How much to make land ready?

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zoon

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I have 3 acres of unfenced grazing, totally unused for many years. I am getting a youngster this year and trying to sort out logistics - whether to use this land or go on grass livery!

It has been kept mainly ragwort free and we've stopped any brambles taking over etc, but it'd still need more weeding and trimming to make it ready for horses. The land itself is
flat and well drained, but probably has the odd rabbit hole.

It has some hedges around the border, but not substantial enough to contain livestock. It'd therefore need fencing. What sort of fencing should I use? Also I'd like to split it into 2 or 3 smaller paddocks to rotate, ideally with electric fencing. But I am not sure about electric fencing and young horses.

There is very little shelter in the field; a few trees on one corner, but not enough to shelter from the sun or wind and rain. Therefore I'd need a field shelter of some sort.

And obviously a companion. I could go for a companion on loan from someone, a cheapy one to buy or possibly a grass livery (although not entirely happy about someone else using the land as think it'd be too much hassle, help with poo picking would be nice)

And then there are the other things like getting muck taken away etc.

i really have no idea how much it'll cost as I've never considered doing it before. Can you guys give me some idea?
 
fencing wise you could go for

1 post and rail. Good but pricey and more pricey if you have to put electric line on the top as well to stop them rubbing and chewing on it!

2. post and horse mesh (small square mesh, no sharp edges, high tensioned). In between post and rail and electric tape in terms of cost. Lot less hassle than electric. Tornado are one of the best known makes. If you ever changed your mind and rented the field to farmer they could use it for sheep etc straight off.

3. post and electric tape. But assuming you dont have mains electric to the field, you're looking at batteries, energiser etc which can run low or be nicked.

My vote goes with horse mesh. We went for tall stuff as we have a non livestock safe doglet. Here it is , mesh plus wires are 6 foot or 6 foot 6...(horse is 17 hands) the horses have never touched it and they dont rub on it.
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Don't be! The expense seems too much - hence why I've always been in livery. Now I've sold my riding horse and am going to get a youngster I thought I'd try to work out how little money I can get away with spending to get it ready!
 
Yes, this is our land. It is attached to my grandfathers house and we haven't used it for years. Used to have our ponies on it as kids, but not used since and fencing has come down after so many years and would need re-doing.

So you don't think it'd be worth it? Just go on livery?
 
zoon said:
Yes, this is our land. It is attached to my grandfathers house and we haven't used it for years. Used to have our ponies on it as kids, but not used since and fencing has come down after so many years and would need re-doing.

So you don't think it'd be worth it? Just go on livery?
Click to expand...

Whoops - just read my post. I meant that ongoing livery costs will out weigh the initial outlay - doh !!
 
I have 2 acres for my horses but it is not enough, so I have rented a patch of unused land next to my field.
I bought wooden fence posts which were £2.50 each. I believe I could have got them cheaper if I had shopped around, but as there is a sawmill just down the road, the convenience overtook the cost. In fact, my local saddlery sells a pack of 10 4ft plastic posts for £29, so actually the wooden posts were cheaper.
I have put 2 strips of 40mm electric tape onto the posts and use my leisure battery for the engergiser.
My local farmer charged me £20 to go over the field with a harrow type thing to pull all the dead grass off. I paid a couple of guys £40 to pull all the ragwort out the field, although not sure that was money well spent as there are still quite alot of seedlings growing, so am pulling it up on a daily basis still.
It also cost me £70 to have someone put in my fence posts.
So, cost for approx 1 acre to me has been so far:
£100 for 40 wooden posts
£36 for 400m of 40mm tape
£40 ragwort pulling
£20 harrowing
£20 for the bits and pieces for putting tape onto the posts

I am very pleased with the result and could have posted a picture if I hadn’t deleted it off my phone (but if I remember, will do later).

There are plenty of companies that sell field shelters, with varying prices, but my local shed making company (who happens to rent their space from the man I rent my field from), could make me something suitable for my 2 for about £500.

