Field is lookin' really nice! :thumbsup: Couple of observations.. especially with regards to pastures and horses. Alfalfa and clover are problematic for horses. Your extension folk's can also help to verse you on this subject. Some species of clover are very bad for horses and alfalfa is too high in protein to be included in the horses diet at a high %.
Secondly, one of my first pastures (actually 2) I had a nice fallow seedbed; planted everything the first week in November - 6" of new snow a week later. Got great germination the next Spring and a beautiful stand! Waited until early fall before I ever let the horses put a foot on those fields.
Dang... they punched holes everywhere in those fields!
I had already mowed the grass once, maybe twice, earlier in the summer and hauled the clippings off. The grass was probably 4" maybe 5" tall. Figured that the roots were solid enough... Nope, not even close - about every 10th mouthful - they'd pull the whole clump of grass up! Crap!!
Long story - short. I ended up dragging the fields with a short-tined drag, reseeded (overseeded) and roller-packed - ROLLER PACKED - those fields with a 8' - 3,800lb water filled roller.
You gotta pack that field. Seriously. They'll make it look like World War I out there...
AKfish