wwyd - land management/field management help please

[Ranyhyn]

Hope someone can help throw some ideas into the mix here please!

We have 20 acres of sloping grazing. Divided into 3 fields. The drainage is VERY poor (we're talking 3 days of rain and we're saturated to the point even a human's foot pools in water ) at the bottoms on the fields. At the tops of the fields and inbetween are mature oak trees. In total in all of our boundaries I'd say more than 15. not to mention a few yews that border our land.

This means we're having to electric fence paddocks through the winter, to keep horses away from the trees. This presents a few issues:

1) no mains electric means battery powered = not that much of a whack (?)
2) rugged horses reach over leccy fencing.
3) no cover
4) no water (our fields are fed by streams but these run adjacent to the tree lines)

I made a small paddock close to the "stables" for my horses, which they have now trashed so we need to go back to the drawing board.

Anyway, here's a photo to give you an idea (this is taken from the end of our farm, looking back towards the house, the three fields run in a line)

The only thing I can come up with is to properly, permanently electic fence it - when I say properly I mean with a fieldguard system, not the cheapy white post things.

Any other suggestions with how to work it autumn-spring would be appreciated.


My other suggestion was move

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

Two options really here (i) spend a lot on good fencing but still have bog trotting fields (ii) spend the same money on improving the drainage in at least part of the land.

Personally in this case I would do (ii) even if it means another patch is even MORE boggy, since the benefit of having at least some well drained fields is worth more IMO than having lots of well fenced boggy ones.

We have 40 acres but 20 of them I dont even try to graze the horses on as it's too boggy, I take hay from them instead as that's done at the driest time of year. Fencing wise we only have battery electric fencing in most of it (use a Rappa sourced powerful energiser - think brand is Speedrite, they have charge meter display on the one we get too so you can see how much power is left). We have wooden posts in all the corners and gateways.

Not sure how many horses there are but say if you got 5-6 acres well drained that would support a lot more horses than 15 acres of boggy stuff.

Edited to add in our wettest part (standing water lots of the time) we have planted lots of willows - they suck up loads of water and then you can stick the sticks in the woodburner every 6 years as a coppice thing. Not near buildings tho, cos of the wide root spread and the sucking all the water out of the soil = subsidence heaven

 

[Rose Folly]

Are you keeping the horses away from the oak trees because of the acorns, or because it's someone elses' land and you don't want to risk horses trashing the trees?

If the former, could you not just wait until most of the acorns have dropped and then have a major clean up and let the horses use that land? Big mature trees provide wonderful shelter. The thing that would terrify me would be the proximity of the yew trees. You need to make them totally ungetatable.

Our electric fencing is run off a battery (good quality car one, not the rubbish "pony paddock" ones at £15!). We never have a problem with the horses, only the Dartmoor who is impervious to anything except the empty state of her tummy.

If you have some money to spend, spend it on getting at least some of the land properly drained. It can make a huge difference. The other thing (long term) is to plant some willows in a willow avenue. Wonderful shade in summer, wonderful wild life, and willows drink for England.

I do know how you feel -one acre of our land is more like a paddy field than a paddock!

 

[Ranyhyn]

Yes, horses away from oak trees due to acorns, my main issue being that my big mare is a hoover - she eats everything and she is almost certainly the type to get a taste for them and knowing my luck she'll be the one of many who dies! so I keep her off it.