Clearing for a Horse Pasture (help)

[rd_macgregor]

Draft (very large) horses, working six days per week, probably consumed three times the forage per capita of your rescues, lazing about.

First, as you are about to learn, there is no such thing as a "free" horse.

My experience is that horses trample more feed/forage than they eat. Also, since they will eat the preferred plants first, the pasture tends to deteriorate over time. It is good to have more than one pasture, so you can rotate and renovate. Sadly, extra pasture just encourages the horse lovers to acquire more.

Although flush stumps will complicate anything mechanical you might want to do in the field, I don't think they're likely to hurt the horses. Having said that, what some others have said is true: horses are very adept at hurting themselves even when their environment is as safe as it can be made.

Be ready for a lifetime of fence maintenance/repair (especially as it ages).

There are nine horses at our place now (including two foals), and we're trying to pare this down before winter comes. It seems like I am out nearly every day trying to fix something they've managed to destroy.

You have my sympathy.

 

[Egon]

The capitalized statement is dead-on. Older varieties grow a little slower and therefore draw less from the soil. I have learned to distrust any new variety. The old farmers and breeders knew what they were doing....

Slow growing grass is more nutritious/pound than faster growers. The cell structure is generally tighter in the slower grower.

The old slower growing varieties assimilate more nutrient's than the varieties that require fertilizer.

Old varieties should be self substaining. Newer ones require fertilizer augmentation to survive.

 

[Wagtail]

Unless your ground is extremely fertile, I reckon Eddie's right.
I remember someone once saying one horse eats the same amount of fodder as four full-grown cattle. This might be where the phrase "Eats like a horse" comes from! Hey Wagtail, was that saying there in that book? :laughing:

<snert> Nah, the saying mainly comes from the fact that horses are constantly eating. They're not a multi-stomached critter and they need a constant supply of food for their gut to work on or else they'll 'bind up'. The book does say that the ideal height of the grass should be 5 inches.

I my experience this was true... before I created the individual paddocks the 'boys' were on one large 3 acre one. They only ate the shorter grass. As soon as I slashed the rest of the paddock to the recommended 5" they were like, "where did all of this new food come from?"

I've never had to use electric fencing with them either, but they are both mature. My paddocks are all 5-strand star-picket & I've capped every picket with a plastic safety-top. They've never abused the fence and they've never chewed the wooden strainers... a visiting horse did, though, and one of mine almost picked up the habit but thankfully stopped. I have made up temporary electric fence paddocks, & the boys respect them, but electrifying restricts their movement and adds to their stress IMHO.

 

[ronchp]

Here in east TN, I keep 2 horses on a 3 acre pasture that is split into 2 separate areas that we rotate them month to month and they have more than they can eat. I try to mow the new area we are going to put them in about a week before moving them in. So once you get the new pasture established, 3 acres should be enough. I agree with leaving some larger trees for sun and wind cover for the horses. Get rid of all wild cherry and red maple if you have them because the leaves are poision when they are wilting. Many horses have died after eating leaves from wild cherry that has blown over. Recommend you do some research on horse friendly grasses and seed with a endophyte-free mix because some fescue grasses cause a toxicosis in horses. Good luck with your new hobby.

 

[ronchp]

When you fence the new pasture, fence style selection for horses is important. As many have noted, seems like they can get hurt in a padded cell. For that reason we don't use any barb wire; they get injured in barb wire frequently. For our area, we have found that high tensile fence is the most economical fence for horses. We use 4 strand and make the top and 3rd strand hot with a solar powered fence charger. Of course, board fence is nicer if you can afford it and have the time to maintain it.

 

[RPW]

If I only had 5 acres or less I wouldn't use barb wire either but if you have 10 acres or more then barb wire can and does work well. In my case I have 38 acres of which 20 are for the horses, 16 are in hay fields and and 2 are for the future house. In all that time I've never had a wire related injury to any of our 7 horses. Not saying it can't or won't happen but it hasn't happened yet thankfully.

 

[powerscol]

Budget is an issue for me at this time... Renting large equipment is out of the question. I'd like to avoid renting a stump grinder is possible. I have pallets of fertilizer, and can get lime done by a neighbor. The real question is should I leave the stumps 3' high, or cut them flush. If flush cut will that cause problems for the horses? I realize that i may need to dig them out as they rot and I'm ok with that. Option two is bight the bullet and rent a grinder and do what I can with limited funds. I'm already not too happy about having horses yet. We simply aren't ready for them and the expenses they bring. But here they are and now I have to deal with it the best I can....

Thanks,

Now is the time to check with you neighbors or church members. A whole lot can get done when the group gets involved. In the old days my grandad would have run down to the local hardware store and bought some explosives and blown the stumps out of the ground - was fun to watch.....but I guess that is frowned upon in today's time.:confused3::laughing: