What would you do with this field?

[Melandmary]

For one reason or another this last 6 months I have lost control of my usual rigid horse management and have had to reactively act on whatever my horses/the weather/new land has thrown at me. It is causing me alot of stress now worrying. Tomorrow I need to move my trio into their summer field. It should have been done 2 months ago but one got laminitis so I had to keep the other 2 on the field nearest the stables. Anyway, the summer field is now knee deep in grass, cow parsley and other things that I have no idea what they are. It is 1 acre. I have 1 recovered lami in a grazing muzzle that comes in at night, 1 obese pony that will not be confined and a 26 year old that is a good weight. These 2 live out. Would you strip graze or just let them have the field as the little fatty goes through the fencing anyway?. I can't top this field as access is over a foot bridge otherwise I would have done so. I keep trying to tell myself that this long grass is not as sugary but I am worrying about the quantity. If I had been able to move them in April it would never have got this long. I am not enjoying being a horse owner since I moved my mare home. I am sure people think I am a spoilt brat when I say I hate having them here when they say I am lucky. If you got this far sorry for moaning. ?

 

[KittenInTheTree]

I would divide it up into quarters with electric fencing and rotate around them weekly until the grass is eaten down to the point where I was happy to let them have the whole field, muttering angrily and adding more strands to the fence at each escape. I'd probably invest in an extra battery too, so as to be able to swap between them regularly, in the vague hope of the escapee eventually being deterred if they get zapped hard enough often enough.

 

[Fjord]

Can you get a petrol strimmer in there? Ideally I'd trim round the edge and put up a rudimentary track, with lots of strands and a good battery. Possibly giving fatty a bib clip too so they feel the fence. Then you could move them into the longer grass bit by bit.

Good luck! It's tough managing a laminitic.

 

[lamlyn2012]

Could you move them between fields each day so they get the grass down gradually. Possibly fence off a smaller area so they get it down more quickly, then strip graze the rest.

 

[PurBee]

Try to divide it up as suggested...i’d also reduce turnout time on it while theyre munching it down. Give them a couple of hours then move to other field?

Theres lots of nutrition in long meadows so even though sugar is low in grass gone to seed, the extra protein adds weight, so id still limit it. I have one good doer who i have to manage carefully.

you say youre not sure what plants are growing. generally anything that stands out...yellow flowers ragwort....horsetail is spiky like a miniature xmas tree...ferns are all toxic so you dont want to see lots of those types of plants. ferns and horsetail tend to be in wetter meadows....ragwort in drier soil.
Normally horses ignore toxic plants if theres plenty of everything else, so when given a long meadow....whatever you see they are leaving after having munched it down are generally toxic plants anyway, so take note of what plants theyre leaving.

scan through on google ‘toxic plants for horses’ and youll find picture lists of the most common that inhabit meadows and can compare with your meadow.
Theres many plants which are wild plants not toxic than toxic ones. Some mildly toxic. Its worth getting to know the real baddies, of which there are just a few compared to the thousands of wild plants out there.

 

[cauda equina]

Could you move them between fields each day so they get the grass down gradually. Possibly fence off a smaller area so they get it down more quickly, then strip graze the rest.

This
I wouldn't just put them on the long stuff and leave them there; introduce it slowly, as with any new feed

 

[Melandmary]

Thanks for the replies. I can't quarter it as the field is L shaped with the shelter a d water in the short end however I can section it to a about a third a d then move the fence out bit by bit once the grass is eaten down. There is definatelyno ragwort or ferns purbee as I would recognise those but thanks for the advice, I will try to investigate what the others are. The idea of taking them on and off that field is doable and a good idea. I could put them in for a few hours at a time to start with. One thing I miss about livery is having people around to ask advice. Since moving here this forum has become my point of call. Thankyou ?

 

[DizzyDoughnut]

In your shoes I'd be to worried about the just recovered laminitic one on that amount of grass. When I had a laminitic one and had no choice but to move into a field with to much grass, I strimmed a small patch down to bare earth and shut him in there then sectioned off a bigger patch for my other 2. When they had eaten that off the other one could go out with them and I gradually extended the fence to make a track but everytime the fence moved the laminitic one was shut off in his dirt patch till the other 2 had eaten it down. Obviously I didn't starve them they always had hay available.

Alternatively do you really need to move into the summer field? Could they just stay in whatever field they're in now?

 

[Melody Grey]

I would strip graze. You could let out the fence for your new grass at night/ whenever your laminitic comes in. I’ve got some long grass at the moment and strip grazing is allowing me to inspect what’s in each new strip and weed accordingly. Not ideal, but I wouldn’t let my good dooers loose on the lot!

 

[Melandmary]

The lami one is muzzled dizzy doughnut and I was under the Impression that it was harder for her to eat the really long grass and I can reduce her turnout time hence I am more worried about the little fatty that jumps out of her stable so can't be confined. Unfortunately I do have to move them as I can't get any machinery in there to cut it and diggers are coming in a few weeks to put an arena/all weather turnout area in their current field by which time they will have to be in the summer field full time

 

[cauda equina]

Just keep a really close eye on everybody (I am an obsessive pulse-checker) and be prepared have a change of plan if needs be

 

[Melandmary]

Melody grey, yes I feel sick every time I look at it. I am going to third it tomorrow and then allow them on that a few hours a day, increasing time till eaten down then move the fence line gradually over the rest of the summer. If all goes to plan they Should be in there till end of Sept/oct

 

[honetpot]

I would give them a long narrow track, just about wide enough for them to turn around in. I can view my animals from my window, and a strip makes them move so much more than a block of grazing. When I give them a bit more green, I make the strip narrower. So I would start with the field shelter and the water end, and split the long side of the L, and make it as narrow and short as you can get away with.

