This Time I'm Really Going To Do It

EatingTheElephant

Great going on bay of e. Hope it's all collected soon.

Karmacat

That's great news, Watty! The pickups are a bit tricky, aren't they - I haven't done many of those, but I remember an awful lot of to-ing and fro-ing. Hope it clears soon.

greent

Fab ebaying, Watty!
x

Watty1

Thanks all. Decided I *was* going to have a nice day today regardless of what happens. Most Handsome and I met a neighbour and went for a hack round lanes. Then in to work accompanied by kitty. Sat in sun on patio and drank a cup of tea again accompanied by kitty. She really is charming. Now back in. Work piled up, franking machine bust and I really must get on with stuff rather than hang out on here - but - still deciding it will be a nice day

Watty1

Lovely morning. Took a few hours off and went to see a complete stranger I came across via facebook who showed me how he and his partner keep their 8 horses on less than 3 acres by using a system of tracks and hay. Am researching track methods of looking after horses as we have 2 fields we can not use at present due to the vast amount of grass that little native ponies get fat on.
Mr Watty came too. We stopped and had a lovely English breakfast for lunch in a caf! on way home and now back in office.
Totally inspired though.
Hopefully have sheep on order for the fields as a way to start knocking the excess grass down. Farmer coming over Sunday PM to see if we are a suitable foster home for some sheep.

smallholdingsister

Details of the grazing method please!

EatingTheElephant

It does sound intriguing. never heard of anything like that before.

Could you make hay from the other fields to cut winter costs - or to sell?

Watty1

Our unused fields are not really suitable for hay. The grass is a bit patchy and they are probably too small for the local farmers. Would mean cutting by hand which is a lot of work or using the machines we have (we tried it once) but we could re-imagine the fields to get some hay in the future maybe.


So the method is based on a book called "Paddock Paradise". I haven't read book but have bought it and am on page 3 :rotfl:
the idea is that horses are not really designed to eat the lovely rich grass we feed them and they designed to travel greater distances than we let them. So by creating "tracks" around the field and putting water in one place and hay in another they will move around more and eat less rich grass. It means feeding hay most of the year which puts costs up but should lead to healthier happy horses. His certainly were all lovely and chilled and not fat! The tracks are of different widths to create movement and then there are planted up areas of things like dog rose and hawthorne and so on for grazing.


Going to see two more people that use the same system tomorrow. .
On what we have seen so far we think it might be ideal for one of the fields we only use half of and that we couldn't hay because of the slopes and trees. That might make it idea for a track system. We can't graze it because Foggyfellpony gets colic when he does because the grass is too much -but - we could maybe make a lovely track around the outside.
Will report back when we have seen more.

hiddenshadow

Track system sounds very interesting, might have to look into that book.

smallholdingsister

And me. Plops is far from fat though.