Sloping land?

Dogstar

Dogstar

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I have put an offer in on a nice property, but the land is very sloping. Are there any major pros or cons to this? I have always kept my horses on flat land before which hasn't been great this year because its been a horrible bog of mud fever! My friend said its worse for tendons; is this true or do they get fitter? Thanks
 
I'm in the Welsh valleys, so finding flat land isn't easy. I have found that the horses are much more sure footed now and they do stay fitter.

This is an old photo, but it shows how sloping the field is.
 
I don't think it's so much an issue for grazing but if there's nowhere flat it makes building stables a major project tripling groundwork costs and also limits what tractors etc can do field maintenance safely.
 
We have sloping ground, its harder for certain maintenance like rolling and fertilising as the equipment unbalances the tractor . Horse wise it can make you cringe when they decide to go flat out downhill!
 
A previous field we were in had a pretty steep slope with flat at top and bottom. The only problem we had was that the tb became prone to overreaching from galloping down the hill.
 
All our paddocks are sloping, then we also have a 4 acre hill field.

There are many advantages, such as keeping the horses fitter, but the best one is the drainage - I rarely get mud beyond the gateways.
 
Mine are flat at the top which is great for stables, school and a grass arena and then slope down (enough for tobogganing!)

It's great for fittening work cantering up the hill and good for drainage too.
 
I LOVE having sloping land, it keeps the horses fitter, teaches them better balance, it's great for youngsters as they become really sure footed. Mine are on a track system on a hill and they all look fantastic, bearing in mind it's 3 good doer cobs and a good doer native, they are all fit coming out of winter and really bright eyed and bushy tailed
 
I have a bit of a mix really and the only downsides I've found so far is lugging wheelbarrows of poo up hills (exhausting!) and it is difficult to school as the only flat enough bit is a little smaller than a 20X40 :rolleyes:
Other than that it's great :)
 
My neighbour's land slopes and she manages to roll, harrow without problems. She has made a riding area by digging out a school and stables are flat so horses do not spend all their lives on a slope.
 
Sounds OK then, there is a flat area at the bottom for stables etc. I wonder why estate agents try to big up flat land for horses then..?
 
Our land is so ridiculously steep here that all horses have developed two legs one side shorter than the other - LOL ;)

On the plus side - all horses have big bums, strong legs and very fit :)
 
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