No grass, anyone else having the same problem?

fairyclare

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We have no grass, haven't really had any all summer
frown.gif

Now the YO is talking about restricting the grazing to every other day.
My mare has been on winter rations of hay pretty much the entire summer, all the horses are wanting to come in at 4 becasue they are hungry, even my feed bill hasn't really been reduced this yr.
Last yr we had more grass then we knew what to do with!

All we need is a drop of rain, never thought i'd see the day that I was doing a rain dance!

Whats the grass situation like where you are?
 

Finlib

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I wish I could send you some over!!!!
Here on the South coast of England I have lots of grass.We have now shut off one 4 acre field to restrict the grazing for our 4 horses .I will save that until they come in for winter at the end of October.
 

251libby

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Im in the South coast and don't have much grass at all, it's just been over grazed and to top it off we're not allowed to put hay out
frown.gif
ponio is in at night with ad lib hay
 

Faithkat

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[ QUOTE ]
I wish I could send you some over!!!!
Here on the South coast of England I have lots of grass.We have now shut off one 4 acre field to restrict the grazing for our 4 horses .I will save that until they come in for winter at the end of October.

[/ QUOTE ]

Lucky you! I'm on the South coast and although we've had some rain, the grass isn't growing very fast, I wish it was - but mine live out 24/7 as I don't have stables. Despite rotating the fields, my four get through the grass very quickly and I am having to feed hay
frown.gif
 

Bosworth

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All of you who have no grass - you need to badger your YO now, the situation will get worse year on year unless they manage the pasture and fertilise it/ soil analyse it. Soil cannot produce grass if it is not looked after well. And that costs. So many yard owners expect a field to produce grass every year but never actually analyse it to assess what it needs. This year has been fantastic for grass growth - lots of rain - but lots of sun. It hasn't been over wet and grass has just kept on growing. Imaging what your fields would have been like in a drought year,

We have plenty of grass in our summer paddocks and our winter ones are looking lush and long and should sustain all the horses without requiring any hay to be put out. And ours live out 24/7 rfrom April to November. But we top regularly - we muck spread, we fertilise and every year we soil sample the whole place and add lime and fertiliser as necessary. It's not cheap - but it works out cheaper than giving horses hay/haylage all year round.
 

Angua2

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We haven't had any grass since the end of july so I have also been haying. As Flibble says, it is more turnout than grazing. Now the evenings have got colder I have started bringing in at night, another 7 weeks or so and our field shut for the winter anyway
 

competitiondiva

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We've still got too much grass!! The weather has been good this year for grass, sun then rain then sun then more rain!! It's kept alot of goodness in the grass for longer, do you have alot of horses per acre on your yards then?
 

savannahmelody

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I dont have any grass either but I rent my own stables and fields and they have been pretty poorly looked after in the past by the look of them so been feeding hay on top since I moved there and that is with two section a's(thank god for good doers)
Hopefully with a bit of care the fields will improve over time
 

quirky

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I was at a yard that had no grass from when they went out in April .... we had lots of clover and buttercups though.

I moved, due to grazing, 7 miles up the road and it is great. The pasture is/has been managed over the years and we have plenty to support the horses that are on it.
 

stencilface

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We have lots of grass, horses are still looking v well fed going into autumn. We do have lots available (12 acres for four horses, split up so they don't get too fat!) but ours has patches of rough grazing (thistles, long grasses nettles) and isn't massively rich.

I think the weather (for us anyway) has been pretty perfect this year for grass growth, I would ditto the above and pester your YO. If you had no grass through summer, they need to actively do something to alleviate this problem (get more grazing or manage it better) or you need to move yards imho.
smile.gif
 

Theresa_F

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In Essex, we have had not much rain at all this summer - hence our fields are more like bowling greens - great if you have fat ponies that need no more than a tiny nibble, but not so great for two large and growing horses.

I have been giving my two 3/4s of a bale a day in the field and two big feeds for the last three weeks and things will stay like that. They are now keeping their weight - Chancer had dropped off quite a bit as he is also competing a lot at showing and is also having another bum up growth spurt.

Even our winter fields only have about 3" of grass on them and they have been left since the start of May.

Do agree about looking after fields - I did pay to have mine fertiilsed this year and will now pay to have the soil looked at but our YO whilst good at repairs, does little to the fields in terms of promoting grass growth as he has a fat old pony that needs minimal grazing and hence is not bothered about the lack of grazing. Last year was ok, but then we did have rain to help things grow.
 

