By nature a horse is a grazing animal and well managed grassland provides a healthy and economical way of feeding your horse. However, for all the care we take of our horse, the paddock tends to be overlooked. Go into any Garden Centre and there are row upon row of products to care for the lawn, (some of which could also be used on a paddock). Driving around the countryside there are lots of horses, in fields, where the grass is very short, stale and yellow, obviously not having the same care and attention as the majority of the horses in the fields.
Where to Start?
The first thing to find out about is the type of soil in the field. If the soil is heavy clay, this will become waterlogged in the winter and bake hard in the summer. It may be necessary to keep the horse stabled in the winter to prevent the ground becoming 'poached', or sacrifice an area of the field to keep the remainder in good condition. Light sandy soil is free draining but does not retain water during the dry periods, therefore the grass will not grow and it may be necessary to supplement the horse's diet with hay, even in the summer.
Heavy clay fields can have drainage pipes put underground. This is expensive but long lasting. Alternatively the field could be sub-soiled which is relatively inexpensive and will allow the water to move more freely off the ground. However, this has to be repeated every 2 - 4 years. Sub-soiling aerates the ground and breaks up the 'pan' to a depth of about 45cm (18inches).
This is a 7-furrow sub-soiler, a little large for a horse paddock but the only one I could photograph! A 2/3/4 furrow would be more suitable for a small area.
What Type of Grass?
The grasses in the paddock should be: -
Palatable
Persistent - able to withstand grazing
Hardy in winter
Should flower at different times of the year
Even yield - too high may cause digestive upsets. If too low hay may be needed to supplement the horse's diet
Digestibility - too much or to little fibre in the grass may also cause digestive problems
Improving the Grass
Horses are picky eaters; they do not like long grass or grazing near their droppings. The grass in the field will become uneven, the sweet grass is cropped short and the unpalatable grass left.
There are several things you could do for immediate improvement:-
Remove all droppings from the field.
Mow the long rank grass, nettles and thistles. This could be done by a contractor or for smaller areas, if the field is level, by a ride-on lawn mower. Use a strimmer for the areas which are too rutted for the mower.
Harrow the field to remove the dead grass and 'aerate' the ground to allow the grass to breath - again this could be done by a contractor. A small set of harrows can be towed behind a vehicle. Harrowing should be done when the ground is fairly dry. This will allow any worm larvae to be exposed to the sun, killing them, which will reduce the number in the field.
Rolling the ground requires equipment, done at the right time it levels out the ground, flattening all the 'foot holes' made by the horses over the winter. It is best done when there is 'a bit of give' in the ground, too soft and it will make the ground worse, too hard and rolling will make no difference. Rolling works best on good going.
Re-seed bear patches by forking over or rotavating the ground; then sprinkle some grass seed (pasture mix). Try hand spreading grass seed over the grass that is already there, even if only some grows it will improve the quality of the grass available to your horse.
Fence off a section of the field and spread fertiliser. Do not put the horse onto the fertilised area until after a good rain storm has washed the fertiliser into the ground and a thorough check has been made to ensure it has all gone.
Spraying is not recommended for paddocks due to the risk of horses eating the dying plants thus ingesting some of the weed killer. Some poisonous plants become palatable to horses when wilted or dead. If the field is weed ridden or there are large clumps of nettles, thistles or another identifiable weeds then temporarily fence the area or move the horse to another field. Spray the clump and remove all dead foliage before returning the horse to the field.
This ground is too hard and the ruts are too deep to roll. This patch really needs digging or rotavating, then re-seeding.
This patch of thistles has grown around a patch of stones which also need to be removed, these thistles could be dug out, the ground forked over and re-seeded, then this area would be grass and edible!
Any untended field will eventually become overgrown with weeds and annual grasses, which are less nutritious species.
For this reason farmers plough and re-seed their fields with grasses bred for a particular purpose; early grazing, late grazing, haymaking or silage making. Some fields are sown with only one variety and others are sown with 4 or 5 varieties including some clover.
