Paddock woes... How bad is it not to harrow and roll?

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billylula

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Ponies have been off paddock (clay, badly poached) for 2 months. I have to bring them back next week (run out of money for livery!!) In that time I haven't been able to get anyone to roll or harrow and the farmer who said he would came last week and didn't have the right part - now says he ccan't come for a fortnight ARGH. I have booked a paddock maintenance company to come but again they can't come out for at least a week.

I have to bring the ponies back. I know I will have to supplement with hay, but will it destroy the paddock if I don't harrow and roll (as the nosy neighbour who overlooks the paddock tells the woman I rent the paddock from on a daily basis :-/)?
 
No, it will survive and over time the horses feet will level off the divots. I never did mine for years and the worst that happens is you get uneven grass growth. TBH this year I can't even get on my land with a vehicle it is still so wet under the surface, it will just leave wheel marks if I do.
 
Don't worry - you'll actually be doing your paddock a favour. When its wet like this then rolling will just kick all the air out and arrest growth anyway. If the asthetics start to bother you then you can roll once they are away back end of season. I don't roll what I'm not taking for hay for this very reason, you just get heavier and heavier soil. :)
 
THANK YOU just what I wanted to hear! Trouble is the nosy neighbour wanted the paddock for herself and is so cross that I got it she tries to make trouble wherever possible. I'm very conscientious about keeping the paddock clean and the fencing mended properly but I, like lots of others, Ave struggled this winter.
 
Good thread, though sorry for the reason for it (running out of money and crap weather!).

I was looking at both our fields yesterday and quietly crying into my cup of tea. The horses have repeatedly broken into the summer field, to the point where there's no fencing left, just a rather large pile of matchsticks :cool: The winter field has flooded more than once. We can't get any equipment onto it as it will just sink (have to take it through winter field to reach summer field!).

Put down forty tonne of bark to make a 'hard' standing area where their ad lib hay goes. Weekly hay bill for four (one's a foal) is £90+

Was stressing about not being able to harrow and roll, especially as the top paddock was over grazed before we got there and the moss is taking hold, but, moss aside, it sounds like we have no choice and it will work out ok.
 
I think a lot of people are in the same position. I was thinking about harrowing yesterday as it was actually dry, but I never roll mine as its clay and just packs down. Ideally I borrow some sheep as they are great for tidying and levelling divots, but until the grass starts coming through there just won't be enough for them to eat. We need some nice weather !
 
Why can't you harrow and roll while the ponies are in the paddock? It's good desensitisation for them. Mine was horrible with tractors when he first came so I turned him out in any field I could when they were going up and down and now he's not fussed at all.
I agree a big heavy roll isn't great - if you can get someone with a Cambridge roll - gets rid of divvots without the compaction.
 
So maybe just harrow then? Everyone is telling me to roll (that's husband, field owner and most neighbour :-/), but maybe harrowing better? I don't think it's actually that bad, and once the grass starts growing it will be fine, there is some moss though. It's just trying to find someone to do it!!

How long after harrowing can you bring ponies back or can you just do it while they are there?
 
Harrowing is far more important than rolling for clay paddocks as it gets air into the soil and breaks up the big mud clumps. You might even be able to harrow with the horses in, or could you take them all for a long hack at the same time as the harrowing?
 
Mine is badly poached also. (Clay) My ponies are still on it on and off. They stay in their stables if it gets really wet to help keep the mud fever at bay. But they went out on it yesterday after it has dried out a bit. But still no hope of getting a tractor into the field to harrow it. The gateway is still just so wet! So doubt it will be harrowed any time soon, especially with the rain forecast for nxt week. So it will prob just get left and ponies will just overtime knock the clumps off the top of it. Hopefully it will be harrowed eventually though whenever it totally dries out :)

I wouldn't worry to much if it doesn't get harrowed until a later date or at all. No point harrowing if the ground is still to wet anyway.
 
