When people say their horses are on restricted grazing...

Casey76

Casey76

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how much space/area do you have your horses in?

Since I'm on an everlasting search of a way to keep my pony's weight down...

I'm wondering if I need to re-evaluate how much space is needed for "restricted" grazing. At the moment my two (1 16hh and 1 13.3) are in a paddock which is 0.3 acres (measured by an app). They share the paddock with 2 shetlands when the turnout is switched over (i.e. they are out during the day, the shetlands are out overnight). At the moment the grass is as long as I've ever seen it, which means it's about 2ins long, and looks green (but would still take a long time to cut 1kg of grass with a small pair of scissors).

When I mentioned about muzzling YM said it would be better to switch fields as she has other horses which would benefit from the grass. However the other "fields" are about 20x30m and are bare as they were used in winter extensively. I would prefer to muzzle and give my ponies the bigger space to run around in, rather than a bare patch which is hardly big enough to trot round in. My other concern is my youngster, who is the 16hh monster. He has only been lightly backed (rising 4), and as we are not allowed to loose school in the school, if he doesn't have the space to run around in he can become a bit feisty to handle.

I'm just coming back from injury, and I still can't ride for more than 15-20 mins at a time as it's so uncomfortable, so I do need my ponies to exercise themselves as much as possible at the moment (which includes refusing to be caught and running riot recently - cheeky monkey's)

So, back to the question after my diversion... when you say your horse is on restricted grazing, how much grazing space do they have?
 
I have mine on as big an area as possible, ideally very little grass but as much room as possible to keep them moving, my smallest are about 1/3rd an acre at the moment being rested and kept for later in the year the rest are usually a minimum of 1 acre so they can get up some speed if they want to play, in an ideal world I would have a track round the edges of all the land so they have a long way to go to get anywhere but by having long rectangles rather than square areas they still move about constantly and can have a gallop.

I am amazed that your paddock has much grass with 2 on it full time as it is tiny, 20x30 is not really sufficient in my view for 2 horses to move about much and may end up with them getting frustrated and difficult to handle, could the YO not put something bigger on it overnight and then the shetlands could go in the starvation area as they will not require so much room.
 
I've just put a grass track around the edge and up the middle of my 5 acre field. My boys are looking pretty trim for the time of year. I might for the first time in their lives need to start supplementing hay through the summer!! Or maybe not but they are moving around plenty and not got much grass left.

I would say that if there is that much grass on such a small area then it is too much and rapidly growing. Are there no other options?
 
I have 2 on an acre. I like them to have as much room to move as possible. It's a bit of the winter field fenced off, so was already grazed down. When one was muzzled last year, I just gave him the whole 5 acres. So far they are keeping the grass down. I also have 4 sheep in there to help.
 
I have one big horse and 1 mini and three lambs on just under an acre. There is way too much grass - I would love to do a track system but the field is long and thin so not ideal to do it. They are out overnight and in on soaked hay during the day.

The top field is a square so once the grass has been taken off that then I will do a track system there and they can keep moving about with the lambs being able to eat where they like. I've never had a horse that can eat like the current one!!
 
Two on one acre, mine is 13.1 and the other is 15hh, both out 24/7. Other acre is resting and they'll be strip grazed onto this.

At the moment mine is staying at 350kg on weigh tape xx
 
I've got two 15.3hh's living out on a 30m x 60m bare patch at the moment, which was grazed (as part of a bigger area) all winter. I am surprised to see that it is 0.45 of an acre, I wouldn't have thought it was that much.

I top up with hay twice daily, and it seems to be suiting these two well. One has cushings, and one is prone to spasmodic colic, so both need to be off much grass. They seem to find something to nibble at once they've finished their hay.

They will be allowed a bigger area, but we are in the middle of spraying our whole acreage, and everywhere else is resting, whether pre or post spraying.
 
People seem to forget movement.
To use calories/energy a horse needs exercise.

A larger area with poorer grazing is much better.
Just because horse is in a small area doesn't mean they will get less grass.
The grass can by very rich and long!
 
Are you sure the app is correct? If I'm reading this right 3 ponies and a horse are on the 0.3 acres all the time? (2 during the day, 2 at night) 0.3 acres is about the size of a reasonable garden. Surely the Shets would have it bare in few days. The horses would need about 20 -25 kg total of grass a day to maintain weight. Can the field be supplying this much? Try pulling some grass and weighing it, you would need a huge pile to get to 20kg.
If indeed the app is correct then consider mowing the area as it would be easy to do such a small area.
Agree much more exercise required to actually loose weight with a hippo pony.

PS my friend couldn't even keep 1 Shetland on 1 acre as it was quickly bare and turned to mud and weeds within a year.
 
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I feel your pain! Could I ask if mowing and collecting the grass is a good idea, or does this just encourage the grass to grow? :)
 
We use a method that has been dictated by the lie of our land, but seems to work quite well. Nearest to the house and yard we have a field of about one and a half acres, which is used all winter and contains the water trough, lots of bushes and trees and a small hill of about 100' across which the horses love to gallop up and down ( usually at 2am), but little grass. All the other fields open into this one , so when the grass comes through I strip graze the other fields but leave the home paddock open so that they have to come back up for water. Our big field is divided into three one acre strips lengthwise and these areas are strip grazed with an electric fence going across. They are not severely restricted but it seems to be enough to keep them at a reasonable weight especially as they come in during the day. I do like them to be able to run off steam. Nothing better than seeing your own horses have a good buck and fart!
 
