Small Acreage Horse Keeping
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Aussie Winter in Paddock Paradise
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It's been a while since I posted about my 'Paddock Paradise'. The system is working really well 
, especially in view of our very dry Winter here in SE Queensland. Last year my paddocks looked pretty sad during Winter, short grass that just disintegrated when you walked over it.
This year... I have loads of grass with good length which is providing a near solid ground cover. It is somewhat brownish, but it is holding up without much discintegation. The yards are still looking good as well. The grass is short in there, but it is there holding the soil together and preventing erosion. I am thinking though to make the yards a bit bigger, increasing the size from 8mx8m to 8mx12m to allow me to have horses in there all day if needed, plus I want to put an area in there specific for feeding, using concrete pavers to create a 'clean' feeding area. My guys seem to delight in eating off the ground, regularly emptying their feed bins onto the grass. I tried to stop it by using fixed bins, but though it stops them tipping the bins the feed still finds it's way onto the ground.
I am now also thinking of building another set of yards which I eventually want to cover and enclose turning them into large stables, to which I want to attach day yards.
It's still all in the 'thinking about' stage... so watch this space.
I will go out tomorrow and take some photos of the track as it is now.
Cheers
Categories: Property Management, Paddock Track System
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3 Comments
I was veryhappy to read of your experiences as tough as they have been, because I have been going through the same thing for the last 5 years. My opposing problem is slopes and a high rainfall area!
I just wanted you to know that we do the best we can (even if they decide to throw their hay all over the ground) and we will get there in the end...I hope. I am keeping a record of the things i have tried and maybe it will end up as the best I can do given the property. Thanks for sharing,'
Chris
thank you. I have been a bit neglectful of this site as I am concnetrating a lot on my natural horsemanship at the moment, and a bit because my place doesn't need much work at the moment and I forget how tough it has been the previous years.
Re the hay. I have bought some small mesh hay nets of Cynthia Cooper's website Natural Horse World (I have to put links on this site) and the horses took to them like ducks to water. I still hard feed as well twice a day, but more because my old boys need it. With the grass a and the small mesh hay nets, I am using just 1 small bale of grass hay a day and my two old boys are putting on weight, and my young mare is keeping her weight.
Re the sloping ground. I too have a slope, albeit somewhat gentle. Twice a year I rip across the slope and oversow with pasture, to slow down run-off and get the moisture into the ground. I didn't think it would work as my ripper only goes about 5cm in, but my ground is less compacted, I have less run-off/erosion and more grass. I picked pasture mixes that have a lot of creeping grasses in it... Queensland Couch... to stablilise the soil and give me good ground cover. In the past year I've been oversowing with Rhodes grass (Katambora and Fine-cut as they are less clumping and more spreading). I didn't get quite the germination I would have loved, but I think it's because my ground is so devoid of nutrients, so over the last year, I bit the bullet and a) spread some inorganic fertiliser to get things started and b) left all the manure, just raking it, instead of picking it up, the difference is noticable with much healthier looking grass.
It's a lot of work but the horses are happy, and if they are happy so am I. The small mesh hay nets have been a great investment. I load them once a day and hang them off the trees, just above ground. I have three of them and as I said... the horses have adapted quickly to them and I enjoy having to get hay out only once a day, plus there is so much less wastage.
Cheers and I will pull my finger out and get some photos of my place on as it is now.
Petra
Petra says...
Hi Chris,
thank you. I have been a bit neglectful of this site as I am concnetrating a lot on my natural horsemanship at the moment, and a bit because my place doesn't need much work at the moment and I forget how tough it has been the previous years.
Re the hay. I have bought some small mesh hay nets of Cynthia Cooper's website Natural Horse World (I have to put links on this site) and the horses took to them like ducks to water. I still hard feed as well twice a day, but more because my old boys need it. With the grass a and the small mesh hay nets, I am using just 1 small bale of grass hay a day and my two old boys are putting on weight, and my young mare is keeping her weight.
Re the sloping ground. I too have a slope, albeit somewhat gentle. Twice a year I rip across the slope and oversow with pasture, to slow down run-off and get the moisture into the ground. I didn't think it would work as my ripper only goes about 5cm in, but my ground is less compacted, I have less run-off/erosion and more grass. I picked pasture mixes that have a lot of creeping grasses in it... Queensland Couch... to stablilise the soil and give me good ground cover. In the past year I've been oversowing with Rhodes grass (Katambora and Fine-cut as they are less clumping and more spreading). I didn't get quite the germination I would have loved, but I think it's because my ground is so devoid of nutrients, so over the last year, I bit the bullet and a) spread some inorganic fertiliser to get things started and b) left all the manure, just raking it, instead of picking it up, the difference is noticable with much healthier looking grass.
It's a lot of work but the horses are happy, and if they are happy so am I. The small mesh hay nets have been a great investment. I load them once a day and hang them off the trees, just above ground. I have three of them and as I said... the horses have adapted quickly to them and I enjoy having to get hay out only once a day, plus there is so much less wastage.
Cheers and I will pull my finger out and get some photos of my place on as it is now.
Petra
Hi Petra,
I love before and afters - it sounds like you have the right idea by ripping across the slope to keep the water from running off. I planted some trees in a deep rip line one year at the break of season and I have never had to water them. They are twice as tall as me in just three years.
Hopefully I will get my act together and write down all my "experiments" - I will also check out the fencing you have as wood doesn't last that long here and I would like to avoid creosote.
All the best,
chris