Dovorian

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I'm in East Kent - we have been feeding hay for the past month and a bit - the grass is fried and the few heavy downpours we had did nothing for the ground and hence no growth! It has been so bad that a livery horse had grazing sores because he was so determined to nibble down to the roots!!
We need light rain for days to kick the growing off again. Good for the porky ponies however!
 

cob1

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In North East - past week horseys wanting to be in and fighting when we go to get them in - cos they all want to be first!

Had him in before he went away for nights to fill up on hay.
 

Faithkat

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[ QUOTE ]
All of you who have no grass - you need to badger your YO now, the situation will get worse year on year unless they manage the pasture and fertilise it/ soil analyse it. Soil cannot produce grass if it is not looked after well. And that costs. So many yard owners expect a field to produce grass every year but never actually analyse it to assess what it needs. This year has been fantastic for grass growth - lots of rain - but lots of sun. It hasn't been over wet and grass has just kept on growing. Imaging what your fields would have been like in a drought year,

We have plenty of grass in our summer paddocks and our winter ones are looking lush and long and should sustain all the horses without requiring any hay to be put out. And ours live out 24/7 rfrom April to November. But we top regularly - we muck spread, we fertilise and every year we soil sample the whole place and add lime and fertiliser as necessary. It's not cheap - but it works out cheaper than giving horses hay/haylage all year round.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm in rented fields for which I have to do all the maintenance (which I do) but I can't make it rain! That long hot spell in June/beginning of July baked the ground to concrete and the grass didn't grow at all for about 4 or 5 weeks. We've had some rain since, occasionally very heavy but not prolonged, but the ground is still rock hard. The rain has been been very localised too. I work exactly 6 miles from my fields and we have had some days at work when it has sheeted down all day (to my great glee) but the fields are bone dry because there hasn't been a drop there
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Ravenwood

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We have got so much grass - I didn't manage it so well this year and one paddock has got so long I am frightened to put them out in it incase they pop! Now trying to save it for winter if it stays dry enough for them to go out.

Its rained every day here for months on end, we are awash with mud, the going on the moors is treacherous, our water supply is murky but at least we haven't actually flooded like those in Scotland.
 

1275gta

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We [put the sheep out in one paddock for a month to get rid of the rubbish before we topped it and we now have so much grass the ponies arn't keeping up with it. We have plenty here gloucesteshire border, It isn't growing much now as it has been too cold at nights. I think that it is to do with management, it does need harrowing and rolling in the spring and needs fertilizer as well to help encourage growth. Rain does help but we haven't had that much here and we have plenty.
 

ISHmad

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We've got too much grass, the weather has made it go crazy with all the rain and sunshine. The fields are never fertilized but are very old pasture and do really well.
 

fairyclare

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We are in Essex.

Its not even a case of the YO not maintaining the grazing, he does, but with no rain (and we have had absolutly nothing!) it won't grow, regardless of what is done to it.

Theresa_F as I remember you are pretty close to me
smile.gif
 

Hippona

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Tis fine...enough but not so much I have to worry about the natives....they need nothing else but hay on a night. I always give the old lad hard-feed all year round as he drops condition easy anyway. No need for hay in field.

They are still happily nibbling at 7pm when I go to get them in.
 

Annagain

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We have way too much, they boys have just gone on to the hayfields - 9 of them on 40 acres of good grass- it was left for 6 weeks after making hay and then they went on it. He's off work at the moment on field rest so he was a bit fatter than I'd like even before going down there! Still he won't be ridden this side of christmas so I'll just leave his rug off for longer to get some weight off him! They'll be down there until mid november and then come back up to the top fields (which have been rested since july for winter
crazy.gif
) We're never short of grass unfortunately!
 

0ldmare

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I have no grass at all - its just not rained at all in Mid Kent. When I go down to Wales to see my mum it gets greener and greener as you go down the M4. But around me its a desert.

I look after my paddocks and have the soil analysed etc. Its not over grazed - I have a total of 7 acres and there are just two horses who are currently grazing on a 3 acre paddock. Its absolutely bare and just a dust bowl. I dare not put them in the winter paddock yet as they will just demolish it and then I wont have anything for winter
 
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