Thanks everyone. I remeasured with another app and came up with 0.4 acres - which isn't really much different. I'll try to remember and take some photos tonight, but to get a visual, it isn't much bigger than the 40x60 school- so probably about 40x 90m?

The grass is quite short in the middle, and longer down the edges which is where the toilet areas are (makes poo picking a doddle!) Although predominantly rye, it hasn't been fertilsed for the past two years (which I know is nothing in the grand scheme of things) The grass isn't lush by any means, and you can see the soil (clay) in most parts of the field.
 
We have two on a track around the edge of about a 3 acre paddock, grazed in winter but not as a track. Since the track was put in they seem to think they should use it as a race track which is just what we wanted, they go for a burn but never have to pull up just go around and around! They've probably got about an acre, don't know its hard to tell the track is a bout 15 feet wide?? They are currently out 24/7 seeing how the weight goes otherwise they will need to come back in days, love seeing them out though so hoping this will work.
 
I've got the little one on a small bare square with soaked hay, he does have the odd bit of grass to nibble on and can happily have a little hoof around if he wants, he is in over night and gets ridden, bigger one is in half an acre which is split in two so he has a long rectangle and I move the fence a little daily, he goes In a small patch by his stable with door open so he can go in and out over night and has a haynet available at all times, since taking on an extra paddock for the first time in ages I have far too much grass ( until winter that is! )
 
Mine, 14.3 and 11.2, are being strip-grazed on long, old, unimproved grass. Luckily I have enough space to allow the fields to recover each time. They are currently on about 0.5 acre in two paddocks with the gate open, one completely bare and the other having not been grazed for a year and being strip grazed. I move the fencing quite a lot about every three days and muzzle the cob for the first day each time. They are looking great, the cob the best since I got him 6 years ago. On a previous livery yard he was on eaten-down grass as each horse only had two small paddocks to rotate between and was much worse in spring, I suspect because the grass was stressed and very high sugar. He was also previously on individual turnout and having the pony in with him keeps them both moving around as each time the fence is moved he constantly tries to keep the poor pony away from the new grass and the pony nips around him and eats from another area, luckily it never turns into actual fighting just lots of chasing around.
 
you have a mare and a gelding I think? Does the mare play much? (ime they don't much). Could your gelding share a paddock with something that will keep him moving?

I have two Exmoors. I tried the small space, restricted grass thing. It doesn't work, especially on 'good' grass (ie lots of rye, even when very short). What worked was getting them onto old hill grazing and putting a young gelding in there with them, they play all day (a 4yo, a 6yo and a 21yo) and are on anything from 1acre to 5 acres of hill grazing with varied terrain.
 
Mine's not on restricted grazing but is on restricted turnout due to an injury. He's in overnight and out on 1/4 of an acre from about 7am to 8pm. He's on his own and although it's a bigger area than vet would like, he's very calm and not the sort to go haring about, especially without others to wind him up. He's been there 2 weeks, on grass that's only had a couple of sheep and orphan lambs on it since last summer and the grass has pretty much gone (to the point that we're about to put some hay out for him) so I'm amazed yours are struggling with too much grass if it's being grazed 24/7.

I'd also want them to have as much space as poss to move around. Is there anything else you can do to keep him active if you can't ride much? Lungeing or long-reining? (not sure what your injury is so don't know if you can stand/walk?)
 
Casey76 said:
Thanks everyone. I remeasured with another app and came up with 0.4 acres - which isn't really much different. I'll try to remember and take some photos tonight, but to get a visual, it isn't much bigger than the 40x60 school- so probably about 40x 90m?

The grass is quite short in the middle, and longer down the edges which is where the toilet areas are (makes poo picking a doddle!) Although predominantly rye, it hasn't been fertilsed for the past two years (which I know is nothing in the grand scheme of things) The grass isn't lush by any means, and you can see the soil (clay) in most parts of the field.
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As a matter of interest which app do you use to measure?
 
We have two welsh cobs that are good doers, a 14.2 and a 13.1, out 24/7. We have about 1.5acres that they were on all winter and it is now sectioned off with electric fencing so that they have access to about a third of it at a time. We move the fence every other day so they always have a bit of fresh grass and there is plenty resting. They are still getting 2 feeds a day as the grass is taking a while to get going. Will probably go down to one feed in the next week or so. They look ok, the 14.2 prob a bit fat but I am upping his workload, he is a greedy pig and eats constantly! The smaller one keeps him moving too as he is a bossy so and so!
 
laura_nash said:
I suspect because the grass was stressed and very high sugar.
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this: important thing to remember, that if it is grazed very short the grass will go into stress mode and hold on to more sugar, therefore being more calorific.
I have 2 horses and 2 new forest ponies plus friends horse, out on 10 acres! they are a tiny bit on the tubby side at the moment, but they would be much fatter on less land actually, as they move around a lot. plus it is not very good grass- there is plenty of weed. we do spot kill ragwort and did get it weed killed last year, but actually would rather it was not perfect pasture so they have to hunt over more land for grass. plus some of the hedgerows and plants they like to eat as extras.
 
Mine still have access to all my land, that is approximately 15 acres, there are three horses and three minis. They are starting to look a bit well fed so as of next week they will ge restricted to about 5 acres and the rest will be rested until later in the summer and then they will move so that there will be plenty of grass by the time winter comes. Then again come November they will have access to it all again. Plenty of room for them to roam and as they live out 25/7 I like them to have as natural a life as possible.
 
Fattys strip is about 200 metres long and 15 metres wide when it gets very bare I add another about half the size and then another a bit thinner but longer than the first one it's like a crooked Y shape with a small paddock with a field shelter in it accessible from every bit .
 
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