Rain Ranting Thread

[southerncomfort]

Forecast has changed for the worst. No surprised there then! Much more rain coming in than was at first predicted. It’s been so cold today and now I’m in bed listening to the wind.

Same. Predicted dry all week, but we've had showers every day, and it tipped it down all night.

 

[setterlover]

It's just so cold no wonder the grass has slowed down.
On discussion with the farmer who does our muck spreading it's probably too late now as it will push back any hay cut .
We have plenty of room for the muck heap so not s problem.
I suppose it's dry-ish but it needs to warm up but I guess we can't have everything.

 

[meleeka]

I don’t want to gloat, but I no longer have any mud . OK so there’s not a blade of grass either in that field, but we can’t have everything

 

[setterlover]

I don’t want to gloat, but I no longer have any mud . OK so there’s not a blade of grass either in that field, but we can’t have everything

Yes what little mud we had has gone and all the fields and tracks are rolled and harrowed.
Horses are out at night and on a corral around the pole barn in the day partly to escape midges and also because the horse with the eye problem (squamous cell tumour) is to be kept out of sunlight and on and around the pole barn it is shady and I can use a UV mask on him as i can actually find it if he rubs it off! Having to graze the summer field in sections at present moving the fence every 3 to 4 days.
Very little muck on the pole barn now so much less work.
Our farmer friend says everything is behind and there are worries about hay and haylege as it looks like the first cut will be a fair bit later than usual.
Looks like we have survived the never ending winter!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Our winter field had dried up quite well yesterday, this morning we heard loud thunder rolling round and there was a heavy downpour, so now we are back to wet ground. The wind overnight was horrendous but there was still lying water in the field when I got up, before the rain.

 

[windswoo]

Most of field rolled and harrowed today. The very bottom was still too wet for the tractor, but wasn't as poached as middle bit as horses don't graze right at the bottom.
Now I can put the grass seed on!!

 

[setterlover]

Hope we have all got our jobs done and everything has dried up somewhat for everyone
Looking at the long range forecast it's still not great with rain on many days though not torrential and temperatures only in the low teens.
Come on weather buck up ..Still a bit concerned about Badminton horse trials can remember some past years walking around there in bright warm sunshine and shorts..... we can but hope.
Only good thing is I'm keeping on top of the grass by section grazing the summer field and the horses haven't piled on the pounds.

 

[GrassChop]

I think we've nearly made it everyone.

Looks like a little bit more rain due in the next week or so but nothing major, I hope!

 

[southerncomfort]

Tipped it down here since 2am. Back to flooded roads and waterlogged paddocks.

 

[GrassChop]

Tipped it down here since 2am. Back to flooded roads and waterlogged paddocks.

Oh

 

[myheartinahoofbeat]

Tried to harrowing the winter field yesterday but I got the Landrover stuck twice. Second time was a devil to get out until we watched a YouTube video with a top tip! Anyway, aborted any further thoughts of harrowing and it’s p****d down all day today. Looks like rain all week

 

[setterlover]

The beauty of a 4 wheel drive quad and a ballast roller ,(water filled) and chain harrows is the ability to get on fields early without the worry of getting stuck quads are such great vehicles for maintenance of horse fields.

 

[GrassChop]

The beauty of a 4 wheel drive quad and a ballast roller ,(water filled) and chain harrows is the ability to get on fields early without the worry of getting stuck quads are such great vehicles for maintenance of horse fields.

I managed to do it with my 4x4, still a bit soft in one area but managed to get over it okay. Surprising how wet some other parts still are though. I thought we were all nearly through it but maybe not.

 

[ElleSkywalker]

We managed to harrow a week ago but haven't been able to spread grass seed as either raining or windy. Am also worried the seed will rot if I spread it now. It's got so wet again we won't be able to roll the seed in either which is frustrating

 

[tda]

I went into the field with the quad and tine harrow.....nope, still too wet

 

[setterlover]

This must be one of the worst years for field management.Here in the West of Wales we have had 7 to 8 dry days everything is rolled and harrowed and the horses are on the summer field which i am grazing in sections.
Our farmer friend who does the heavy work for us advises it's too late to muck spread without pushing back haylege making considerably ( he's farmed all his life some 30 years do I trust him)
The muck heap isn't that big so no big problem
It has however only been low teens temperature wise and only a few days had nice sunshine which was lovely.
The grass doesn't seem to be pushing on much which on the plus side is good for the horse's waist lines but does mean the field that has been rested all winter is nowhere near as long as I would expect for the time of year ,( nearly May)
The last few years we have made a good early cut of haylege cutting end of May first week in June unless we get a sudden heatwave can't see that happening this year.
Global warming is certainly making horse and field management challenging!!!!

