Steep paddock

[SammyCob]

To buy or not to buy... we are keen on a house nearby which is in a great location. We would have stables and a school for our kids ponies 14.2 and 11.2 and an acre of land with ability to buy or rent further acre. Ponies are welsh. One laminitic. We would always bring in at night and Poo pick. BUT the land is steep. Big slope down and one up. On the plus side it doesn’t get muddy but I am worried a) contractor would only be able to spray or mow using a quad and it’s weedy and rutted ATM and b) are horses ok if some flat land but mostly steep?? I feel like it’s not necessary to keep on a quarter acre of flat lawn type grazing esp not for the laminitis. Anyone with experience of keeping on a hillside thoughts gratefully accepted!!

 

[Meowy Catkin]

Welsh ponies - surely mountains, hills and valleys are in their DNA? They'll be in their element.

On a serious note, we needed our winter field spraying a few years back and it's steep at the top so the farmer just reversed up, then drove back down again forwards and repeat, so the tractor could do the job without falling over.

 

[SammyCob]

Thank you. And ?? I know what you mean about the DNA but one is 26 although still whizzing around 80cm tracks. I was telling myself his old knees would struggle but think I am being silly. That’s interesting re reversing up ????

 

[Meowy Catkin]

It worked. I'm not brave enough to take the tractor up the top myself so it was money well spent.

I have an older mare with clicky joints and she does well on the hill and zooms up and down more speedily than I would like. The one who had issues for a while was a (then) yearling who had only ever been on perfectly flat ground, it took him a few days to work out how to organise his legs which was hilarious. He soon got the hang of it though.

 

[Red-1]

We have 2 acres and manage to spray using a knapsack sprayer.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

We find that hills keep them fit, even when they are not in work. A word of caution, though; check that the horses can't fall off the edge of the land, if they roll too close to the boundary.

 

[MiniMilton]

I have one very steep field and one year I made a track around it for the fatties/lami's and they looked their best ever. Essentially hill work all day every day. It didn't work in the wetter months though because of the sloped track getting muddy. Once there is a bit of flat for the ponies to rest on I wouldn't worry about a slope.

Maintenance can be an issue if it is very steep. Some parts of our field can't be accessed by a quad at all so I have to use napsack sprayer for that.

 

[C1airey]

Can’t comment on spraying, but having recently moved my horse into a very steep field, he has gained a terrifying degree of fitness and significant bum muscle.

Tragically, despite regular poo-picking, the same cannot be said for me.

 

[L&M]

We have hill grazing and it has a lot of plus's - especially for the nimble native types. We have very little mud as it drains so well, and they can live out in all but the worst of weather, and it helps keep them fit.

There are downsides though - when we have a lot of hot and dry weather the grass tends to burn off as the soil doesn't hold the moisture (but which actually may be a bonus with a laminitic!). Also when they have a 'hooley' it can be quite dramatic and have had them slide into fencing........

But on the whole it works well.