Trashed winter field - reseeding?

[Brandy]

My winter turnout is absolutely trashed. It managedok last year mostly due to the snow and frozen ground I think, but this year I have an extra pony and it has been wet and its just awful. Problam also was that last year it managed really well and they ended up staying on it most of the summer too (YO decided that they couldn;t go on the hay fields after it had been cut.....)

So this year this is NOT an option. They will have to go straight onto summer fields after the hay comes off.

I think winter paddock will need to be reseeded. It is probably no more than an acre, if that. When is the best time to re seed, and is it too late to do it after they have moved onto the hay fields?

Would it be better to fertilize it in the srping and keep them off for a few days?

Any ideas of knowledge gratefully recieved!

 

[Maesfen]

We have a field that always gets trashed in winter and think it'll never come right again but it does.
What we do is roll it as soon as possible (should still be some give in the ground but not sloppy. We're on clay so we literally only have two days at most before it's dried out too much) It's amazing how much better it will look once it's been rolled and given a few weeks to recover but if you still think it's too sparse you could have seed drilled into it without having it ploughed, think they call it over seeding; we had this done and it made a big difference, really thickened it up as to be honest it's just not worth ploughing up and reseeding a paddock that is going to be as bad next time plus the fact that it would be tender so it's not advisable to use it too quickly for horses so you need other land for them. We get a friend to fertilize for us but it's not spread as thickly as you would for cattle as you don't want it too rich.

 

[Brandy]

Thanks - yes over seeding is what i meant, not ploughing!

Just wish it would dry up! prefer snow to this wetness.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Agree with you about the wet! My pony has discovered that electric fence poles come out of the ground really easily in this weather if you get your shoulder underneath - bang goes the starvation strip grazing idea.

Agree with Maesfen about the rolling and oversowing. A brand new complete reseed wouldnt be tough enough for hard equine punishment for 2 years (tho people do it sooner, they shouldnt) and oversowing is often a lot more successful for grazing land, reseeding more for rye hay crop and its hard to avoid a bit of a mono culture in species unless you pay a lot for horsey mix.

I would get it rolled and oversown and if possible any drainage issues addressed if there are any. Bet you wont recognise it come late spring!

 

[Hippona]

I rolled and overseeded my main grazing 2 years ago just after moving onto the yard- it had been badly overgrazed and trashed- it made a massive difference.

My winter trash paddock usually recovers- to a certain degree- with just the seeds from the hay I chuck out.

I'm overseeding the main paddocks again this year to really thicken it up.

Roll on spring