 

[Pinkvboots]

Fields are dry but it's still freezing like winter when is it gonna warm up its nearly May

 

[McGrools]

Fields are dry but it's still freezing like winter when is it gonna warm up its nearly May

I know, I’m still in overtrousers and ski socks! So done with it x

 

[Pinkvboots]

I know, I’m still in overtrousers and ski socks! So done with it x

Same was freezing all day today I'm putting the heating on in a minute.

 

[spotty_pony2]

My horses are still on in their winter paddock (it’s quite big and they are out 24/7) but they have been more hungry the past couple of days because I think the grass has stopped growing again because it’s so cold!

I wasn’t going to yet but actually think I might put them in their summer paddock for a bit during the day just to give the other field a chance to catch up a bit. I’m going away next week so don’t want them on loads of grass when they aren’t working but a few hours to fill their bellies in the day surely won’t trash it… it’s been rested since October because it has springs under it and it’s on a hill and gets slippy when the grass is really short but it’s fairly long now and I can’t see them doing much running about in there.

 

[southerncomfort]

Posted on Very British Problems

 

[Annagain]

We've gone from the sublime to the ridiculous here. I've been really worried about Archie as he's been out naked on days when it's been warm and dry but he's been coming back in spotless. He's 30 and had a rough week or two since injuring his eye. Rolling is his number one thing to do so him coming in clean was really making me think it was time. This morning I went into the field to take Wiggy's rug off (my friend turns him out early with hers to keep hers company while I turn Arch out later so he can eat more hay as still no grass. She'd left his rug on) and found 5 big patches of white hair where he's obviously been rolling (he's the only grey, there's a coloured cob but he's clipped every month all year round). It's just got so dry that he's not getting any mud on him! Wiggy is finally leaving some hay overnight so we must have some grass but it doesn't look like it in the field.I can't wait for Arch to get on the summer field but would be very happy for Wig to stay put in the winter one!

 

[Tiddlypom]

The trusty SORN’d Shogun has been flexing her muscles this week along with the grass harrows. My land has only been only dry enough to get a vehicle on these last few days, but bizarrely some parts were already too dry, whilst too boggy in many areas.

Got back on it today after yet more rain, and was able to attack the drier areas again - that’s the third double pass over them in a week. Looking much more level now - it’s the poaching that I want to address.






There are plenty more areas still as boggy as this in the other field - no chance of getting that harrowed yet.



I love this car. She’s not been out of second gear since she was SORN’d in 2016, but on she trundles in her rusty way.

 

[setterlover]

Looking good !
More rain forecast for next week but let's hope it warms up soon the grass needs a bit of sun on it to recover well.

 

[AmyMay]

Ground has been drying up really well here (West Wales too). Couple of fields locally have been cut to make early wrapped silage already.

 

[GrassChop]

The trusty SORN’d Shogun has been flexing her muscles this week along with the grass harrows. My land has only been only dry enough to get a vehicle on these last few days, but bizarrely some parts were already too dry, whilst too boggy in many areas.

Got back on it today after yet more rain, and was able to attack the drier areas again - that’s the third double pass over them in a week. Looking much more level now - it’s the poaching that I want to address.

View attachment 138120


View attachment 138121

There are plenty more areas still as boggy as this in the other field - no chance of getting that harrowed yet.

View attachment 138122

I love this car. She’s not been out of second gear since she was SORN’d in 2016, but on she trundles in her rusty way.

View attachment 138124

I managed to run the harrows over the really poached bit again a couple of days a go, had to go over it so many times to level it out but the fields are finally done. Just need the grass to grow now.

Yours look lovely!

 

[setterlover]

Ground has been drying up really well here (West Wales too). Couple of fields locally have been cut to make early wrapped silage already.

Yes all the fields around us have been cut for early silage.
It's dry just wish it would warm up a bit to push our grass on for haylege although at present quite sunny managed to dry 2 lots of washing outside today.

 

[spotty_pony2]

Freezing here again. My old boy is in his 200g at night! The geldings have been in the summer paddock for the day which they enjoyed and were a bit miffed to go back to their normal one this evening. On a positive note, my mare who is a very good doer is looking fab as I am managing to restrict her diet quite well as the grass isn’t growing much still..!

 

[tda]

I started harrowing today, still very soft in gateways, and down one side of one paddock, and almost too dry in other areas but at least I got in and out.
I'm still going to overseed, but is it a bit late now?

 

[setterlover]

Usually you over seed March to early May so probably not too late .I would however like it to be a fair but warmer than it is at the moment for the seed to germinate