Which will trash the land more?

Nasicus

Nasicus

Well-Known Member
Joined
15 December 2015
Messages
2,444
Visit site
Just planning ahead for new yard, and how to split the fields.
4 fields, 3 flat, 1 flat at the top and then sloped down away from the gate. Total 8 acres, split roughly evenly between paddocks. It's all generic mud with a hint of clay, certainly not the thick, sticky goo like at my current place!

There will be three ponies, two barefoot and one shod on the front (although owner may be pulling shoes soon). They'll be out most of the time, although if we need to we can stable at night through winter. I'd prefer not to, as my older mare is arthritic and my youngster much prefers to be out, but the friend is happy to stable hers.

We've decided the sloped one will be our Winter field, as it is the largest at 2.5 acres, and much less sodden than the other three flat ones. Overall though it's all in pretty good condition, as we'd like to keep it as nice as we can, although this may be a losing battle with this terrible wet winter we've had so far! Plan would be to rest it for the rest of the year after winter has passed/it's somewhat dried up, and most likely get it harrowed/rolled in the spring.

So my question is, which of these set ups will damage the ground faster:

1. Let all three horses out onto the 2.5 acres.
2. Split the Field into two even paddocks down the middle, have all three in one half at a time, switching when it starts to get a bit poached.
3. Split it into three even paddocks and have them all in one section at a time, switching when it starts to get a bit poached.
4. Split it into three even paddocks and have one horse per section.

Packet of crisps for anyone whose gotten this far! I spent the spring/summer managing 3 on 3 acres (and the land was very poor to start with!), so I've got an idea of how it should go this coming year, it's just the first time I've had the chance to manage my own land through the winter! Any hints and tips are gratefully received! :)
 
The only thing I'll say from my experience. If the ponies are out all the time, provided they get on of course, they make less mess if they are out all the time than if they come in at night. It's the running round that messes the ground up most and that tends to happen when they are first turned out or waiting to come in . If you can wangle some area of hard standing somewhere to feed hay on that really saves the rest of the land too.
 
This is how I would split it: 3 paddocks, sharing. This always gives one paddock a long resting time.

You will need to follow Natures guide, it's not just poaching you have to think of, consider also the time of year, the land itself, the flush of grass, individual requirements...
 
Last edited:
DappleDown said:
3 paddocks, sharing. This always gives one paddock a long resting time.

You will need to follow Natures guide, it's not just poaching you have to think of, consider also the time of year, the land itself, the flush of grass, individual requirements...
Click to expand...

The three paddocks was my preferred method too, it served me well in nurturing the land back to health in summer. The long resting period was exactly what I wanted, just needed to make sure I wasn't being bullheaded as my friend wanted to just have them have it all (which I wouldn't really want to do as I'm keenly aware of the year round dangers of laminitis and having them gorge themselves stupid!)
 
If you think you may end up with too much grass come spring, i would let them have the run of the whole place. If youve not been here in winter before you might find that field you think will be okay probably won't be ��
 
If you still have the 5.5 acres for summer? I would put 3 out on the whole 2.5 for the winter to keep them moving. My arthritic horse remains stiff if only on a smaller patch. Then if it gets trashed it's then rested all summer or you would even have enough to use another paddock in the winter too as spring time you will have plenty
 
With 3 ponies you can use the whole lot as you won't want the extra grass come the spring. Personally I would move them between the flat fields until after Christmas and then move them to the hill field, divide it up if you want and that should see you through to spring. You should get a cut of hay too I expect, I rest my late winter field from March and that gives an early cut with a reasonable yield if it has a bit of fertiliser on
 
I was going to agree that you don't want the extra grass so at this stage I would probably let them cut the lot.

We have two on about the same all winter and either split it in half or three as we get a hay cut off it then let it come back up again so they are on standing foggage usually we've had far too much grass this year and it didn't get cut until september (not the plan!). We have separate one acre that gets used in summer, although they will be tracked around the bigger field this summer.
 
We use to have three out on the whole rested field over winter although we would electric fence the back third off initially. They'd get put on it november and as soon as the grass was on its way down and they'd accumulate near the gate we'd open up the back bit to encourage them away back into the field (at least for the majority of the day as ours were in at night). Thankfully never had much mud. We tried fencing longways one year to section it and it just got churned up where they walked up and down the fence lines. If you have summer fields separate i wouldnt worry - usually a bit of care come spring and its as good as new. Fully agree with Gloi though - its the waiting to come in and the initial Ye-Ha moments that churn it up most.
 
I'd have them on the whole lot as well, especially if they're ponies. I've had two on 8 one year and 4 another year and without fail come Spring they're on a tiny paddock and we've more grass than we know what to do with! Winter is when you need the space and the grass, not summer.
 
Thanks for replies all! Yes, I think you all may be right about too much grass otherwise! I was so desperate for it during the summer as the previous tenants had overgrazed the life out of the entire lot, but this place has been well looked after so I think we will probably end up with grass out the ears. It's hard to say really until we give it a go, maybe I should stop worrying so much!
 
Nasicus said:
Thanks for replies all! Yes, I think you all may be right about too much grass otherwise! I was so desperate for it during the summer as the previous tenants had overgrazed the life out of the entire lot, but this place has been well looked after so I think we will probably end up with grass out the ears. It's hard to say really until we give it a go, maybe I should stop worrying so much!
Click to expand...

How big are your ponies?
 
I've 4.5 acres with 3 fuzzies on it. Last October I had to get farmer in to top 2.5 acres as the want-to-be-chubbers would have gone off like zeppelins.
This winter they have been rambling about over about 3.8 acres as one side is rather too wet (great in a frosty winter tho). Usually by mid Feb I'll be closing off parts again, or dragging grazing muzzles out.....
I started popping a bit of hay out in the field shelters in mid Dec, no more than 2 sections of hay (total, between them) at night even now.
On random occasions they've come in overnight, to date a total of 7 nights since end Oct.

