Oversowing paddocks - graze straight away or rest?

[myhorsefred]

Hi all, I was talking to a farm contractor in the week about oversowing my paddocks. Going to direct drill the seed rather than broadcast.

I was going to oversow one paddock, rest to establish a bit, then put the horses on it. Contractor said I don't need to rest, can graze straightaway. If he's right, then I may as well oversow all my paddocks.

What would you do?
thanks

 

[JanetGeorge]

If you're direct drilling, you could graze for a fortnight (to get rid of grass that would over-shadow the new shoots coming through) but I would then rest for at least 6 weeks. Young grass shoots are tender and being stomped on by big feet WON'T help them! I'd then graze lightly to keep the established grass down and give the new grass a chance to flourish - but also rest regularly if possible.

 

[myhorsefred]

Thank you.