FIELD CARE AND MAINTENANCE
You are responsible for where you turn your horse out. Make sure you check the pasture at least twice a day, and if you are unhappy about anything, do not risk your precious horse.
POINTS
You should have at least 2 acres per horse avaliable. Ideally it should be gently sloping so that the rain runs off it.
Any stagnant ponds should be fenced off, as they hold bacteria.
Running streams should be, if possible, fenced off as, although they can be excellent sources of labour free water, you have no idea what the horses are drinking.
A good friend of mine had a field with a running stream on it which was excellent. Suddenly one of her horses died of liver failure, then the others started showing symptoms and some of her cattle. It was put down to ragwort poisoning, although she did not have much on her land. The ragwort was cleared and the horses and cattle recovered. The following year it happened again with another horse and cow dying. My friend, through extensive investigation, found out the local racecourse fertilized their land when these incidents happened and, it is believed, when it rained the chemicals ran down into the stream from which the animals were drinking. Since moving the animals from the fields next to the stream, it has not reoccurred. The racecourse accepts no blame as it could not be proved.
The fields should be rested and treated (harrowed, rolled, fertilized, sprayed or reseeded) at least twice a year. It is best to get professional advice about the land. I have always found local farmers the best to speak to as they have the same issues on their land as you do.
After the land has been rested, you must consider carefully when to reintroduce your horses. If they have been on grazed grass moving them onto lush grass, especially in spring or autumn, can cause many issues, with the most common being laminitis. I move mine when I know they can come in for some of the day, or are being worked harder for a period.
Droppings should be removed from the field as often as possible.
It is a good thing to allow sheep or cattle to graze on the land, as they remove worm larvae and sweeten the grass.
GOOD GRASSES
Timothy
Ryegrass
Cocksfoot
Meadow fescue
NOT SO DESIRABLE GRASSES
Bent Grass
Yorkshire Fog
POISONOUS PLANTS & TREES
You should regularly inspect your fields and either remove these plants or trees immediately, or move your horse.
Yew Tree
Cow parsley know for causing severe burning.
Bracken
Deadly Nightshade
Ragwort
Foxglove
Oak Tree
Some maple trees or sycamore
FENCING
Fencing should be strong and as free from danger as possible.
There should be three rails, or strands, to discourage a horse leaning through it. The bottom one being about 45cm from the ground and the top about 140cm. This will make it less likely your horse will get a foot stuck, lean through or go over it.
The posts should be of the strongest material possible, and be a maximum of 5m apart.
An ideal fence should have about every third post concreted in and made of a concrete, telegraph poles or something as strong.
Post and Rail
In my opinion this is the best fencing.
It is usually made of wood but alternatives, for example, plastic or concrete are available.
Advantages
A- Strong.
B- Visible.
C- One of the best advantages is it is one of the least harmful, provided it is maintained.
Disadvantages
A- Costly.
B- If wood it will be high maintenance, as it will need treating yearly.
C-Can encourage chewing and rubbing.
Hedge
Advantages
A- This provides an excellent wind and weather break for your horse.
B- Quite sturdy once established, but often needs a fence in front to protect the hedge.
Disadvantages
A- This is quite a high maintenance fence as it needs regular trimming and constant checking that a hole is not forming.
B- Great care must be taken that there is no blackthorn as, when trimmed, the cut pieces can cause severe abscesses in the hoof, so need completely clearing.
C- Initially hard to establish.
Wire Fence
The posts are usually made of wood, and often combined with wooden rails, so the top rail is wood then 2 lower strands of wire.
Barbed wire should not be used as it can cause horrific injuries quite easily.
Chicken wire is also not advisable if the squares are large enough for a foot to go through.
Advantages
A- One of the cheapest solutions.
Disadvantages
A- Rugs and shoes often get caught on the wire.
B- The wire stretches and so will need regular tightening.
C- The wire can be hard to see when the horse is galloping around, so initially may need something to highlight it.
Electric Fence
There are many types, the thin wire is not suitable as it can cause serious damage and is hard to see. The tape is generally the best for horses.
Advantages
A- Can be easily moved if the plastic posts are used.
B- (Usually) very effective fencing that will not encourage chewing or rubbing.
Disadvantages
A- This needs regular checking and charging.
B- Can be ineffective once they have a rug on.
C- Can unexpectedly give a nasty shock which I have experienced many times. The worst being when I bent down to check the charge and the wind blew my hair on to the wire, my ponies had my full sympathy then.
WATER
It is very important to have a constant supply of clean fresh water.
Stagnant ponds and streams should be fenced off.
The water source should be halfway along the fence so no horse gets trapped in a corner whilst drinking.
The soil around the water should be well draining, and there should be hardstanding, if possible.
There should be no overhanging trees or bushes where the leaves can easily be blown into the trough.
A self filling trough is excellent, but you cannot keep track of how much they are drinking.
All water containers must be cleaned regularly, sometimes twice a week in the summer, and the ice broken and removed in the winter.
The trough or containers must have no protruding bits or sharp edges, and be sturdy enough that they do not get knocked over.
SHELTER
Horses must have some kind of shelter available to them. This is so that they can be protected from the sun as well as the wind, rain and anything else mother nature will throw at them. This of course does not mean they will use it!
Trees and hedges are an excellent natural source of shelter but you must make sure there is nothing poisonous or harmful there.
A bought field shelter is OK but it must:
A- be well made.
B- have no sharp edges.
C- be inspected and maintained regularly.
D- be very securely anchored into the ground.
E- be big enough for the horses.
F- be positioned-with its back to the prevailing wind.
– away from the fence line so no horse can get trapped behind it.
– in the least muddy section of the field possible.
G- have one side completely open to avoid horses getting trapped.
Final Thoughts
Horses are big, natural flight animals that we have completely taken out of their natural surroundings, so it is really important that we make sure we keep them as safely as possible.
We have chosen where they are kept, so we must make sure it is safe.