Absolutely no harm in them being in the field when you harrow (unless they go completely mental at tractors and could injure themselves escaping through fences of course!) or turning them straight out afterwards, especially if your aim is to break up large clumps of mud and pull up moss
 
What are you rolling for?

Many folk do it because they always have - but don't know the reason! It's obviously more convenient to have a flat surface but you don't need one just for grazing and it will be better for the grass.

Rolling compacts the soil - the amount will depended on all sorts - type, wetness, size of roller - BTW most rolls are supposed to be filled with water to make their weight - but very few are! The only compelling reason to roll is if you plan to cut the paddock for hay and the idea for that is to press any stones loosen by winter frosts back down - despite most haymaking equipment never being set that low!!!

I have maintained all sorts of grass for grazing and am still involved in providing first class amenity surfaces ( another reason of my username).
 
We use a cambridge roll to get rid of the worst of the ruts, I find that if you leave them they dry into nasty twisting ankle concrete type uneven surface (we are on heavy clay), especailly around gateways.

I was under the impression a cambridge roll did less compaction than a heavy flat roll.
 
Polos Mum said:
I was under the impression a cambridge roll did less compaction than a heavy flat roll.
Click to expand...

"Impression" :D :D :D

It's actually pretty obvious that a roll of the same wieght and size will impress the same amount - the main difference between a plain roll and a Cambridge is the ridges on the latter - they will make a difference because there is more surface around all the ridges than if it was flat - but the peaks of the ridges impart more pressure so all in all it evens out hahaha!

A Cambridge is basically intended for the last pass on fresh cultivation - not for rolling grass - though many contracting farmers will use one because they can't be bothered to go back to the yard and change it!
 
I want to stop stressing, get the ponies back and harrow as and when I can find someone to do it. Trouble is all others in my life now think rolling is essential as they have seen others do it. :-/
 
This is what I do - for what it is worth.

I don't harrow a whole field if I need to graze it as the harrow will rip up some of the grass, which will recover. I would leave some not harrowed to graze now and harrow, seed if you can and roll the rest and fence it off.

This may not be possible for you.

We have had a miserable winter and a biting wind for the past week. We are on a hill and our clay soil is like concrete. However we are expecting warm and wet weather temps up to 21 deg in 10 days. The grass will romp away.

So if you can protect some grazing for a few weeks then you can harrow and roll the next bit.

I hope that makes sense!!
 
I'd have thought from a purely physics perspective the pounds per square inch pressure of any roller is nothing compared to that of the actual horses ! Hence the compaction arguement, especially in gateways where the horses loiter is not the biggest issue.

On our fields the cambridge roll does less apparant damage to the grass, rather than pressing everything down the ridges press the soil into the gaps so I'm not sure I agree the impact is the same.

We sold our flat roll and bought another cambridge based on what it actually did to the ground - but every soil type is different
 
From a horse point of view rather than the effect on the ground - I am paranoid about putting horses out on poached ground once it gets hard. A few years ago in March when the ground had just hardened but was poached from the winter I had a 16.1HH well-built horse in my paddock at the back of my house. It was going to be dug up the following week to lay an arena. I heard him one night having a buck and gallop around the place and the next morning he was lame. Turns out he damaged his coffin joint by landing on a rough piece of ground and despite 2 years of treatment etc he never came sound. Ponies may be slightly different because they will be lighter than him but it is something to consider.
 
I never ever harrow the fields that get grazed it spreads droppings and increases the stale areas I only ever consider harrowing before a six month break for the field but I am very very strict about rolling we use light rollers and give light Rollings as necessary
 
I never harrow (not on clay) as I can't rest the paddocks for long enough and am in prime grass sickness area. won't be rolling either as the chances of getting contractor to do it when the fields are ready for it are nil. It will be alright, will patch re-seed what I need to and the horses tend to iron out the rest when its dry enough.
 
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