Buying Advice You folks with tractors, horses & pastures

[WhisperingWinds]

I've got the week off and am in the final phase of my tractor hunting - looking at getting a 2520. Got one more dealer to visit before I sit down and make a deal. To the point, now that the ground has thawed and the horse has made the pasture look like it was bombarded by a miniature air force, I'm wondering what might be the best attachment for flattening out the divots - or if that is even necessary. I plan on getting a chain harrow with the tractor for dragging the pastures (about 2 1/2 acres worth) to spread the manure piles around, but not sure if it would flatten out the divots. But I also don't know if that's really necessary. My fiance has had horses forever but they were always boarded somewhere - this is our first year having one in the "back yard".

Any thoughts on this? Thanks......

 

[whistlepig]

I have a chain harrow and it work would well for this. We let horses flatten the pastures out with their feet. In the winter we keep them in what we call a "sacrifice pasture" of about two acres and don't turn them out on the main pastures until the ground firms up.

 

[AKfish]

A chain harrow or drag is a "must have" implement with horses and pastures. Gotta break the manure up and disperse it so it'll break down and incorporate into the root zone and organic layer.

Couple of things that I've had to learn the hard way -- cross fence your pasture into small sections -- depending upon the number of horses you have to graze.

We have 2 permanent horses and sometimes a guest or two and our pastures are each about 1/2 acre. Currently have 3 sections and we put the horses on them for ~10 days per month; usually works out to a week/month and only for about 8-10 hours a day. Each pasture is used once a month. If we get alot of rain - the horses stay in the corral and eat hay until the ground dries out and firms up.

Divots or "bomb craters" are to be avoided at all costs! Try to replace the sod clumps into the ground and tamp them down. If the pasture is that soft and the horses are blowing things up - they go back to the barn! (My wife gets pissed -- but she's not the one that has to keep everything growing!)

In short, you need to develop a grazing rotation system.

And you'll find that the horses will "selectively graze" with the end result being a patchwork field (if you let things go too long) of areas of pool table grass height and jungle patches with grass that's 24" or more. Mow it and try to keep everything a uniform height. That minimizes the situation of "old grass and young grass". The young grass areas will eventually get stressed and those locations are where the weeds will start showing up. You don't want that situation to develop...

JD 2520 - great machine! My ER doc buddy has one. They've got horses, too.

AKfish

 

[WhisperingWinds]

I have a chain harrow and it work would well for this. We let horses flatten the pastures out with their feet. In the winter we keep them in what we call a "sacrifice pasture" of about two acres and don't turn them out on the main pastures until the ground firms up.

Thanks for the info. We do have a paddock area right off the barn we could use as a sacraficial pasture. It's not all that big (maybe 1000 sq ft or so) but does open into the arena for wandering room. We'll have to keep that in mind for next winter.

 

[WhisperingWinds]

A chain harrow or drag is a "must have" implement with horses and pastures. Gotta break the manure up and disperse it so it'll break down and incorporate into the root zone and organic layer.

Couple of things that I've had to learn the hard way -- cross fence your pasture into small sections -- depending upon the number of horses you have to graze.

We have 2 permanent horses and sometimes a guest or two and our pastures are each about 1/2 acre. Currently have 3 sections and we put the horses on them for ~10 days per month; usually works out to a week/month and only for about 8-10 hours a day. Each pasture is used once a month. If we get alot of rain - the horses stay in the corral and eat hay until the ground dries out and firms up.

Divots or "bomb craters" are to be avoided at all costs! Try to replace the sod clumps into the ground and tamp them down. If the pasture is that soft and the horses are blowing things up - they go back to the barn! (My wife gets pissed -- but she's not the one that has to keep everything growing!)

In short, you need to develop a grazing rotation system.

And you'll find that the horses will "selectively graze" with the end result being a patchwork field (if you let things go too long) of areas of pool table grass height and jungle patches with grass that's 24" or more. Mow it and try to keep everything a uniform height. That minimizes the situation of "old grass and young grass". The young grass areas will eventually get stressed and those locations are where the weeds will start showing up. You don't want that situation to develop...

