Managing a starvation paddock

madhector

madhector

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Right, having always had skinny TBs I have never had the need for a starvation paddock before, but now I have one very round sec A and another that has the potential to look very similar if I am not careful, I have fenced off a small area that has become a starvation paddock for them. Spooks is in there at night and then in on soaked hay during the day, and Hazel is in there at night and then out in the big field during the day.

My problem is, it is looking very bare in there which is great at the moment as it is so dry, but I am a little worried about what sort of state it will look like after some rain. Also at any point should I rest it and let it recover, as worried about completely ruining the paddock. Or should I just leave it as it is, with the ponies in it as they are, it is getting to the point where I am thinking of feeding them some soaked hay through the night in there

Any suggestions on how to manage a starvation paddock appreciated, all my other fields are full of grass at the moment, so I cant really rest it and put the ponies anywhere else

Thanks
 
I tend to fiddle around with mine a lot. It really depends on how fast the grass is growing at the time and how many are using it.

If they are still very porky I will split the paddock in to two. Let them use one half for a few days, de-poo and rest the other side for a few days until it greens up a little and then swap them over.

I have the option to split my little paddock in to 3 sections. So I am constantly assessing and rotating.

At the moment no one really needs it apart from the cow. She is such a pig.

I guess from now until next spring I need to keep it well grazed but try not to wreck it completely.

However, I am not trying to avoid laminitis, I am just trying to restrict the amount of grass eaten.

It has been in use for a year now and it looks good.
 
My two are in a starvation paddock. I have three set up in the 20+acre field and alternate them becuase I rarely feed hay as well. I pick up the poo every day and they get a much bigger patch of grass in the winter if they are allowed in the field (summer grazing only & cut for hay). I used to make fun of a friend who used to move her fence in then out then back in and out again on a daily basis. Now that I have good doers I'm exactly the same!!!!
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When there's no grass and its too wet to move them into one of the other paddocks I move the fence out a foot then back in again but it keeps me completely in control of how much grass they are consuming!!!
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[ QUOTE ]
Perhaps there is a new name for us who are on restrcited grazing duty.

What do you think to "Fence fiddlers"?
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[/ QUOTE ]

Shall we start the fence fiddlers clique???!!! PMSL!!!!!
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I do this too!

I have a Welsh companion pony who can eat for Britain if he is allowed.

I keep the horses at home and we have a strip of grass (about 20 foot wide) around our arena. The arena is fenced and then the strip round the edge also has a fence round, so we have a sort of grass track around the edge of the arena. To save mowing this strip, I let pony graze it off. I make a small 'pen' from electric fencing in one corner and let him graze that off. Then I move the electric fence along the strip a bit further every week so that he can only get so much grass each week. This means that he has a 'fresh' bit every few days. I do this down each side of the arena and then alternate between the two strips so that each gets some rest and time to grow through a bit.
 
Another fence fiddler here!!! I fiddle with my fence everyday! I have an area sectioned off around his field shelter and then an extra strip of elec fencing across the middle so I can move the fence a couple of feet every day for him do have 'some' grass. He has ad lib hay too at all times (year old stuff).
I just make sure I rotate it around a bit but it does get a bit poached and messed up around his stable area in winter. It recovers again in spring though.
 
Another fence fiddler here too!
My section c is kept in a corner of our one and half acre paddock in the summer due to eating for england. However with the dry spell I have been moving the fence every day and he's now on half the total paddock which is now bare and very dry amd dusty.
Due to this I've now turned him out on some older grass on the other side of the tape with my mare but as its raining onw he'll be back the skinny side before long when the grass moves again.
 
hey is there enough room for a little one
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lol i to am contantly messing with fencing i have 2 very porky looking ponies and my paddock is bare because the grazing i have left is extremly rich and long i give them a bit of soaked hay but am going to have to move them soon into their proper field.
 
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