Own field... What do you have?

milesjess

milesjess

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I know this has been done to death... Sorry!

But, I'm looking at possibly moving off my current yard, to save on costs and rent a 3 acre field for £900 year - works out £75 month.

I'm curious how people work there routine with riding etc... Do you section field off and ride in there? Hack?

Also how do you manage in the winter with dark nights?
 
I strip graze the field through the summer and let them have the whole field in the winter. We do have stables but they mainly live out. In the winter I use a head torch when it's dark. We mainly hack and don't school in the field, there is a school we can hack to for lessons.
 
We have 3 acres and two good doers. I still have to feed hay in the winter, usually from end November until now. We have just started to fence it off again, then will restart strip grazing.
 
3 acres would be ok for two (depending on size and feed needs) if it wasn't a wet clay field that would churn up.. Our two big ISH would churn it up and eat it down in no time (but wouldn't matter too much as they are fatties!) whereas our ponies would do really well on it and the land would be fine..

I would section half an acre off in winter to keep in good condition - that way you have something to transfer them to in summer while the other bit gets a rest for a month or two, and you also have somewhere in reasonable condition to put a horse that was ill/injured..
 
I have 3 in 2.5 acres of rubbish clay ground. They had a trash paddock in winter which is recovering now. Don't have a lot of grass, but with cob and native it's better that way.
I have solar panels with lights for stables and feed room and camping lanterns / head torches for dark nights.
I don't section off a bit of field to ride in, but I have jumps out and ride in it when it's dry enough and vary where I ride. In winter I just hack.
 
I've always had 2 in 2 acres (11 years now). It's well-drained soil and I feed hay through much of the year. Keep them in overnight when it's midwinter/very wet. Split the field when grass is growing or if very wet to rest half.

No water so we collect rainwater off stable roof in 1000 litre butt.

Roadplanings (£180 for 20 tonne load delivered) in the gateway and outside stables to give free-draining hardstanding for wetweather (grass still grows through it).

Headtorch is okay but Musto waterproof cap with built-in LED light is MUCH BETTER, well worth £25, and it's fleecylined with earflaps and chinstrap too so absolutely brilliant for winter.

Rechargeable lantern for extra light.

Selection of rechargeable lights and solar-powered torches at home for any emergencies. Also got a generator in case ever need electricity.

Riding in field: tend not to as hack out or use a local school. Do some groundwork and longlining in the field - if field is sectioned at the time, I do it in the resting half. If field isn't sectioned, then I tie the other horse up with a haynet to keep him out of the way.

I tend to ride in mornings and with a flexible job, I can ride in mornings throughout year as soon as the dawn appears. I've ridden in the field and hacked out (reflectives and stirrup light, totally offroad) in moonlight too. Neds see much better at night than we do.

Feedstore: I've got an old stripped-out caravan with a tarp over the roof to keep it watertight.

Hay: if you've no store, keep it on pallets (airflow underneath) with a tarp over the top roped down at edges (baler twine).

Inner gates: 12' rails on sliding brackets (or baler twine loops) are cheaper than extra gates.

Field maintenance: poo picked every day, fertilised once a year, divots trodden down whenever I walk over them, weed pulling as I see them, once a week walk around field boundary hedges to check for weeds, broken fences, rabbit holes, etc.

Rabbits: man comes and shoots them.

Hedge: cut once a year in autumn.

Gate: locked both ends, welded on tops to prevent it being lifted off.

Everything: postcoded, smartwatered, permanently marked. Notice on gate and caravan to effect of No tack kept here, everything is marked/smartwatered.

Minimalism: 2 headcollars and ropes, feed and buckets, bedding, poopicking kit, firstaid kit, flyspray, grooming kit, is all that's kept there plus lekkie fencing occasionally. Everything else travels from home when needed and goes back same day.

Poo from field: manureheap outside gate with "Free Manure" sign above and I put the old feedsacks there too. Disappears as fast as I put it there as there are lots of allotments/market gardens where I live.

Bedding (shavings) and poo in bedding: goes on separate pile inside field where it takes a year to rot down to give me lovely compost for my own vegt patch at home.
 
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