martlin
Well-Known Member
Right, lets start with sheep:
the stocking ratio for sheep is 6 ewes + their followers per acre, to graze with or after horses you can halve it and still get the benefit. I tend to 'blitz' my paddocks though, putting about 15 ewes to an acre for very short periods of time - that's for established grassland.
The sheep, although very even grazers, will not eat off long grass - for that you either need to top it or put some cattle on it, the cattle will fertilise it as well
You don't need to remove sheep droppings, they are great slow release fertiliser and with a bit of luck, the ewes will trod their own poo into the ground with a bit of rain, at the same time they will trod all the bits of root etc in, which will improve root structure and the 'body' of grass.
The overseeding:
there is no rule that says it should be done in spring - wettish, warmish (over 7 degrees C) Autumn is as good if not better
Creating pasture on sandy soil, starting with arable land.
In September drill sparce grass seed of a large variety, I've gone for Italian Ryegrass, which is very robust and will grow in any conditions. It will not produce dense crop, but is really good to start your venture off. It's high in protein, thus a bit rich for horses (IMO though better high protein and stalky than sugary), but will be sparce.
Leave over winter, if needs be fertilise in spring and take an early cut for hay/haylage/silage as you please.
At this point you can either introduce some sheep to graze it over summer or leave to grow.
At end of Summer (August) or early Autumn overseed with smaller, more 'horsey' grass mix like Timothy, roll, fertilise and leave for a bit.
Hey presto - horse friendly paddock with good grass that has full body and robust root structure
Now, I have several variations of this procedure, some paddocks I just use without overseeding as a 'sacrifice' with the intention of feeding hay in them over winter.
Others will be left alone, with loads of muck spread over them in late Autumn, then cut for haylage early next year and then used for grazing.
Other than that, just play it by eye and act accordingly.
In all cases I avoid seed mixtures containing clover as that will appear of it's own volition anyway
the stocking ratio for sheep is 6 ewes + their followers per acre, to graze with or after horses you can halve it and still get the benefit. I tend to 'blitz' my paddocks though, putting about 15 ewes to an acre for very short periods of time - that's for established grassland.
The sheep, although very even grazers, will not eat off long grass - for that you either need to top it or put some cattle on it, the cattle will fertilise it as well
You don't need to remove sheep droppings, they are great slow release fertiliser and with a bit of luck, the ewes will trod their own poo into the ground with a bit of rain, at the same time they will trod all the bits of root etc in, which will improve root structure and the 'body' of grass.
The overseeding:
there is no rule that says it should be done in spring - wettish, warmish (over 7 degrees C) Autumn is as good if not better
Creating pasture on sandy soil, starting with arable land.
In September drill sparce grass seed of a large variety, I've gone for Italian Ryegrass, which is very robust and will grow in any conditions. It will not produce dense crop, but is really good to start your venture off. It's high in protein, thus a bit rich for horses (IMO though better high protein and stalky than sugary), but will be sparce.
Leave over winter, if needs be fertilise in spring and take an early cut for hay/haylage/silage as you please.
At this point you can either introduce some sheep to graze it over summer or leave to grow.
At end of Summer (August) or early Autumn overseed with smaller, more 'horsey' grass mix like Timothy, roll, fertilise and leave for a bit.
Hey presto - horse friendly paddock with good grass that has full body and robust root structure
Now, I have several variations of this procedure, some paddocks I just use without overseeding as a 'sacrifice' with the intention of feeding hay in them over winter.
Others will be left alone, with loads of muck spread over them in late Autumn, then cut for haylage early next year and then used for grazing.
Other than that, just play it by eye and act accordingly.
In all cases I avoid seed mixtures containing clover as that will appear of it's own volition anyway
They no longer live there.