 

[Melandmary]

One side of the L has a 6ft drop with a Brook running through it. I worry that if there were any shenanigans someone might end up in there if there was little room. I am going to fence this off, I have done so in the winter field as I am always worrying one will end up in there but I can only afford to do 1 job at a time and I desperately need the arena ?

 

[fiestiemaestie]

Why don’t you muzzle the little fatter one as well? Then can go out on the 1/3 field and the good weight one can slowly eat it down. Can go back in the winter field overnight/ morning initially

 

[I'm Dun]

I'd get a petrol lawnmover and cut it back. If you cant keep them in then its a disaster waiting to happen. Cut it hard back, then run a track round the outside. Hopefully they will stay on the track most of the time, and thus be moving lots, but if not it wont be a total disaster. Turning a recovering laminitic out on that sort of grass muzzled or not is going to end in tears.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I can tell you from expereince that a rudimentary track works better than any other configuration

 

[Polos Mum]

Our vets did an interesting talk about weight mgmt and they used a good illustration for long grass.

Yes is it much less sugary than short grass but they suggested going into the field with a carrier bag and scissors - cut grass for 10 minutes and put it in the bag.
In a short grass field you'll probably get 1/3 of a bag and in a long grass field you'll easily fill the bag.

Per unit weight the short grass will have more sugar but they can scoff in a lot more in long grass than in short. Which is why they will get fatter on longer grass.

Its a nightmare getting weight off (as I'm sure you know) so some sort of narrow strip - with water / shelter as far apart as possible is ideal.

Could you get someone with sheep or less wieght prone horses in to eat it down for a couple of weeks first - I'm a fan of borrowing local farmer beasts or sheep as needed

 

[tiahatti]

Can you mow or strim it?

 

[Melandmary]

I could also muzzle the little one, it was my intention last week until I read that they will just gorge themselves as soon as its taken off therefore defeating the object. If she was abled to be stabled part of the day I would do it but the alternative is 24hrs muzzled ?

 

[Not_so_brave_anymore]

I don't have any other suggestions, but I just wanted you to know you're not alone. All my best laid plans have also gone to shit (thank you April ?) and I've already had one with laminitis.

Mine are currently on a strip along just one and a half sides of a 1 acre paddock which looks pretty miserable, but I'm terrified to even inch them onto any more space after the one came down with laminitis on 1/3 of an acre of what looked like a bare paddock.

 

[Melandmary]

Oh polo's mum ?. That goes against everything that was making me think the move was possible. Sheep are not an option. I am thi King I may have to delay a week and hire a mower. I hadn't done this as my belief was that short grass had more sugar and that cutting grass was bad. My brain is bamboozled by everything I read since Mel got laminitis

 

[Melandmary]

Just spoke to OH about getting a mower in and he said the grass is too long now. Looks like I am sectioning off the smallest bit I can and doing a gradual build up of time on there then strip grazing. I will pick a muzzle up on way home tomorrow and see what mini fatty makes of that ?

 

[marmalade88]

Track system?

 

[DizzyDoughnut]

Just spoke to OH about getting a mower in and he said the grass is too long now. Looks like I am sectioning off the smallest bit I can and doing a gradual build up of time on there then strip grazing. I will pick a muzzle up on way home tomorrow and see what mini fatty makes of that ?

A good strimmer would probably do the job, mine manages to get through pretty much anything.

 

[Melandmary]

I have put an add on my local horsey fb page to see if someone can come and do it. I may be being stupid but if I strimmed then it would leave it all lying in the field. Surely I can't turn them out on that? I have asked if someone can do it with a ride on that collects the cuttings and cross fingers it is not too wide to get over the bridge.

 

[Melandmary]

In the mean time I have chickened out of moving them. A farmer is coming to cut my 3rd field for hay( also very long) so I will have to section them off in there when work starts in their current field and work out a solution for what is now an unusable summer paddock. Oh has taken to calling me "stress Eric" ?

 

[DizzyDoughnut]

I have put an add on my local horsey fb page to see if someone can come and do it. I may be being stupid but if I strimmed then it would leave it all lying in the field. Surely I can't turn them out on that? I have asked if someone can do it with a ride on that collects the cuttings and cross fingers it is not too wide to get over the bridge.

I only did a smallish patch for my laminitic one so I strimmed to bare earth and then raked it up (I'm sure any passers by think I'm crazy) because he was ridiculously sensitive to grass I thought mowing would leave to much and I thought he'd prefer to be out where he could move around and see his mates while they ate down the rest to a safer level for him to join them

 

[tiggipop]

random suggestion... can you get local farmer to mow for hay? or at least top it for you to get rid off the growth?
i know its not a large area but my local chap will do jobs like this for me
x x

 

[Melandmary]

The local farmer is coming to cut one field for hay, this particular field can only be accessed by a footbridge. A ride on mower might get over but not a tractor. There are only 4.5 acres in total with the 3 fields but too much grass for my 3