We as horses owners do not have the resources to plough and re-seed paddocks every few years, but we can with a little bit of hard work keep a good sward.
Unfortunately there are no quick fix solutions to paddock maintenance, no 48-hour makeovers from rubbish tip to immaculate garden. We have to work with nature and what is already there and nature takes her time.
Comments
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maryatkinson27th Oct 01
Thank you for this section. My neighbours and I are taking over a neglected six acre field and hope to bring it back to good meadow grass without using pesticides. A lot of hard work...but anyone who has succeed in doing this, I would be grateful for their comments.
Mary.
fifteenbobber29th Oct 01
It depends what your long term aim is for the field.
1. put sheep on the field until New year - F+M permitting. They will graze off all the rubbish grass, then seed in the spring as early as the ground/weather permits.
2. Top(cut grass short)in spring - harrow well -and put on a pasture or wild meadow grass seed mix. The disadvantage with this way is that the rubbish grass will grow more quickly than the new seeds.
Rebecca22nd Jun 02
Well i have read all this info and its verry good but i have got a field for my horse and he really needs to go in it straight away but it is all covered in weeds wot shall i do???
Jan24th Jun 02
Start by cutting down (strimming/ride -on mower if the ground is even enough) or uprooting a weed whenever you have 5 minutes, if you keep them down they will get less. If you can section off an area of the field you could use systemic weed killer. Then scatter some grass seed in the autumn (too early to put grass seed on now). Just be persistant with the weeds and in future years cut them down before they seed. It will take some time but you will succeed.
Colin Watters10th Jul 02
Are there any good books on paddock care? I'm not
exactly a townie but until now have only ever had
to look after a lawn. Now I'm about to buy a
house that comes with a paddock. Not sure what
we plan to do with it yet but want to keep it in
good condition in case someone want's to borrow
it. In particular I need to know what weeds to
look out for so they don't get established and
how to deal with any already there when we move
in. I believe the paddock was in use until a few
months ago so it should be in reasonable shape.
Laetitia Ashford-Brown20th Jul 02
Have a look at Pasture Management for Horses and Ponies,Gillian Mccarthy.By repeated topping during the summer have kept my paddock in good heart until these periods of drought,which seems to have brought back the weeds.However will apply calcified seaweed once I can find out the ratio.I am fortunate as I move the horses out for the summer and let the paddock rest for as long as pos.I also have a couple of Wiltshire Horn which help towards the fertilizing although only in a small way-they do get rather fat!
Jacquie7th Sep 02
Thanks for the advice... From your description my mares field is clay. I will try & get pasture mix grass seed and throw some around. Would like to know if fertiliser can be applied at same time. I do not have access to harrows, can you suggest anything I can make up / buy that can be towed by my jeep?
Jan9th Sep 02
You need something that will roll the dirt over the grass seed - try an old metal gate, or a piece of weld mesh but it needs to be quite heavy to have an effect.
Sometime you can pick up a set of harrows from a farm sale for a reasonable price.
Yes, you can apply fertiliser and the same time as the grass seed.
Richard3rd Oct 02
Are there any companies that offer paddock care services for spraying and mowing etc?
If not do you think there is a market for this service?
I come from an agricultural background and many a time a farmer will say it,s to small a piece of land for him or her to bother with, yet is to large a piece of land for your average lawn mower?
My partner and I allready run a small company testing chemicals and products for major companies and have extensive knowledge on grass care, together with mid sized equipment suitable for this type of work.
As the agriculural side declines we all look at ways to diversify.
Would be most appreciative on any comments anybody may have?
fiona.richards7th Mar 03
Can anyone tell me what size paddock area is recommended per horse -assuming mid grade clay based paddock?
I've just aquired an 8 acre field that has previously been used for farming i.e. growing of barley/corn etc.
It is quite a clay soil, and obviously is ploughed. What would you suggest my first step is.
I'm in no rush to put my horses on it, and I've ALOT of fencing to put in first !!
It's Spring now, so do you think I'll have time to sow/flatten/whatever to get grass seed down?
BTW, this site is fantastic
