How to best use my land?

Cherryblossom

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I’ve got a horse and pony on about 2.5 acres. I’m considering making a loafing area for them for next winter as the clay soil is not holding up well (understatement!) Both are the ‘get fat on fresh air’ type so vet has advised either track system or keep on hard standing and only allow 1hr grazing once spring comes in, which leaves me with the question; when can I actually have them out at grass? Having thought I didn’t have enough land, if I do both those things, I genuinely don’t know when I would use the remaining paddocks. I’d love to hear what others do? Do I put them in fields over winter when it’s less wet (if that ever happens!) Do I put them out on the grass in summer when it’s long and less sugary? Try to get a cut of hay off the fields and accept that I’ll be feeding it year round? I’d love to hear how people manage it!
Pic of Bubbles trying to eat straw pellets as he’s so clearly starved! And this is him slimmed down considerably; I’m in trouble once the grass comes in! ?DA20D7BC-64F2-4B94-8188-A2AB2DB70FD7.jpeg
 

Ranyhyn

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I would track the outside with mudcontrol. Graze the inner paddock by day winterlong (unless very mucky) so they are hitting it then onto the track by day (i like my horses clean by day in case i decide to ride) and swap to track by day and out by night spring-autumn.

I guess my main target would be no need to rest that summer grazing area if you have fatties, I wouldnt want it to recover. I have a paddock like that which mine go into all summer long and in winter my rams use it, I dont want it to rest I want it as crap as possible for spring because everything else I have is absolute laminitis waiting to happen!
 

alibali

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I also have a horse and a pony on 2 1/4 acres of clay. They're unshod which helps spare the ground a little. Both are good doers the pony is lami prone.

I restrict grazing to approx 1/3 of the total area over summer when the ground can handle that amount of traffic and feed wet hay to supplement the grass and make sure they've enough volume going through their guts. Over winter (end Oct to March - shorter growing season high on a hill in Scotland) I strip graze into the foggage that has grown over summer. I time it so that they're still getting onto fresh ground in March. The long grass reduces poaching and as they're constantly moving across the field the damage is restricted to only the occasional strip if the weather's been particularly wet when they've been let onto it.

I haven't started feeding hay yet as they tend to put on weight when first strip grazed in autumn so I'm letting them gradually lose that now. Once the weight tape says yes then I'll start giving hay nets in their shed overnight. The volume of poo I'm collecting twice daily tells me this weight loss is due to the quality and not quantity of food they're consuming so I'm not worried that they're starving!

Good ground care is essential year round for this system to work. I poo pick meticulously all year or they would be forced to eat fouled grass. They are free range between shed and field 98% of the time but I have the ability to contain them either to the shed or a small hard standing area if necessary due to ice or for health reasons.
 

Not_so_brave_anymore

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I think most people like to "save" their grazing for spring/summer, so they keep the horses off the land so it's well rested and can provide a decent food source through much of the year.

With fatties it's a whole different ball game. It doesn't matter so much if your field gets a bit trashed (i don't mean 2.5 acres of pure mud that can't ever recover! I'm not sure just how wet your fields are) because most of it is going to be rested from probably march-November.

What works for me:

Track for spring/summer. My track is very nearly a complete loop but not quite, and I put hay one end and water the other.

Smaller trash paddock at the water trough end of the track for the autumn (because my track is on a hill, and a wet muddy hill track doesn't work). This smaller trash paddock also doubles up as a "starvation" paddock if I need seriously restricted grazing at any point in the spring/summer.

Then I opened up half of the long grass in the middle at the beginning of December, and I'll open the other half mid Jan.

Back on the track mid March.

This works well for my pony and my land (I have to admit, it was absolutely hideous this autumn, but I do at least have a field shelter I can stand her in to get her out the mud for a few hours a day. And I knew it was going to get better in the winter!) but it's not the most efficient way of maximising grazing potential - I end up supplementing with hay for 10 months of the year. But you get the benefit of the tough old grass in the middle of winter providing a pretty good ground cover.

Reading that back though, I'm not sure it makes much sense ?‍♀️?? I hope it helps!
 

Not_so_brave_anymore

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Ps my vet says to restrict volume not time on grass, as a determined pony can eat 24hrs worth of grass in 3 hours, especially if they know they're being restricted. So track/strip grazing /muzzle would be my personal order of preference.
 

meleeka

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I have a track up from the first signs of spring round my whole two acres. I strip graze towards the middle and when I get half way I put that side back again and strip the other side. I’ve also used D shape into the middle and strip grazed that so the D moves round the field.
In late autumn I carry on strip grazing but don’t move it back out again, so come the winter they end up with the lot. The middle gets rested during the summer but the strip part never does, which means there’s never too much grass growing on it. They also have a hard standing in the middle (track is a figure 8) which I can shut off if the field is too wet.

I’m pretty amazed at how trim the track keeps them. Because they can get round the whole perimeter they move a lot more and moving the fence when they are up the other end causes them all to canter down most days.
 

Cherryblossom

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Thanks guys, some great ideas! For those of you who let the land get grazed down, how do you stop it getting overrun with weeds? I had rented the land out last winter and it was utterly trashed, resowed it in spring but then the predicted rain didn’t arrive so the grass didn’t germinate and I’ve now got a fairly major creeping buttercup and thistle problem. I reluctantly accept doing spot applications of weed killer but I don’t really want to base my land management around repeatedly using herbicides
 

paddy555

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Thanks guys, some great ideas! For those of you who let the land get grazed down, how do you stop it getting overrun with weeds? I had rented the land out last winter and it was utterly trashed, resowed it in spring but then the predicted rain didn’t arrive so the grass didn’t germinate and I’ve now got a fairly major creeping buttercup and thistle problem. I reluctantly accept doing spot applications of weed killer but I don’t really want to base my land management around repeatedly using herbicides

for weed control get a strimmer, very feasible to strim on only 2 acres. As far as hay goes I would forget it unless you have access to hay making equipment. At hay making time there is a total rush to cut grass and especially to bale as there are severe limitations on fine weather. Everyone want their grass cut at the same time. You could well struggle with contractors making hay on a very small area at a time of your choosing ie when it is dry.
 
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