What To Do This Month In Your Paddocks
Rest, rotate and manage pasture to prevent severe overgrazing
• Ensure horses have access to shade for protection from flies and the sun. Trees/hedges provide excellent natural shade and shelter and appear less intrusive in the landscape than field shelters do.
• Consider carrying out a faecal worm egg count to check horses’ worm burdens are controlled
• When purchasing hay, check it is ragwort-free and if possible, buy locally from a farm working to a conservation programme.
• Do you monitor grazing periods and stocking levels to avoid summer dustbowls and winter poaching? Bare paddocks negatively affect the landscape, environment, pasture quality and equine well-being. Extensive grass cover is lost and replaced by undesirable weeds. Grazing pressure must be judged in relation to horses’ needs, the acreage available and site-specific conditions (e.g. soil type, drainage properties, landform etc). Three acres per horse may be appropriate on poor chalk soil on the slopes of the Downs. Keep management routines flexible in accordance with the weather.
Surrey Horse Pasture Project • www.surreycc.gov.uk/horsepastureproject • Tel: 01372 741783
Kent Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty • www.kentdowns.org.uk • Tel: 01303 815170
Photo: Kent Downs AONB
Text: Kent Downs AONB & Surrey Horse Pasture Project
