In Hampshire and the field we're strip grazing is still going strong. Ponies look very fat even though they don't get a huge amount every day plus the rest of the field is looking very bare.
i am on suffolk/essex borders and our field is brown in places and the grass is very short but both of our horses are still looking ok so they must be getting something although if we dont get some rain soon we may have to start giving some hay before they run out of grass as this is our winter grazing as well as summer...
We are Suffolk Norfolk border. Fields are pretty bare. Fat cob still fat unfortunately. Boys are getting hard feed and hay as they get fit for hunting.
No shortage here, due to mass fatty panic in my field I have my horse on all 8 acres by himself during the day and one of his girlfriends at night. There are normally four or five of them, one is in with an abcess and another is on fat patrol so in the fatty strips. Plenty of grass, and he's doing very well on it, he is coming back into work shortly and the field is being topped again as we have had another buttercup resurgence. It is our winter field as well so this will be its last topping before winter.
The rested fields are growing like weeds. Just had to move the horses over to the 'winter' side of the field so it didn't get too long, besides, they'd eaten their half right down.
lush and green in west of Scotland. Can't risk turning fat mare out 24/7 yet so she is still coming in during the day. I am hoping for a few weeks when she can go out full time before winter, when she will be in overnight.
Like hay at the moment but long and loads left. There went out onto these fields later than usual and not enough horses to eat it down. The winter fields on the other hand have not recovered well.
The fat tb is hiding behind his slimmer 'brother'.
We have had one day of rain in the past five weeks and soaring temps. Although our grass is dead my lot have hue grass bellies. They are in 12 hours/day because of the heat and flies, so we feed hay when they are stabled, but not much. I think that the brown grass must have higher sugar levels.
We've had a bit of a drought here (SE Ontario) this year, temps have been in the high 20's - 35C for weeks on end, massive hay shortage because the 2nd crop just didn't happen around here, not a bale of hay to be had for hundreds of miles, I have friends who have been shipping the stuff in from the US and Quebec. We've been feeding hay for months already because the grass has just shrivelled up and gone crunchy. Over the past couple of weeks we've had some rain but my paddocks and field which are sand still don't provide any more than slim pickings, the lawns however, have grassed up nicely, so the horses are grazing them.
The grass will be gone again by November, and won't be back, at all, until April.
3.75ac with one fat pony and one horse. 1ac resting and being topped religiously regularly for weed control. 1acre resting after being grazed in spring, 1ac lush green stuff, topped a month ago and will probably leave now for winter. They are on .75 ac ish, it looks bare and dry but the pony is still fat and the mare well covered, so whilst they might be whinging, they clearly aren't actually starving. They started coming in at night last week.
Very mixed. One very large retired hunter type & one Exmoor on a HUGE paddock. Bits are very dry, some lush bits. Both are a bit tubby, but neither are in work. I'm not worried about my Exie yet, he can pack up for winter and the fact he'll be doing a bit over the weeks into winter. Overall, it looks ok, walks ok & the bobbos are happy.
I've got a lot in my home field but my livery is very short. It will be another couple of weeks before the yo says right time to get them in (only went out in may and there's only a hard paddock to turnout )
I could bring horse home for a few weeks to keep him at grass a bit longer but I have nowhere to ride and it's no fun on my own.
I will move mine to their winter field in around two weeks but I will try to keep them out until the end of October .
However it's always a bit of a difficult choice as if I leave them out longer they get through the grass quicker and it makes it worse in the beginning of the year when the field can be awful .
Never sure what's the best thing to do .
loads of grass in my rented fields-my own are recovering well but being high up, I don't have much of a really active growing season left so will keep them off it as long as possible. Generally they can stay in the meadow until end of October and then they'll go up on the hill after that.
grass does not seem as lush as last year (Berkshire, south east) as last year my 4 where all very fat by this time of year, 1 new forest was getting cresty, despite being backed last summer, so in regular gentle work. where as this year they are just right, even though all off work (I'm very pregnant!) if anything my old boy is a little ribby (but is unwell and not being worked). However, think it is because they have actually been living out 24-7 since May so are moving around a lot more, as well as obviously eating more of the grass. Used to come in nearly every day last summer, so would spend all day sleeping and hay, then gorging all night! I have about 8 acres- was 10 last year but some unusable due to Thames water fixing a leak there. I have just shut off a few acres with electric tape to hopefully give it a chance to grow over September, when there is often a little flush, to save up a tiny bit for winter. probably a bit late, but worried as patches are looking quite sparse.
2 fields about 2 acres total have been rested since beginning of July for winter. It's been so dry they are still bare. I am hoping that since the good rain today they will start to grow for the winter but a bit worried as was hoping for 2 months growth already but it's been nothing. In south Oxon area.
It's been frazzled by the sun! luckily mine are in the fat pony section to lose a bit of weight so I've a bit saved, the rain for the last two days hasn't worked its lush grass magic yet