sacrifice paddocks

[debsflo]

this is my first winter with 3,2 horses and 1 mini.in previous winters i have used the driest area to turnout together but as our 2 horses dont get on this year ive had them turned out seperatley and with all this rain the fields are getting awful. am thinking of reducing the turnout area so they are both on drier land but seperate.they come in at night and have hay all year round.neighbour would let me use grazing but at the other end of the village so practically not easy and want them in at night.also considered livery for worst of the winter bot our newest horse took ages to settle so think it would upset her to move.this wet weather has wrecked our grazing and i know it recovers in spring but worried older horse will do herself an injury as its so slippy.anyone else used a small sacrifice paddock and coped.

 

[flowerlady]

Can you not box them to the other end of the village so you can use neighbours kind offer of grazing and box them back at night? I used to do this it was easy once you get in the swing of it? But I just had 2 so they went in the trailer together

 

[debsflo]

no horses have to go in trailer seperatley without partition and couldnt time wise.

 

[kerilli]

yes, i've done a small trash paddock this year so that my big grass paddocks don't get wrecked, it is working fine so far. i'd rather have them out in 5 acres of perfectly drained grassland of course but that was never going to happen, and it's better than being stuck in stables all day.

 

[Echo Bravo]

Yes I have two small paddocks that my horses go out on in the winter and I reseed in the spring. that way I save the rest of my grazing for the spring/summer.

 

[canteron]

To be honest the grass seems to recover very quickly in Spring when it seems to start growing. As long as you can rotate your fields during Spring/Summer and have the means to do a little bit of paddock maintenance (harrowing, spraying, reseeding, etc) then you should be just fine.

You might think about overplanting (is that the phrase) with some grass that mats (such as they use on polo fields, etc) if you go to a specialist seed merchant they will advice.

 

[louisevictoria]

I have sacrificed one of my smaller paddocks for the winter so the other two don't get trashed, and have just accepted that come the spring I will have to harrow, roll and reseed it.

I did try keeping mine in for a bit but they hated it, so now they are out and I will top up with hay when needed (they still have a bit of grass left atm)