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Post by brindlerainbow on Jan 17, 2015 14:01:57 GMT
I have two and a half acres and I keep 3 ponies on it ( welsh sec A, welsh sec B and RP all under 13hh ).I live on Dartmoor, the grass is poor quality and quite mossy in places but it drains very well so in winter although the gateway gets muddy the rest of the field is fine. I try to give it 2 or 3 weeks rest during spring/summer when I take the ponies to a farm up the road but this isn't really enough to give it a chance to recover. My ponies are fed all year round and generally have hay/haylage from September through to May.
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Post by gilbertgrape on Jan 17, 2015 16:53:14 GMT
WE have 6 acres supporting one Section C and 6 Section As . All is well in summer and there is usually too much grass. In winter we let bits get muddy but all have shelters and /or rugs and they are fed and have hay.I think we'd do better with 4 smaller ponies in the winter then the grazing would stay intact.None come in. Gets muddy but drains off well.Gates are always a nightmare but field mats help and last for ever plus hardcore.
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Post by auntiebarb on Jan 17, 2015 17:01:17 GMT
About 4 acres, in one big field, with a track round it in summer, three small paddocks. We have two big horses and the land is peaty. The big field is supporting them at the moment, with ad lib hay and a T shaped track, containing the stables and yard, with doors always open. They seem to be very happy. It seems that the centre of the big field, which was left to grow very long after taking hay from it in June, keeps a nice thick sward, so it doesn't get too muddy. So soon as the grass comes through, they are back on the track system, not risking laminitis again. They are both barefoot and get a small Thunderbrooks feed each evening with a sprinkle of agnus castus.
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Post by fanfarefan on Jan 17, 2015 19:49:47 GMT
we have 5 acres , and 8 ponies , however , 3 have cushings and EMS , so they dont graze ,,, they have yards and school , the other five ,,,, 1 12.2hh , and 4 minis , have 3 acres winter grazing and 2 acres summer grazing , eletric fenced and strp grazed ,,,, but this year we are flooded in the winter ground and so they are back on the summer grazing with hay , we are on clay ground , but a neighbour has ahd alot of ground work etc done next to our field , which we feel has changed the lie of the land and affected our fields , drainage etc , so that maybe why we are flooded ,,,,, the first time in 30 yrs gggrrrhhhh
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Post by Toaster on Jan 17, 2015 22:46:08 GMT
I have three acres and two ponies plus a small flock of sheep and two goats.
The 'summer' half is more securely fenced for the sheep so they live on it over winter, there is very little mud even though it doesn't drain at all well
The 'winter' half is split in two, half looks immaculate with emerald green grass (saving this for Feb/march) and the other has scrubby grass (has been grazed since Nov)there is some mud around the edges and gateways but ponies are in overnight which helps preserve the ground a great deal. Ponies don't need any hay while out
We have a lawn mower/mini tractor thing that we maintain the ground with and that has been a huge benefit
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dis
Junior Member
Posts: 82
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Post by dis on Jan 17, 2015 23:23:37 GMT
14 acres, 4 horses living out. Sandy soil, no mud, plentiful grass with minimal hay needed. Still not needing hay yet and have another 3 acres unused
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Post by gilbertgrape on Jan 17, 2015 23:55:48 GMT
With 14 acres you have room for manoeuvre. When we bought our 6 acres it had one pony on with hardly any fencing and no water supply.WE gradually fenced off smaller areas and it was so much better. Bit of a nightmare the first winter as we moved in November. Pretty soon learned that large cob feet made a large mess of the grass. We now have small ponies- it is so much greener!
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Post by gertrudetreacle on Jan 18, 2015 0:28:49 GMT
Two ponies (One Dartie, one Sec C), and two acres in total. 1 1/2 acres of field, and a half acre grass and planings yard. They come in every night, and I am only just starting to toss a tiny bit of hay in the feeders, but only because the C tries his Jedi mind tricks on me. The Dartie just forages. The land is mostly dry, unless we get rain of Biblical quantities and the land higher up drains down to us. We split into two in the summer and rotate, then take the electric down in the winter. They graze almost all of the rubbish grass right down and forage all winter, which I think is good for them They also get to graze the sweet yard for a wee while before turnout most days - it saves me mowing lol x
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Post by breeze on Jan 23, 2015 8:46:01 GMT
we have 8 highands on 21 acres, they live out 24/7 april to october then in at night in winter as the land gets very wet, we cut our own hay/haylage off it and there is plenty of grass in winter so they only need hay when they are in at night. fields are split into summer and winter so they all get a rest each year.
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Post by nici on Jan 23, 2015 11:02:05 GMT
Currently 4 ponies living out on 7.5 acres. Two smaller paddocks (1.5 acres and 2 acres) are very wet so are used for summer grazing. The smaller paddock is also our riding paddock, so I'm very precious about the surface in there - ponies only go into that one when it's dry. The remaining 4 acres is our winter field, on a slope and drier than the other two. We've recently run short of grass so now using the yard / stables as field shelters and providing hay in there every night.
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sarahp
Happy to help
Posts: 9,510
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Post by sarahp on Jan 23, 2015 11:38:08 GMT
Rule of thumb was always an acre per horse, including making winter feed for it, but of course it will vary with size, height, type and usage of equines, quality of land and its management system. As we can see above!
We've been here for 33 years with about 30 acres of sandy clay loam, mostly slightly sloping and well drained with land drains ages ago. We now have it divided into 9 fields of 3 - 4 acres each, although I'm thinking of dividing some it up even more now. At its peak usage I had up to 60 breeding ewes, made three fields worth of hay each year and sold some and had the Cobs as well. Gave up hay on grounds of logistics - I could get someone to make it but the carting was always a problem. Had to give up lambing sheep about 10 years ago because I could no longer cope with the work load but kept on a non-breeding flock of 30ish to help with field maintenance and interrupt worm cycles, and currently have 18 ponies here, 6 Ds and 12 As, so lightly stocked for the acreage. I don't really have any shortage of grass now, in fact sometimes too much for the As, but having tried winter grazing the XS this year (it was a very good summer with lots of grass growth) it's really too heavy for that and I now have two other badly poached fields as well as the back one which always is as it's my winter grazing field, chosen for having really good shelter, water trough near the house and close to the barn for haying them. Added bonus - I can watch them from the kitchen window!
In the grazing season they rotate around which can get quite complicated as there are entires here running together who do not get put next to any fields containing mares. Currently I try to graze down fields with Ds and/or sheep before the As go in, and my back field doesn't grow a heavy crop anyway having been beaten up every winter for years which is useful. I don't fertilise or apply weedkiller, except occasionally spot weeding, but do check and correct the pH every few years.
Ponies live out 24/7 all year round except weaned foals who come in at night for their first winter along with any going showing the following season. Sheep always work their way round everywhere as the last to eat a field in the autumn, and when the grass is exhausted they come into the barn until there is grass for them again.
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Post by thatboythatgirl on Jan 23, 2015 12:44:25 GMT
previous 18 months to dec 2014 we had 7 (17.1RID, 16.2 IDx, 3xsec As, 13hh SHP and a sec D) on 2.5acres split into 4 paddocks. They where out at night/stabled in the day during the summer and we had weight issues with the whole lot. Only out for 2hrs in pairs during the winter in the trash paddock( which only took a month to recover from the previous winter last spring).
We now have 6 (lost a sec A) and 10 acres of land, so far we've just fenced of 2 x 1 acre paddocks which except for the gate ways are not the slightest bit churned up. Then there is a 1/2 acre paddock previously fenced off that we ride in and is holding up quite well still
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