So, yes the initial outlay might be steep, but as you won’t be paying rent, I think it is well worth doing. My boys are more than happy living out and I didn’t find it a chore, even in the winter with all the snow.
You are also able to build a great bond with your horses when they live out as you spend more time around them. No chucking them out in the field then spending all the rest of your time doing yard duties and mucking out!
It won’t suit everyone, but I can’t imagine ever wanting to go back to a yard now.
Hope this helps a little.
 
What about getting muck taken away? How much does that cost and how do you organise it?

And what about a companion? Obviously best to have another youngster, so is getting a grass livery the best option? someone with another youngster? How would I go about doing this? Would I need insurance etc?
 
I poo pick daily (well, almost) and put it into bags. The field owner uses quite a lot for his garden, but I have also put up a pallet with a sign saying Free Horse Manure! I have also said please return bags at your earliest convenience, otherwise I have no where to put it. I ask my friends to save their old feed bags for me too. Was a bit slow moving in the winter, but now I can't fill the pallet up quick enough!
Harvey is just turning 5 and I was very lucky that he didn't seem to mind living alone, but I recently bought him a companion - Nemo, who I hope will grow big enough for us to ride eventually.
If you advertise in your local tack shops for a companion to share your grazing, I bet you would be innundated!
As far as insurance goes, I'm afraid I don't know - you have reminded me that I need to look into it!
 
if its weedy u may be best to spray it although u hav missed the boat really because the weeds will now be competitive with the grass so best effects will not be seen. however if u have a chat to a friendly farmer he may be able to give u his best opinion and may even be willing to do it for u next year. Fencing can be really dear and u would be looking at a grand for post and rail but we have wooden posts and stock fencing in our fields and rarely hav a prob also we use wooden posts and 2 rows of plain wire as paddock divides with a strand of electric along the top.

Gettin your muck taken away i would suggest u get a trailer (maybe a farm sale could be ideal to get one suitable) and ask a farmer to come and remove it every few weeks when its full chances are they will dump it on there muck heap and charge u about £30 for it!

Public liability insurance may be useful incase the horse escapes onto a road and hits something altho probably best to ring your insurance company.

good luck x
 
I would steer away from stock netting and plain wire, esp with an inquisitive youngster. My old girl got her foot through stock netting and it got stuck under her shoe, no serious injuries but only by the grace of god. We then wnet for plain wire and our youngster rolled right next to it and got a leg over, she panicked and pulled it through and cheese wired the front flesh off her leg, luckily she only has a superficial scar but only after many months of treatments.

We have just P&R the frontage of our new property, it was £12 per metre for good high 3 rail fencing. We haver done the perimeters with hedges and ditches and dividing fences with wooden posts and 4 strands of electric rope, we have an escape artist! Our posts were £1.90. If you are doing electric fencing have a look on the internet. I found a company called Country store (I think) who did buckets of 300 screw in ring insulators for nearly half the price of our local agricultural shop. The rope was a third ;ess too.

Fied shelter, we got a large mobile that is lined half way for a smidge under 2K. I would def go with a sharer but make sure they have their own insurance. I dont think you would need to have livery insurance if you were just sharing with one or two others, even if money changes hands. But if you do that make sure you get everything soprted out in terms of who does what. It can be very useful to have someone to call on to check yours if you are going away or ill etc.

I put my muck into heaps to rot, I then give it away/ask for a small donation to WHW if we are helping them to bag/load, I put an add in the parish newsletter. If yourt horses are weel wormed, yopur paddocks poo picked daily and your muck heap gets to a good temp there is no reason why you shouldnt spread very well rotten muck back onto the pasture as a soil improver.

I top the weeds with my ancient ride on mower and get a farmer to roll and harrow, however we have just got an old tractor so will be doing our own once we source some 2nd hand equipment. Weeds if realy bad sshould be sprayed by the farmer. But we dont have too many so use a knapsack sprayer when required (best sring and autumn).

If you dont get a livery then think about WHW or one of the other animal charities. Good luck with your venture.
 
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