Land management

[hereshegoesagain36]

Hi

New land owner here. 2 acres with 1 x 16.2hh and 1 x 11.2hh that will be on restricted grazing.

2 stables and field is holding up ok at the moment even though it hasn't stopped raining. Conscious we aren't even at the end of October though!!

What's your routine with a similar set up to preserve the land as much as possible?

What type of soil? Is it well draining? What is your routine usually and could you vary it or are you only able to visit before and after work?

When I was on small acreage I tried lots of different things - in and out several times a day, only turning out when there was no standing water, creating a half-acre trash paddock, splitting into 4 and rotating each month, tracking the outside of the field for winter and grazing the middle in summer, etc. Nothings perfect, depends on your availability, the horses needs, the land you have and the weather.

I will say that 2 acres is small and if it's clay you're in real trouble. In that situation I think I'd buy a pallet or two of mud slabs and create a mud free area where they can socialise and move freely and keep the grazing for properly dry weather.

2 acres is very small and will need a lot of careful management. In your situation I would put an all weather track down and keep the central areas for winter or autumn grazing. If you did a figure of 8 track you could maximise the area. This meets the needs for restricted grazing whilst ensuring they can be out 24/7 however the upfront cost is ££.
Fundamentally though the acreage is really too small as in an ideal world you rotate and rest grazing.

I have 2.5 acres of clay split into two fields. I am resting one and using the other. There's very little grass so I supplements with hay almost all year round. It's a nightmare in the winter, they are usually in in the day and out at night except when it's really really cold. Both horses look very well and healthy.

Actually it's more like 3 acres tbf

Plenty of examples of horses being kept on that amount of land! Have a look on Facebook at Land Management for Horses. It’s a group dedicated to managing small plots of land well in order to keep horses on it. There is much debate and advice about track systems, rotational grazing, decompacting and feeding your land with well rotted manure, hard standing areas, etc.

Personally, I find the best thing I have done is created a hard standing area for my horses in the winter. It gives them somewhere to stretch their legs whilst not trashing the paddocks. It’s also useful for containing a restricted eater too.

I keep 4 horses on 4 acres of paddock (I also have another half an acre which has stabling and arena on it.)

I second what backinthebox has said. We have a hard standing area outside their stables and they can go in and out as they please. We used type 1 mot stone. It eventually hardens and compacts to provide a good surface. It's about £48 for three quarters of a ton. It saves my knees, the grazing and no mud fever!