Hi All,
Looking at a property that is about 70% wooded.
Aside from the issue of poisonous trees/plants, which we’d check and deal with accordingly, do any of you keep horses in woods with a small area of pasture and if you do are their any issues.
We already feed hay all year so would continue with that.
Thanks
When my horses were kept at home our pasture was essentially a pine forest. It was like a giant dry lot. We also fed hay year round and had no problem besides a friend’s horse eating the bark off one tree (which we fenced off and never had another issue with). I was surprised that the few breaks in forest did grow a little bit of grass.
The nice thing was that it was easy to maintain the pasture footing wise when it got muddy. Without grass, it was almost never too bad to turn out.
It depends. Are any of the trees worth keeping? You might be money and hassle to the good if you sell the timber and have the land clear-cut, graded, and seeded for pasture.
Horses are extremely hard on tree roots and, to a lesser extent, bark. It might take a while, but you will have trees killed. Murphy’s law of horse–it will be the most valuable and/or most difficult to remove.
In areas that don’t have sandy soil, it tends to stay wetter in wooded/shaded areas and grass doesn’t want to grow there. So, you get a lot of mud. Lots of mud. All year.
How do you feel about tree branches? Both on the tree and the ones that naturally fall on the ground. The percentage of horses injured by tree branches is fairly low, but I personally know of several serious injuries and two fatalities caused by trees in pastures.
Also, what kind of fencing are you planning to use? Can you check it every day? You’ll have branches falling fairly frequently and larger things (big branches, whole trees) blowing down in storms, etc. Any fencing near or under trees needs more frequent inspection and repair than fencing in open ground.
I equate woods with bugs, so no I would not do it, but that’s just me.
Thanks hightide.
We’re in Southern Cali so I’m thinking it might work well for them.
They can have plenty of shade without being marooned under a small area of shelter all day so they will hopefully be able to move around more.
It’s rare to find lots of mature trees in this area and I think they’d like it. The two drafts, although they grew up in this climate, do struggle a bit in the heat of summer so I’m hoping this place might offer some relief.
It would also mean they can go from 1/2 ish acre dry lots to being turned out together on approximately 6 acres.
[QUOTE=tbchick84;8330722]
I equate woods with bugs, so no I would not do it, but that’s just me.[/QUOTE]
Very true tbchick84 although we have a real problem controlling flies in summer in their dry lots anyway and there’s no standing water nearby so no mosquitoes.
[QUOTE=Kodiak;8330715]
It depends. Are any of the trees worth keeping? You might be money and hassle to the good if you sell the timber and have the land clear-cut, graded, and seeded for pasture.
Horses are extremely hard on tree roots and, to a lesser extent, bark. It might take a while, but you will have trees killed. Murphy’s law of horse–it will be the most valuable and/or most difficult to remove.
In areas that don’t have sandy soil, it tends to stay wetter in wooded/shaded areas and grass doesn’t want to grow there. So, you get a lot of mud. Lots of mud. All year.
How do you feel about tree branches? Both on the tree and the ones that naturally fall on the ground. The percentage of horses injured by tree branches is fairly low, but I personally know of several serious injuries and two fatalities caused by trees in pastures.
Also, what kind of fencing are you planning to use? Can you check it every day? You’ll have branches falling fairly frequently and larger things (big branches, whole trees) blowing down in storms, etc. Any fencing near or under trees needs more frequent inspection and repair than fencing in open ground.[/QUOTE]
All good points Kodiak.
Depending on the exact type of trees, I do know someone who would come clear the area free of charge. They use the timber to make custom furniture and decorations. That said, I’d rather keep them or at least some of them.
We will clear a small area to extend the space available for a round pen and arena.
I’m in So Cal so not too worried about mud.
The branches would be a concern. Some of them don’t really have low branches and we could trim the others.
In terms of fencing, the place is completely un-fenced right now so we have a clean slate there. About 2/3 of the perimeter of the property has enough clearance that I wouldn’t be too worried about falling trees or branches but on the other 1/3 it’s possible something could collapse and take down a fence.
We we’re thinking 5ft metal horse fence around the rear and sides of the property then something a little earier on the eye at the front.
What kind of trees are they? When were they planted or are they native oaks or pines? Can’t for the life of me remember any “woods” out there that would compare to the thick, moist, dead leaf carpeted environment full of bugs and critters most of the rest of the country calls woods.
Some of the comments probably won’t apply to your specific situation. But fire might be a concern and reason to remove most of them.
The horses probably need a run in shed, even though the trees will give them some protection from weather. In a bad storm,I would prefer my horses to be in a shed or barn instead of in the woods.
I just moved from no trees to trees (N. CA) MUCH nicer. It provides shade and will, if (cross fingers) it rains, provide shelter from elements. No issues. They can get around branches. This area has a lot of down trees and branches. I think it’s great. It gives the horses something to do to maneuver over them.
This is not like other parts of the country where bugs or major weather is an issue.
We had sparse trees in CA and about the same here. They damage the trees quite a bit. Horses will browse, they will rub, they damage the roots. Depends on the tree species what will happen mostly.
I also would be VERY concerned about the fire hazard.
If you have any tasty trees, they will get barked and will die. If you have any trees that you really love and would be upset to see die, fence them off. Up here in Canada where we have many tasty trees, it’s common to see trees within their very own little tiny wooden round pens :yes:
Other than those issues, woods are fantastic. It will always be a tiny bit cooler in the woods and the horses will love the varied browsing. Over the years you’ll see them work paths through - they break trail and then keep using it over and over just like deer.
Bugs wise, they will figure out the Bug Schedule and will use the woods at the least buggy times and be out in the open during the worst of it. For that reason a shade shelter is a really nice feature. Somewhere to get out of the sun when they don’t want to hang with the bugs 
Where I board the pasture is half wooded and half open. The horses tend to hang out under the trees 90% of the time vs the run in shelter or the open area, so it must not be too terrible as far as bugs. The trees are all mature oaks and one pine. None of them seem to be suffering for sharing the area with horses. Biggest woe for us humans is getting the sap out of their coats and manes.
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