Letting field grow all summer for winter - Questions.

[Anna2015]

I am using 4 acres as this years trash paddock at the moment. My plan in spring is to move them off and let it grow until winter.

1) when the time comes to put them back on there in the winter will I not have to feed hay for a while because of all the grass??

3) also should I top it at least to make sure it grows better and more evenly? or just leave it to grow?

3) is tall grass ok for horses?

 

[Deltic Blue]

We have a similar set up at my yard. We have one field which is used in summer from mid-late March to October and it's rested all winter. Then we have another which is rested all summer and is grazed on from October to March again.
We don't hay ours until the grass is gone and the winter field isn't topped before they move onto it.
We do hay sometimes throughout summer as ours are barefoot so we don't want them getting sore. The summer one may be topped though before we move onto it.

 

[CPayne]

We do this, take horses off April and they go back on in November. We usually harrow as soon as we take them off and then flail the field at the end of July/beginning of August. I found that the grass was just too long if we left it and it just got flattened and started to die so the horses wouldn't eat it. July/August cut works for us as then have between 6 and 10 inches of growth when they go on to it. We only started feeding hay last week, less than a slice each per day (out 24/7) although this year the grass kept growing until about the beginning of December! Personally I would flail rather than top the field as the flail cuts it in to tiny pieces so if you do it on a dry and breezy day it tends not to sit on the grass and kill it. Topping would work if you did it more regularly I would guess. You will probably have to work out what will work for your land but I hope that helps. Good luck

 

[Luci07]

We had this set up at my previous yard. It did work until the YO stopped bothering to sort out the winter fields (which had been trashed) and just left them. This meant we had weeds and bald patches for the winter whereas a later YO harrowed, rolled and seeded and we had reasonable fields again for winter.

 

[Sprout]

I rest half my grazing for the winter, I dont top, but when I put them on it for the winter I do strip graze.

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

If you have good doers then you can leave it as foggage (standing hay) and then strip graze it.
I usually have mine out of the winter paddock around end March, going back into it after clocks change in October and strip grazing it.
It gets rolled if necessary but always harrowed each year.

I do move the tape quite quickly over the paddock; this winter they started strip grazing 1st wweekend in November, didn't come in at night till between xmas and new year (apart from a few very wet nights) and i only started popping a bit of daytime hay out 3 days ago as the grass was growing on so late

 

[Clodagh]

If it is trashed it will grow weeds, not grass.When the horses come off it it will be worth harrowing and reseeding any really bare patches. I would then top the nettles and thistles as they grow to encourage the grass.

 

[Goldenstar]

My horse come off the trash field in late April /May it's harrowed and rolled .
I throw some seed in the bare patches and it's fertilised with well rotted muck every second year .
I top it three or four times over the sumner and they go in in October to long sward but not run to seed .
I will be in trouble this year as there's a very badly cared for horse field just over from us ( being rented by new and clueless horse owners ) and that field is a sea of thistles after two years of neglect all happily blowing seeds on to mine I expect an epic thistle crop this year .

 

[Ladyinred]

We had a beautiful 3 acres or so of foggage this autumn and could have cried when we found YO topping it 'to make it nicer for the horses' He is such a lovely YO we couldn't be cross, but it was such a waste.

 

[pansymouse]

If it is trashed it will grow weeds, not grass.When the horses come off it it will be worth harrowing and reseeding any really bare patches. I would then top the nettles and thistles as they grow to encourage the grass.

Exactly this. It will need management to maximise its usefulness; don't expect nature to work a miracle undirected.

 

[Christmas Crumpet]

I have 2 acres split into 2 fields. The top field was grazed down by sheep until about September then left and is now full of grass and I'm worried there is too much grass in there for one horse so am strip grazing it. Which could be interesting when it turns into a bog but horse is happy! Bottom field has a bit of grass but not much after horse has been in there since about September.

We tend to harrow both fields then roll them, overseed them and rest them for about a month in April/May time and put horse in paddock up at the house. Then graze the bottom one right down then the top one and then back into the bottom and leave the top field to grow for the winter. We do top the fields as well a couple of times in the summer. Whatever we are doing seems to work well as we always have grass and fields always bounce back after the winter. I think the cross grazing is a major part of that.

 

[FfionWinnie]

Trashed grass will come back amazingly well in my experience. I trash one field every winter and it comes back as if nothing happened. Two things I do which help, graze it heavily with sheep in the spring - their feet compact it back down and deal with any poaching and spray any weeds. If you haven't got any handy sheep, rolling would be advisable. Other than rolling and spraying, just let it grow. You could then strip it in winter or just let them have the run of the whole thing.

