Paddock experts i need your help! *Grazing/rotating questions* Please!

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EquestrianFairy

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My new yard is very new to me as ive never had my own grazing before so help is needed please

I have 6.5 acres split into paddocks:

1X 1.5 acres
1X 2 acres
1X 3 acres

Currently there is 3 mares, 1 yearling and one 3 week old foal.

All mares and yearling are looking 'well' One mare is muzzled.

Now, how do i rotate and organise this grazing?

The smallest field is the one that leads into my yard/stables/haybarn etc is and currently this is where they have been the past two weeks while they settle in.

All fields have nice lush grass in currently.


One mare may be leaving shortly- (the muzzled one)

Paddock experts- help!
 
Personally, I'd turn them all out now in the 3 acre paddock and use that for 'summer'. Then when the grass goes down somewhat i'd start rotating the two smaller paddocks over winter, try not to let either get too poached or perhaps sacrifice the very smallest paddock in the worst months (which could be v. useful as it leads onto your yard so you won't have to trudge miles to turn out in winter) with a round bale of hay/haylage - plus farmer delivering round bales into field in winter may only be able to access your nearest field.
 
I would use the 3 acre over summer, perhaps spilt it in 2 if the horses are doing a bit too well
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, use the 2 acre at the end of the summer and save the 1.5 for winter because its nearer your yard, and depending on how much you stable over the winter it's better ot let a 1.5 acre get poached rather than a bigger field.
 
I always found it MUCH easier in winter to sacrifice a larger field. We tried doing it with our smaller field and by the end of the winter the entire thing was mud. Next winter we did it with the bigger field and it was far less muddy and grew back quickly in the spring - they had had more room to wander about in for the winter so didn't spend the entire time trashing the same bit of field! So I would personally strip-graze/rotate the two smaller fields for the summer and use the bigger field for the winter.
Our fields at the moment are about the same size each (four fields of maybe two or three acres each - I'm no good at guessing acreage!) so we are trying to use the two fields away from the stables for the summer, and the two closer ones for the winter so it's easier if they need to be stabled. The fields near the stables are more free-draining too so better for winter.
 
Reality is you'll have too much grass this year if you've only just moved in so I wouldn't worry too much. If you have to walk thru the 1.5 acre to get to the other paddocks then you might want to keep the grass in there a bit longer so it doesn't get so muddy in winter.

I used to have mine (2 horses) on about 3 acres roughly divided into 1/2, 2 & 1/2. I could access the first 1/2 and the 2 but to get to the other 1/2 I had to got thu the other fields. Couldn't completely rest anything over winter as it would have been pure mud so I tended to rest the furthest 1/2 acre in spring & then after about a month I put them on that & rested the other fields for a few weeks. I poo pick all year round.

I now have 4.5 acres as one big field. I've just sectioned off what they can eat so the remainder is resting at the moment. In reality it's difficult to know what's going to happen - the worst is when one ends up on box rest & you have way too much grass!!

Hope that helps a bit?!
 
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