Talk to me about equi central systems

[Muddy unicorn]

We are (fingers crossed) moving onto a property with 16 acres of grazing late this year. Initially there will be 3 horses and I’m worrying about too much grass rather than too little. My gelding is a good doer who is currently on 24/7 grass livery in a herd of 7 on 15 acres split into two fields rotated every three months. He’s got plenty of room to move around and I’d like this to continue when he moves. We’ll be getting another riding horse plus companion when we move.
I’m interested in finding out more about different pasture management systems from people who are currently using them - what works/what doesn’t etc
Thanks ?

 

[Tiddlypom]

How exciting .

I've posted this pic a few times, but this is my temporary summer equicentral system which is now in its 4th year. It gets set up on or around Badminton weekend in early May, or whenever the grass really gets going.

Previously I used to have them on a smaller area, and move the strip grazing twice daily. This way - on the same land - they move around much more and I don't start strip grazing until the long grass has died down into foggage in the late autumn.

Having just one water point is key, I used to have water available in both fields thinking that I was being kind.

ETA Two of these horses have PPID, and this suits them really well, especially the more grass sensitive senior mare. They also have access to two field shelters, one facing north, one facing south, which they use frequently.

 

[Burnttoast]

I tried equicentral but with two native retirees I think I was kidding myself tbh. Yes, they came into the yard and chilled when they were full but the amount they ate during their grazing bouts basically turned them into whales. Now I have a permanent perimeter track that they're on over the summer, with access to hedges and some soaked hay when they are short of grass. This keeps them moving really well. They go on the middle (usually foggage but in wet summers I top as we have ergot) in the winter. This way I can keep their weight under control and they tend to drop weight at the end of the winter and often mid-late summer too, depending on the weather. I have a yard that I can incorporate into the track or the winter grazing by opening/shutting gates. With 16 acres I could make my dream track (finances allowing)!

 

[Polos Mum]

How easy tracks / systems are depend on your horses respect for electric fencing - mine find the short term pain of being zapped (even mains energiser on pig setting) worth the gain of stuffing their face in the middle. I haven't won the lottery yet so permanent track is out of reach.

They can be really hard work - putting out multiple piles of soaked hay several times a day and constant poo picking - but worth the effort to manage the fatties well.
I think you also really need buildings / shelter that is physically accessible from the field to make the central system work

I split and rotate and bring in - as no fields access my stables unfortunately

Find a friendly local farmer who will bring sheep in for short periods - that will really help grass quality / lower volume and at nil effort

No harm in finding a spot to leave to go wild for nature

Don't do anything permanent in year one - until you know where water lies, where wind comes from, what freezes and for how long etc.
Annoying to spend money then change it in the second year when the elements wreck you plans.

 

[sbloom]

I only know one person with an Equicentral type of system and she has a very large crushed limestone loafing area and has poor doers and good doers. It works really well for her whereas her track system really trashed her (wet Welsh) land. I see more success from track systems, there are some groups and pages on FB where you can follow different yards, Gasworth I think it is offers a consultation service for those setting up their own.

 

[palo1]

We've tried track systems and have a fundamentally equicentral system (free access to shelter, water, grass free areas) BUT the track was diabolical on clay in both winter and summer and OH couldn't bear it in respect of the way it trashed the perimeter of our fields (we were on livery at that point but with our own fields). The horses refused to adequately graze the middle foggage in the winter too, naughty beggars!! I found it hateful and wasteful... The equicentral system was ok except that all of our horses got way too much grass so we adopted, successfully a kind of mob grazing where they get a rolling paddock where they graze long grass for a short while then move on. The fields are much happier and more productive and horses weights more easily managed (we have blood types and natives). I used to dream of having a track system but I wouldn't want one now. A well planned yard where horses can have truly limited grazing but access to other stuff is good. Ours means a bit of work to manage tbh but I don't think there is a system that is appropriate that doesn't need management! We put down a large area of stone/crushed limestone hard standing which has been a fab thing over the last 6 years!

 

[HashRouge]

OP, have a look at Home Farm Holistic Livery on Facebook. They run an equicentral system on their yard near Manchester and are absolutely lovely. I'm sure they'd be happy to help if you had any questions, although Jen has just had a baby so might be a little slower to reply than usual.

 

[SEL]

I have friends who tried it. Brilliant for two of theirs but the other two were natives and ended up muzzled 24:7 unless they were brought in. They're currently installing a perimeter track which can access fields so some time on grass with muzzle, then muzzle off and on track.

I track my fields in spring so the out edge gets eaten down but can then start to graze off the other bits from late summer onwards. I've got one who is metabolic, 2 cobs who live on fresh air and one who can handle a bit more so gets special access. I couldn't let them have free access without muzzles all round annoyingly

 

[stangs]

The yard I knew had a hard standing loafing area which not only helped keep hooves short, but also provided a no-grass turnout space when the grass was sugary. All gates to the fields would be shut, and horses had access to hay, shelter, water, and a sand pit. They were then free to wander into the field again at night.

How successful it’ll be for you will depend a lot on the types of grass and terrain. Being on a hillside with little mud, and no rye, helped that yard a lot.

 

[GoldenWillow]

Congratulations, how exciting. I used a sort of equicentral system with a cob and a shetland, the shetland had to be muzzled (fair enough) and the cob was ok on it. Then I lost him and new cob does not have an off button so it wouldn't work for him, he was on it the first year I had him and went from being poor to starting to become overweight. I then went to strip grazing for a couple of years but the last few years I've used a mix of tracks leading to a couple of small paddocks as that is what our land and set up works with. It's similar to TP's and like her I've had the best result with it. I don't supplement with hay on it but they should come in through the day and obviously get additional forage then. If they weren't coming in they wouldn't need any.

A full track system wouldn't work well with the shape of our field and in wet weather would get muddy quickly. I move the tracks out coming into Autumn and take down fully usually November depending how wet it is. It's had a few changes and is very flexible, I also find it a very physically easy way to keep them apart from the initial setting up and taking down. They bring themselves in and out, I'm able to use the water butt or have their water close to my tap and an added bonus is that they poop right next to the muck heap.

Whatever you do, like others, I would advise not doing anything permanent until you've been there at least a full year and found out about the land.