Managing small acreage/pasture

[jeeve]

We have approx 12 acres, with 7 horses (probably 6 really as 1 is a mini, and I don't really count him)

What can I do to manage the pasture better, we have 1 large paddock (approx 5 acres) and two med paddocks (approx 2 acres each ) and 1 small we mostly use for riding (aprox 1 .5 acre). The balance being the house paddock, which we do let the horses graze on occasionally, but is mostly not utilised.

We can put all the horses in together, but at the moment we have 2 seperate, being the latest addition who is thin and needs extra feed, and a mare in foal, who gets a bit extra as well.

So what are your strip grazing, paddock rotation, and any other suggestions for keeping pasture healthy. The soils are shale based, good mix of grasses, but I suspect we are in for a tough summer, not a lot of rain, whereas last year we had good rain, I did not need to feed hay (or anything else) between October to March/April. This year, I think I may need to feed extra through out this summer.

I am looking at buying round bales of grass hay to supplement rather than just lucerne hay, but have no experience with these, will the horses stand there and eat all day...

We cannot bring the horses in at night at present as no stables or yards, would this make a difference, is this something I should be looking at? Potentially, I may be able to agist next door to rest some of our paddocks, but are yet to ask the neighbours, and do not see this as a long term solution.

Any comments on what you do, and how you manage your garzing are appreciated. I am looking at soil testing, and so on. But in the end the main factor is just wear and tear on the acreage we have available.

 

[Dry Rot]

I would like to organise things here (15 on 25 acres, but Scotland) so the fields are divided into strips perhaps 75 yards wide (still experimenting with the width) with the water trough near the gate. I already have permanent electric fencing. I could then arrange grazing in paddocks and even strip graze. I think the ideal is to keep horses moving and fence off areas they've already grazed. In your climate, you'd probably be able to harrow poo and rest pastures and still have effective worm control. Grass suffers worst from being repeatedly grazed as horses will selectively graze the growing shoots and only short less productive grasses will survive. Allowing pastures to rest will allow them to recover. You could collect the poo and spread it on one area, supplemented with artificial fertilisers and seeded with productive forage type grasses, which is then cut for hay. So much depends on your local conditions. If you go for hay, you'll need a reliable neighbour or contractor or have to buy the machinery. This question really is like "How long is a piece of string!"