JD 2520 - great machine! My ER doc buddy has one. They've got horses, too.

AKfish

A couple of folks here had recommended the chain harrow and so did the first dealer I talked to. I had considered a landscape rake, but I think the harrow will be most useful for the horse applications.

This is our first spring here and my fiance had thought of using a rotational grazing method as we come out of winter. Good to hear she's on the right track!

Right now, The pasture is semi-divided into three sections - we can completely close off one section, but the other two don't have a completed fence between them. We were thinking of using electic tape fencing to totally divide them. This would give us four different areas - the 3 pasture sections for grazing rotation, plus the paddock/arena area to use when the pastures are too soft. We only have one occupant for now but will be adding to the "herd" later this year.

That's interesting about the patchwork potential. Our horse arrived here in late October and was grazing for only a little while before the snows came so we couldn't really get an idea of how he was going to be mowing the grass for us. Appreciate the head's up about keeping the pastures a uniform height - a great reason to be out there on that tractor!

 

[whodat526]

A chain harrow or drag is a "must have" implement with horses and pastures. Gotta break the manure up and disperse it so it'll break down and incorporate into the root zone and organic layer.

Couple of things that I've had to learn the hard way -- cross fence your pasture into small sections -- depending upon the number of horses you have to graze.

We have 2 permanent horses and sometimes a guest or two and our pastures are each about 1/2 acre. Currently have 3 sections and we put the horses on them for ~10 days per month; usually works out to a week/month and only for about 8-10 hours a day. Each pasture is used once a month. If we get alot of rain - the horses stay in the corral and eat hay until the ground dries out and firms up.

Divots or "bomb craters" are to be avoided at all costs! Try to replace the sod clumps into the ground and tamp them down. If the pasture is that soft and the horses are blowing things up - they go back to the barn! (My wife gets pissed -- but she's not the one that has to keep everything growing!)

In short, you need to develop a grazing rotation system.

And you'll find that the horses will "selectively graze" with the end result being a patchwork field (if you let things go too long) of areas of pool table grass height and jungle patches with grass that's 24" or more. Mow it and try to keep everything a uniform height. That minimizes the situation of "old grass and young grass". The young grass areas will eventually get stressed and those locations are where the weeds will start showing up. You don't want that situation to develop...

JD 2520 - great machine! My ER doc buddy has one. They've got horses, too.

AKfish

that is what my grandpaw used to do when grazing cattle on rye grass in the winter and we still do it today and we have had good results from this practice

 

[WM75Guy]

We have 2 horses, each has a turnout of a little over 1 acre with mostly Bahai and some coastal. They are fed hay and grain twice a day and turned out every day unless it rains. They spend nights in the stables in their stall. They have not beaten down the grass except for the area right around the stables. The area right around the stables gets dragged with the loader or arena drag to smooth it out. The grass gets mowed. Takes care of the manure problem.

We started putting a round bale in each turnout in January. They eat their grain and then go eat a little hay. Most of the time they graze on the grass. I plan on putting out new bales this week. Has cut my hay cost in half. Two rounds bales at $60 each compared to 40 square bales at $6 each for the same 8 week period. We still use the squares for rainy days and a little nightime snack.

 

[whistlepig]

Have to be very careful with round bales and horses.

 

[jenkinsph]

WhisperingWinds,
I think I would take the time to partition the pastures before adding the second horse. I agree with the harrow drag and a 2520 for mowing should be a good fit. I agree with rotating the paddocks and suspect you will have to stay on top of this to keep it in decent shape. Horses are simply tough on small spaces.

 

[Grayson Klassen]

If you are using round bales with horses you need to ensure they are not just dropped and left. If they get moldy or dusty it can sensitize your horses and hurt their breathing. If you use rounds roll em out don't use a feeder.

I use squares that are put up in a barn as soon as they are ready to come off the field. I find one bale a day for two horses is lots unless they are working hard or they will fatten up. Also why I stay away from rounds.