Paddock management.

[pistolpete]

I’ll try not to make this too long. My pony is in a field around seven acres in size with three others. He’s currently sectioned of in about 1/3 of an acre as the others are having a lot more hay than he needs. The field is not harrowed fertilised or rested. It’s chalk soil well draining and flat. Owner thinks by having only three horses on it soon as one is leaving it will get the rest it needs to improve. I’d really like to split it in half and rest half completely but not my call. Is there anything else that can be done? Oh and it has loads of ragwort too! Looks pretty awful to be honest! My boys paddock is weeded and sparse but he seems content as doesn’t have any competition and he does get guardy over food!

 

[Lucky788]

Can you not all get together and ragwort the field? It spreads so badly if it’s just left

And yes resting it would allow it time to recover, if they’re still feeding hay now I’d assume it’s been very well grazed.

 

[pistolpete]

Can you not all get together and ragwort the field? It spreads so badly if it’s just left

And yes resting it would allow it time to recover, if they’re still feeding hay now I’d assume it’s been very well grazed.

Two of us will pull it up and have done so many times but the other two liveries never help! I said this year I’ve had enough doing it all! I did about 3-4 acres last year. This year I’ve only done my boys bit. Still two wheel barrows! I really think it’s so badly over grazed having less horses in it won’t ‘rest’ it.

 

[rextherobber]

Agree with you. 7 acres is big enough to split into 4 and run an Equicentral system on. Could your boy have a track around the edge to so he'd be near the others if they were in different fields? You can get the local council to approach landowners about Ragwort problems, so I'm told, so maybe the other 2 liveries could be forced to clear the field?

 

[dorsetladette]

Agree the ragwort needs sorting. Can you all get together and have an afternoon pulling ragwort? maybe a reward of a cold one at the local pub afterwards

But regarding resting the field - do you really need to? if there is to much food around for your pony anyway I'd have thought a slightly neglected field would probably be better for him?

 

[Fire sign]

Hi there , 1/3 acre is quite small but if you poo pick and pull up the ragwort and feed hay if you need to then I don’t think it will matter if it’s not rested .. I wouldn’t be pulling up the ragwort in other fields though !!!

 

[SEL]

I tend to find that if horses have access to all of it you end up with some areas eaten to dust and others they won't touch.

I strip graze and once they're through a bit it's taped off and rested. It's done wonders for the fields.

 

[pistolpete]

I tend to find that if horses have access to all of it you end up with some areas eaten to dust and others they won't touch.

I strip graze and once they're through a bit it's taped off and rested. It's done wonders for the fields.

This seems the best way to me by far. With another strand coming up behind so there’s only one area being eaten at a time.

 

[pistolpete]

Agree with you. 7 acres is big enough to split into 4 and run an Equicentral system on. Could your boy have a track around the edge to so he'd be near the others if they were in different fields? You can get the local council to approach landowners about Ragwort problems, so I'm told, so maybe the other 2 liveries could be forced to clear the field?

Equicentral would work really well id love to track the edges but not allowed.

 

[pistolpete]

Hi there , 1/3 acre is quite small but if you poo pick and pull up the ragwort and feed hay if you need to then I don’t think it will matter if it’s not rested .. I wouldn’t be pulling up the ragwort in other fields though !!!

Yep he’s so hardy. He lives on fresh air. He does get plenty of straw and balancer and small feed too.

 

[pistolpete]

Agree the ragwort needs sorting. Can you all get together and have an afternoon pulling ragwort? maybe a reward of a cold one at the local pub afterwards

But regarding resting the field - do you really need to? if there is to much food around for your pony anyway I'd have thought a slightly neglected field would probably be better for him?

That’s true and it’s worked to an extent but as the others wanted to give a lot of hay I had to separate him.

 

[pistolpete]

I’m going to help take the flower heads off the ragwort. At least that won’t be a back breaker. There’s a lot!

 

[spotty_pony2]

Agree the ragwort needs sorting. Can you all get together and have an afternoon pulling ragwort? maybe a reward of a cold one at the local pub afterwards

But regarding resting the field - do you really need to? if there is to much food around for your pony anyway I'd have thought a slightly neglected field would probably be better for him?

This, I purposely don’t spend time maintaining my mare’s field as she lives on fresh air. It hasn’t been rested as she was in it in the winter, it’s probably about an acre or just over but she’s gained weight since it rained so it’s obviously growing well. If she doesn’t come in for a couple of days I stick a slice of hay out for her and she has a small feed everyday. I used to have to keep her on a starvation paddock with soaked hay but since she’s been in more work, this is the next stage up. It’s surprising how little a lot of them actually need in the summer. My main concern would be getting the ragwort pulled up.