Managing Paddocks

[JosieSmith]

I have my horse at livery and share a small paddock with another livery. There's only the two horses on the field but it's really bad quality. There's is little drainage so it's very boggy and there's very little grass. I know it needs to be rested but I think it'll take a lot more than that to get it into shape. Last year the fields had no grass in all summer as they're over grazed and boggy.

Can anyone give me some idea how I can get it into shape preferably before summer?

Thanks

 

[zoon]

I have my own land and suffer similarly - we are on poor draining clay with a stream running at the bottom so it stays wet most for the year. I find if I have it harrowed and rolled and reseeded where necessary, it recovers well. The land is very fertile though and I will rest it for half the year. Possibly not next year though as half of the land I have is rented and she may want it back to buy her own horse. So will be stuck with my own land and the issue of how to manage 2 lots of horses on it as they refuse to go in together!

 

[BBH]

When you have horses in a small space it becomes a trash paddock, I know from bitter experience. I think its about managing the land type you have as best you can.

If it was me i'd try and set it up like the paradise system ( i think ) in that you set a line of fence inside the boundary fence ( say 15ft ) and this becomes your winter paddock. The rest of the field is left to recover and becomes your summer paddock. Then in autumn you leave the summer paddock and put them in the perimeter paddock.

At least this way you'd always have some area that is being rested and allowed to recover.