Putting hay out already?

SNORKEY

SNORKEY

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My yard has told me we need to start putting hay out already! personally I know its becuase we're over horsed and poor grass management which is out of my control, im not happy as it will cost a fortune and we have a very small storage area so I can only get in small amounts and cant bulk buy now to get a better price!
Any one else putting hay out already?
Im thinking of moving my horse now as I want to save money and for him to have lots more grazing.
 
already??!!

hmm if the grass management is that bad i would move... it will be worth it i think
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good luck with whatever you decide
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Here in Essex we've been feeding a slice or two of hay out in the field for a few weeks now. Our field management is good, we are not overhorsed at all BUT we have had almost no rain all summer. The paddocks are brown and dusty with no grass worth eating. We were hoping the 24hrs of rain we had last Tuesday was going to help.....it didn't
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Here in Essex we've been feeding a slice or two of hay out in the field for a few weeks now. Our field management is good, we are not overhorsed at all BUT we have had almost no rain all summer. The paddocks are brown and dusty with no grass worth eating. We were hoping the 24hrs of rain we had last Tuesday was going to help.....it didn't
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Ditto. I've been letting Jasper pick at the grass outside the field while I'm pottering around the yard just so he can taste some green stuff!
 
yup, been putting it out a week already. my field is not overstocked or badly managed, but we're on sand and have had no rain and there just isn't any grass.
 
me too, we went to a show yesterday and Cropi was over the moon to come off the trailer and see green stuff!! bless her, I let her graze constantly after she's done her tests
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Maybe ive been lucky up til now then, I did keep him at home but needed to move him so I had use of a sand school and better hacking, even when we where a bit over horsed at home we still didn't have to put hay out, not until mid winter and that was only due to snow!
 
I'm lucky, I have a winter field that I've been resting for the last 7 months so I've got loads of grass. D has just started going into a small section of it at night with a grazing muzzle on. She thinks its great.
 
Well we did have a winter field with loads in, which was ment to be for when they come in at night, some people where complaining that their horses where being kicked as they where getting a bit bored and rowdy, so they wanted them put on the grass so feed them up a bit, so now they've eaten it all! great, they could of just fed their horses instead!
 
Same as Tricksy. We live Suffolk / Essex border and I only have 2 horses on 4 acres and the field is just dry dusty brown grass. And the horses are hungry because they are eating the hay..... when usually they dont bother

Off to do another rain dance....
 
Well our grass is a dustbowl, no horses only rabbits but we've only had one day of rain in weeks, and we're on gravel so very well drained. Down by the stream and under the trees it's better, but even the back garden which normally has enough for pony to strim round the edges of the sheds and trees is dry as a bone and brown.
 
ive started to feed mine this last week or so as theyve eaten their summer paddock off and i havent had chance to strip part of their winter field off - darent turn them out on 6acres of lush grass so bales of haylage it is
 
Mines been on hay since end of july.Promised rain last night heard thunderstorms and it bypassed yet again.Ive fed my other paddock and granules are still sitting on top so cant rest other paddock.We only have small individual paddocks I have skinny tb so shes on ad lib hay and its costing a fortune.
 
I was in Essex for a few days last week, from Somerset, I was amazed at the state of some of the land there, it looks like the summer of '76, brown and dry and like a dustbowl everywhere. Honestly, my heart goes out to you if you've got horses there, I didn't realise it was so bad.
 
another Essex one here and we will have to start haying soon. We have enough acerage but the grazing we have left to rest has not grown at all, we desperately need a few weeks of rain.

its very frustrating especially when you manage your acerage and still have to pay for hay
 
I have been feeding hay for about 2 weeks my field isnt overhorsed or mismanaged either I have 6 acres for 3 horses and its rotated regularly etc but we havent had any rain and it seems almost scorched. My 3 would rather eat grass but are stuffing their faces with the hay so must need it
 
I find we very rarely have to put hay out in our fields. We manage it well over summer, and come winter there is normally even as it is quite a large field and only two ponies in it. DUring summer, we section if off with electric fencing.
 
Ditto. I've got about 4 acres for 3 (managed to sell a pony last week - yippee). It's split into three so I can rotate so after I move them into another bit it's ok for few days but, like so many others, we just haven't had the rain to make the grass grow so it only lasts them a few days and I have to feed hay.
 
I've been feeding hay for about a month. I have loads of grass in the next paddock, but even an evening on it with a muzzle results in puffy fetlocks and tender feet, so I'm weaning him onto it with (at the moment) about 20 mins a day, working up to a few hours, then overnight...

...meanwhile, no grass at all in the paddock they're in, so they either starve to death or I put hay out (winter rations, now). Simples! I'm starting to eye up the haylage stash over the road and they do have a 'for sale' sign on it...

I will of course be stopping the hay when they move onto the winter paddock. It's only the high fructose content that's a problem at the mo.
 
Just seen the weather forecast for tomorrow and the rain they were forecasting has now gone
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I really can not believe how little rain we have had this summer
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First time in 4 years that I havn't had a fat horse during the summer!!
 
I have had big bale haylege out at times not because I don't have grass but because I have a doddery old boy and I want him to have the choice. TBH they all seem to like being under the trees munching it to get away from extreme heat or drizzle when we've had it.

I have ordered another for the end of the week and I think i'll keep them going now as its getting colder overnight.
 
I'm thinking of moving yards for exactly this reason. Grazing is horse sick, poorly managed, and there is no grass. My mare shares a 2 acre paddock with 2 fat ponies and there's nothing for them to eat - the ponies are fine and can cope with it, but mine is a 27 year old TB and needs as much grass as possible! We do have separate winter fields, but there's not much on there.

I can't hay the field as 1 owner doesn't come down at all, and I don't think the other one wants to hay yet (pony is a good weight so can't blame her!). So mine is now coming in overnight, eating winter rations of hay and feed, and I'm frantically trying to feed her up now so that she holds her weight better when the colder weather comes in.

So currently yard hunting for anywhere with grass (and they do exist, I've seen a couple!!).
 
We've been putting hay out for over a month now
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And our horses are in at night
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Our grazing isn't great anyway as it's on sand, but we had 4 horses in our field for a few weeks and that just ruined what little grass we had left.

There's just two in my field now, including my lad, so we're going to section off a part of our field to let it rest, then rotate them.

I'm hoping to move soon when I've found somewhere suitable, as this yard costs me a fortune
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our summer turnout is just that turnout. we turned out into the summer fields at the begining of june and by mid july we were haying!!!!!! Bad management, horse sick what ever you want to call it, is the main cause but the lack of rain seriously doesn't help
 
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