

As above re the toilet areas, horses are also selective grazers and will leave certain varieties whilst overgrazing or "lawning" others. It sounds like you have a lot of scutch grass or similar tall, coarse varieties in one half of your paddock. If you can top the long grass, or get some cattle in to eat it off for you, then perhaps some other varieties will have a chance to grow.

 

[Crackerz]

horses don't eat around their own muck .

Tell that to my Sec D, he's such a pig he eats down the grass on all their toilet areas! Obviously we poo pick daily, but he isn't fussy



Sounds like it might need some good general maintenance in that area to hopefully make it palatable again?

 

[D66]

If you pooh pick regularly and top the tall grass that doesn't get eaten you can generally reduce the toilet areas and increase the lawn areas.

 

[SuperH]

My summer grazing is only a very small area but despite there being two of them on half an acre (and them both being pigs) they point blank refuse to eat a section through the middle where in the past (about 5 years ago) the slurry pit had a failure and overflowed down the field. It has obviously tainted the grass there, interestingly before the ponies go on I strip the lot off with a few cows and they will happily eat it. I'm planning on ploughing and reseeding at some point, so I think that should solve the issue.

 

[Sparemare]

Ours won't eat long grass when it's been there for over a year. Once it's topped and mowed down a couple of times they will deign to eat it.

 

[JanetGeorge]

i found after i chain harrowed, rested, then grazed sheep - ponies grazed it all again

Very true! Harrow THOROUGHLY (in both directions), rest, and then top/mow. Long, coarse grass is totally unpalatable to horses. Sheep are also good if you can borrow some and the fencing is up to it.