 

[Regandal]

I'm intrigued by the standing foggage. Ours stands until the first onslaught of heavy rain and wind which flattens it. Anything under the clumps dies. The horses root about in it, but it's a mess.

 

[CBFan]

One end of our field was rested all summer - cut for hay in August and then strip grazed through autumn and winter. We are still strip grazing it now and only started feeding hay last Thursday when the colder weather came and the grass wasn't enough to keep the horses happy.

I would recommend cutting it for hay and then resting for a couple of months before grazing - that way you get some length to the stem but it doesn't get so heavy that it becomes a mess.

You ma need to weedkill in spring / summer too

 

[amandaco2]

I rested 4 acres of our ten but there was too much grass so I got the cows to eat it off in December, then the sheep in January!!!

 

[Gloi]

We take a cut of hay off ours and then let it regrow and strip graze it in the winter. Usually lasts till about February before we have to feed hay.

 

[laura_nash]

I would recommend cutting it for hay and then resting for a couple of months before grazing - that way you get some length to the stem but it doesn't get so heavy that it becomes a mess.

You ma need to weedkill in spring / summer too

This is what I did this year, but then had to get some of the neighbours sheep in to graze it before putting the horses in as it had grown too much (the grass just keeps growing this year!). I prefer not to strip graze in winter as the fencing tends to get blown down. I'm still not feeding any hay, and they are both a bit on the podgy side.

I tried standing foggage last year in a smaller field but like Regandal it just got flattened and even my "eat anything" ponies turned their noses up at half of it and made a huge mess.

 

[EQUIDAE]

I did this year as I want able to take hay off it - I have zero mud even though I am on the edge of the moors. Would definitely recommend it

Eta - you will need to strip graze or they turn their nose up at the foggage and just eat the lush stuff, then won't eat the foggage as it's the poo area...

 

[CBFan]

This is what I did this year, but then had to get some of the neighbours sheep in to graze it before putting the horses in as it had grown too much (the grass just keeps growing this year!). I prefer not to strip graze in winter as the fencing tends to get blown down. I'm still not feeding any hay, and they are both a bit on the podgy side.

We've not had any problems with fencing blowing down but we use rope and the superior posts which are a bit sturdier and less blowy. The grass has kept on growing but has slowed now. The good thing about strip grazing is that the field gets grazed evenly as opposed to in patches. Ours are looking well but do need the hay to keep them warm over night now...

 

[Tiddlypom]

I'm feeding standing foggage for the first time this year. As above, I failed to get my hay cut last year due to poor weather, so this grass has had 10 months growth. I'm strip grazing and they're eating it all with gusto, though I agree that it looks a bit bedraggled now. It was too rich up until the weather turned cooler, but now its providing plenty of bulk without much feed value, which suits my lot very well.

Strip grazing through the winter has cut up my fields much less than I expected, in fact I think the land looks in better order than if they'd had a free run. My electric fence line is attached to post and rail fencing at either end, which allows me to keep the tape and string nice and taut.

 

[teddypops]

My horses come off their winter field in March, we then grow the grass to make hay, the grass then has plenty of time to grow again for the following winter

 

[windand rain]

I'm feeding standing foggage for the first time this year. As above, I failed to get my hay cut last year due to poor weather, so this grass has had 10 months growth. I'm strip grazing and they're eating it all with gusto, though I agree that it looks a bit bedraggled now. It was too rich up until the weather turned cooler, but now its providing plenty of bulk without much feed value, which suits my lot very well.

Strip grazing through the winter has cut up my fields much less than I expected, in fact I think the land looks in better order than if they'd had a free run. My electric fence line is attached to post and rail fencing at either end, which allows me to keep the tape and string nice and taut.

This is what we have done this year and in spite of the wet it looks good the autumn fields have grown a bit back too and are looking good although they do get very wet we dont get mud still only giving a tiny amount at a time as they are fat

 

[EQUIDAE]

An update on our situation. We let ours go to standing foggage due to it being too wet to get hay cut. They year before we had cut hay and fed hay in the field from January onwards. The field had some grass but was pretty boggy.

This year the ground is amazing despite all the wet weather, we haven't had to hay in the field apart from when it snowed, and it appears the grass is now starting to grow again. Oh and this year we have had 5 out compared to 3 last year.

Standing foggage seems to be the way forwards!

I'm going to try it slightly differently this year - I'm going to get a cut of hay as early as possible (as if I was trying for two cuts) and then leave it to stand. In theory this way we will have a cut of hay to feed, rather than having to buy in, and grass to last the winter too.