managing fatties on grass livery...

mega spoilt ponies

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 March 2014
Messages
336
Location
Buckinghamshire
Visit site
Hi there, looking for help and advice from people who manage 'fatties' on grass livery.

I am taking over a grass diy livery yard (14 horses), mostly good doer native types.

There are two large mare/gelding summer fields and two large mare/gelding winter fields.

The problem I am having is what to do when liverie tell me that they need to restrict /strip graze etc etc for health concerns as it is very good grazing.

This is a new area for me as im used to managing competition horses would just graze the big fields.

Not all ineither the mare or gelding groups require restriction so it is not like the whole group can be strip grazed.

Id be interested in any similar set-ups and how people manage this. I want to be as flexible as possible to help people manage their horses how they wish but im struggling to manage a do-able solution given the set-up. I know I could say that those wanting restriction could muzzle/bring in (11 have unused stables) or we have 1 ind padddock. But wonder whether I would not be doing enough?
 

fattylumpkin

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 September 2013
Messages
767
Location
Sweden
www.thestoryofhorses.com
I'm not a super big fan of muzzles except in 'must' circumstances where there's no alternative. Muzzles can only be used for 8 hours a day and if the horse is anything like mine they find them unbearable and simply learn to chew through the muzzle and carry on as normal. Strip grazing would have worked well, but YO felt it was too labour intensive in her field setup. What did work for us in the end was a 'poor' paddock in addition to a really good field. Horse could go out for a set period of time with the others and enjoy real grazing (time depends on weather, season, etc) then after her daily allotment was up she and the other easy-doers were shifted back into the poor paddock with sparse grass. Yo felt that moving horses back and forth daily was preferable to moving fences :)
 

mega spoilt ponies

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 March 2014
Messages
336
Location
Buckinghamshire
Visit site
because that will restrict all if them (for eg mine is an enormous warmblood baby who needs all the space/grazing he can get). Its tough managing them together when they have such varying needs��
 

mega spoilt ponies

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 March 2014
Messages
336
Location
Buckinghamshire
Visit site
thats getting towards a solution.. however, with mares and geldings seperate we would need a gelding and mare 'poor paddock'. The only hesitation is that the yard is fatty heavy so we would end up with the whole yard bar a couple of sport horses in the poor paddocks. Im getting a headache!
 

fattylumpkin

Well-Known Member
Joined
5 September 2013
Messages
767
Location
Sweden
www.thestoryofhorses.com
You don't need to put all of the horses into the track/paddock, just the easy doers :) it's easier to divide them up than you'd think.

Edit: If the majority of the horses are easy doers, I'd suggest resowing an entire field with a mix suitable for them, in addition to keeping areas poor and grazed down. Of course it's easiest just to have huge open fields, but without restricting turnout there's no way to keep an easy-doer healthy on a field full of really good grass. So whatever you choose to do in future will mean more work and management, but happier liveries?
 
Last edited:

FfionWinnie

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 July 2012
Messages
17,021
Location
Scotland
Visit site
No it won't restrict all of them. There's still the rest of the field to be used by whoever wants to, and the track to be used by those who need restricted. The track can be any size or shape taking up as little or as much of the field is needed that is the beauty of a track system.
 

mega spoilt ponies

Well-Known Member
Joined
26 March 2014
Messages
336
Location
Buckinghamshire
Visit site
Thanks, I appreciate the advice. Im a bit of a naturally 'feeder' so I have some work to do on finding a solution for the good doers, aside from using mine as the yard lawn mower! I think i need to get the whiteboard out and start experimenting with the electric...
 

LD&S

Well-Known Member
Joined
8 June 2012
Messages
992
Location
South East Kent
Visit site
Depending on numbers etc and the ease with which they put on weight it might work to put an electric fence across with the most fatties in the smaller field and rather than worry about moving horses during the day have the fatties on a rota so maybe they go into the skinny field every other day or every 3rd day or not at all.
 

meleeka

Well-Known Member
Joined
14 September 2001
Messages
10,473
Location
Hants, England
Visit site
I'd make a track round the edge for the fatties. It can be two horseshoe shapes if you want to separate mares and geldings (with a bigger area at each end for feeding and turning). The non fatties can go in the middle and carry on as before. It's easily achieved from spring to autumn with an electric fence (better on mains if you can). It's amazing how much being on a track keeps mine slim and I only have two acres.
 

Annagain

Well-Known Member
Joined
10 December 2008
Messages
15,506
Visit site
hhhhhm food for thought, thanks. I would need to somehow allow a mare and gelding track as they are grazed seperatley.... hmmm

All you need to do in each field is create a U shape around the outside. The fatties go round the outside, the ones who need more grass go in the big bit in the middle.
 

cowgirl16

Well-Known Member
Joined
11 March 2013
Messages
489
Visit site
No it won't restrict all of them. There's still the rest of the field to be used by whoever wants to, and the track to be used by those who need restricted. The track can be any size or shape taking up as little or as much of the field is needed that is the beauty of a track system.[/QUOTE

This ^^^ works perfectly for me. I've got the middle of the field for winter grazing at the end of the year. In your case, those that need the grass can use the middle, and the good doers can go on the outside track as FW says. It's really easy.
 

Hexx

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 June 2007
Messages
1,388
Location
Lincolnshire
Visit site
At our yard, the YO fenced off a couple of quarter acre paddocks in the main fields with electric fencing. She then put the good grazers on them to eat them down, and then these became the paddocks for those who needed restricted grazing.

It seemed to work well.
 

SEL

Well-Known Member
Joined
25 February 2016
Messages
12,303
Location
Buckinghamshire
Visit site
My yard tends to section off small paddocks for the fatties - but that has the problem in that they just stand there and don't move around much, so the weight doesn't really drop.

I would love our yard to be set up as FW advises above. A track around the outside for those that need to wear off some blubber whilst the skinny ones have the main paddock would work brilliantly. Perhaps rope the liveries in to help you set up the electric fencing one weekend?
 

rabatsa

Far from the madding crowd
Joined
18 September 2007
Messages
11,959
Location
Yorkshire
Visit site
I feed my fatties straw from a round feeder over summer. Give them restricted grazing on a track and have the straw at the opposite end to the water trough to keep them moving. They can eat enough not to feel hungry but still get the exercise and social time with the other fatties. Get a few sheep to eat the spare grass.
 

Pigeon

Well-Known Member
Joined
4 July 2012
Messages
3,790
Visit site
If money were no object I would have paddocks with four horses per paddock, and have fatties in together so liveries can strip graze them (or divide them up) of their own accord.
 

Achinghips

Well-Known Member
Joined
1 December 2009
Messages
3,744
Visit site
Unless you do single or similarly paired turnout or have a starvation paddock, it's not really possible as all the horses would be restricted otherwise. Sometimes liveries just have to find a yard more suited to their needs unless you need the business and so you're prepared to change your setup.
 
Top