To Reseed or not Reseed your Horse Paddock?
This article's aim is the help with the question should you reseed your horse paddock. If you need to reseed one of your paddocks. Then to see our wide range of mixtures designed to create healthier pastures and our great free wild flower seed offer click HORSE PADDOCK MIXES
Horse paddockEach year Horse paddock owners are faced with the same question will the grass last another year or do I need reseed it. We have set out some of the questions you need to ask yourself when making this decision.
Horse paddock Planting Times When nothing has been done to the field for a long time. We suggest getting a soil sample tested first. If there is a problem with the soil, then whatever cultivations or seed you put down may be wasted. The best planting times are generally Mid March to Mid May or August to September. This is always, weather permitting, and the main guide is always plant when the conditions are right for the seeds not necessarily when you are ready to plant.
Horse paddockEach year Horse paddock owners are faced with the same question will the grass last another year or do I need reseed it. We have set out some of the questions you need to ask yourself when making this decision.
Timing.
When you over seed an existing field, to improve it, you need to plan on keeping the horses off for at least one season. For example you could plant in the spring and put them back on in the autumn. When you sow from new you should keep the horses of the field for the first 12 months. There is always pressure on fields from time. Overtime on all fields the yield and quality will get worse. It is much better to plan when to improve your paddock rather than to wait until the field is completely trashed. Then you will find you are forced to change it. It is difficult to say that after a certain length of time you should improve your pasture as every field is different. As a guide if nothing has been done to the field for more than 7 years it will probably benefit from new grasses being introduced.Quality of field
Several factors affect the quality of grazing in the field. Weather- Severe weather affects many fields, especially those on heavy ground, and they can end up with little growing on them. The decision then is easy that they need reseeding. Time- Grass fields are complex mixes of grass species which were originally sown to give the optimum grazing. Over time all mixtures break down. Yields and quality will reduce as less productive grasses come into the field more and more. Stocking rates- Generally the advice is to work on at least 1 acre per horse. If you can have more acres per horse, then they will only benefit from more extensive grazing. The higher the stocking rate the more likely the field is to get run down quickly.Planning
Our advice, is that if you own the field and intend to keep a horse on it for a long time. Then accept that at some point you will need to reseed it. The key factor is to make sure that you have alternative grazing for the horses when you reseed the field. Even with a small area you can still achieve this by splitting the field into two. Then reseeding one half in the spring the other in the autumn. If you rent the field, we appreciate that it is more difficult. But because the field will get worse over time, even if you manage it well, the Landlord should be building in improving it on a regular basis. Or you may end up paying the same rent for a poorer and poorer field.
Horse paddock Planting Times When nothing has been done to the field for a long time. We suggest getting a soil sample tested first. If there is a problem with the soil, then whatever cultivations or seed you put down may be wasted. The best planting times are generally Mid March to Mid May or August to September. This is always, weather permitting, and the main guide is always plant when the conditions are right for the seeds not necessarily when you are ready to plant.
