Second Serviceable Pasture Open!

I have a second serviceable pasture to use!  I did a lot of fence repair in the farther field along the tree line, and we added a bit of fencing in the low area where a creek is washing out some of the ground.  I still have a lot of hot wire to set up but thankfully so far they are staying in the pastures because that’s where the best grass is.  

I’m hoping a hot wire along the top will work since they all tend to go bump it with their chests to assess height. With any luck a little zing will be enough of a deterrent for hopping out.  I’ll definitely be making a sturdier area for when the stallion arrives, though. 

I’m also scouting out where I want to put my sacrifice areas, so that the horses can be outside and out of the stalls but not on the pasture itself. In a perfect world everyone would be eating grass all the time, but there’s a few reasons that’s not feasible.  

Firstly, a few of the horses would turn into blimps if they ate the rich grass constantly (Dewey and Daisy, I’m looking at you, kids!). There are also a bunch of health issues that come with obesity in horses that we can avoid by creating some turnout where the grass is gone. 

Second, the pastures will grow better and maintain quality grass if they are rested periodically, meaning no one is running around on the grass or eating it. The rate of grass growth has to be able to stay ahead of the rate at which they eat it or stomp on it. 

Third, the sacrifice areas will be good to keep the horses out of the stalls. It’s a ton of work to maintain stalls, which my saint of a husband is currently doing because I can’t lift/push the wheelbarrow or shovel horse manure this soon after the back surgery. The more I can keep them outside the better, for their mental health and my husband’s!

If you look closely at this photo of Dewey grazing you can see my tape measure outlining part of where I’ll have the sacrifice areas.