To what extent does keeping in overnight save the field?

[catembi]

My 2 (ex-racer & 38 year old pony mare) live out all year round on 2.5 acres, rugged to death & with a field shelter. We are on sandy soil, so it never gets boggy, but for the same reason, we never get much grass either.

They have always lived out as I'm too lazy to muck out & the old girl box-walks; however if I caught them in from say 7 pm to 5.30 am, would it make much difference to how trashed the fields get over winter? If they spend most of the night standing in their field shelter eating hay, i.e. not walking about on what remains of the grass, would it save the field or not?

I don't tend to use one field & rest the other as the field shelter is in the bottom field & the plumbed-in trough in the top one.

 

[TicTac]

Sandy soil is lovely in the winter for the very reason that it very rarely gets poached but none the less your grass will disintergrate. Because sandy soil is unable to hold moisture for long summer grazing can disappear very quickly as well unless you have very good field management.

If you want the chance of some grass in the summer then fence off half your field and rest it through the winter.

IMO unless you have a very large and well drained field to keep your horses out 24/7 over the winter then, yes, bringing them in at night would save your paddock from being worn out completely. And for that very reason that is why my horses come in at night from november to march. we have clay soil and it can get very boggy during the winter months if we have alot of the wet stuff.

ps sorry didn't read your post properly and have just noticed that you do fence your field in half! If your horses are happier out though, I would leave them out.