I reckon you might have too much for 3 all yr round, especially in summer
 
3 ponies on the whole 8 acres should mean very limited mud as they will move about. As we get into spring you can move them into the bottom paddock and look at cutting hay from the 3 flat ones. Although you wont need very much hay with only 3 on 8 acres.
 
If the field is going to get a rest through Spring / Summer regardless and you're only going to want it for winter use then you're probably going to end up with less churned up "gateway" areas if you just let them on the whole thing as then they're moving around the whole thing rather than doing the same amount of movement in a smaller area if that makes sense? If by doing this you end up with a really good grass cover at the start of winter and you want to maybe eke it out as much as possible / save some fresh ground for later in the winter / you don't want them to have it all at one and stuff themselves then you could always give initial access to maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the field using electric fencing and then move the fence maybe every week to keep giving them a bit more until they have the whole field?
 
Nasicus said:
Just planning ahead for new yard, and how to split the fields.
4 fields, 3 flat, 1 flat at the top and then sloped down away from the gate. Total 8 acres, split roughly evenly between paddocks. It's all generic mud with a hint of clay, certainly not the thick, sticky goo like at my current place!

There will be three ponies, two barefoot and one shod on the front (although owner may be pulling shoes soon). They'll be out most of the time, although if we need to we can stable at night through winter. I'd prefer not to, as my older mare is arthritic and my youngster much prefers to be out, but the friend is happy to stable hers.

We've decided the sloped one will be our Winter field, as it is the largest at 2.5 acres, and much less sodden than the other three flat ones. Overall though it's all in pretty good condition, as we'd like to keep it as nice as we can, although this may be a losing battle with this terrible wet winter we've had so far! Plan would be to rest it for the rest of the year after winter has passed/it's somewhat dried up, and most likely get it harrowed/rolled in the spring.

So my question is, which of these set ups will damage the ground faster:

1. Let all three horses out onto the 2.5 acres.
2. Split the Field into two even paddocks down the middle, have all three in one half at a time, switching when it starts to get a bit poached.
3. Split it into three even paddocks and have them all in one section at a time, switching when it starts to get a bit poached.
4. Split it into three even paddocks and have one horse per section.

Packet of crisps for anyone whose gotten this far! I spent the spring/summer managing 3 on 3 acres (and the land was very poor to start with!), so I've got an idea of how it should go this coming year, it's just the first time I've had the chance to manage my own land through the winter! Any hints and tips are gratefully received! :)
Click to expand...

we have 8 acres too and ours are split into 4 with a 6ft slip rail in the middle enough for our tractor and people to lead a horse through if a problem at the gate on if in use field gate muddy. We use two and rest two and when new horse comes he goes in the bottom of in use till he is integrated into the herd then joins in the in use field. We have one bottom bit which gets more boggy than the other so time the winter turnout round that so they are not on it dec jan and feb.
To add we normally have 9 on the in use which are stabled at night so fields get daily use all through the winter and survive well.
 
More brilliant replies, thank you all! Your help is much appreciated!
HashRogue, the Ponies are all around 14hh+, chunky irish cob is around 14hh with feet like dinner plates, youngster is about 14.1, but expected to grow into 15.2 (She might even be 14.2hh, but I'm scared to use the term Horse just yet haha), and the other pony is around 14.1.
 
I'm on clay. My fields, four and a half acres , two horses, go like mush and very quickly. If I allowed them to roam freely then I would have no grazing come spring. I have a trash area, this is used Dec to March only and allowed to recover. I would use the bigger sloping paddock for winter months. I would allow it to recover and top late spring early summer. I do not reseed as it all comes back anyhow and I don't want rich grazing as I have cobs. Its worked for at least ten years. I do fence gate ways so I have access but I still get muddy patches, this year its a nightmare. You will need a good year on your land to learn to read it and make plans from there.
 
A bit depends on when you class as winter. Mine go in the winter field at the end of the xmas holiday and come off mid March (ish) Mine are retired horses so not so lami prone - when they go in at xmas it's all standing hay (very old fashioned) but 1 foot high grass. I'm no lami expert but I've read long grass is better than short fresh grass and standing hay (ie long grass) save lots of work taking hay out.
If winter for you starts at end of October then you'll need to work more to keep it OK

Also depends on where in the country you are - I noticed a big difference on when grass starts to grow between Lincolnshire (was late Feb/ early March) and Yorkshire when some years it has been April before there's any apparent grass growth.

Also be prepared to change your mind, weather, actual ground conditions and how well they get on/ constantly run around will all mean you might need to change your mind and fiddle around with the plan from year to year.
 
we have 5.5 acres with 5 ponies from 11 to 14.2hh we have three acres we use in winter and a dry acre and a half of flat sandy soil the rest is on quite a steep slope. in summer we track the remaining acre for the 3 smaller ponies it lasts them pretty much from May to September as we ted to make it like a maze its a bit like a combination of strip grazing and tracking. We strip graze the three acre in winter onto standing foggage it does get a bit wet especially in this weather. The other flat acre and a half is for the other two in summer we half it in autumn those two go onto the tracked acre while the ponies start strip grazing the winter field and their top field is weed killed and fertilised it has a month to recover then we start them strip grazing onto the foggage too. Sounds complicated but works really well I use less than 20 bales of hay a year have now managed to stop the laminitc from succumbing he has been a healthy weight for about two years now with this system have used it to get the baby pony's weight down too
they live out and so do much less damage than they would if stabled
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top