We recently bought a small farm in MA and are dealing with predominantly clay soil. Any ideas which grasses do best with clay, and seasonally wet pasture? We have two horses, and rotate them between a smaller barn paddock (hay only - for overnight and bad weather) and a 1.75 acre turnout. It’s been surprising how quickly they have grazed down the larger pasture, even not being on it 24/7. I don’t want to ruin the turnout in the very first season we’ve been here!
That is a very small area for two horses. If they are on it for long periods of time it will become a a mud/sacrifice turnout in no time. It needs time to rest and re-grow.
You will find they will be on hay most of the time. If you want it to recover have them out on it for only an hour or two at a time. If you have further acreage it would be wise to fence another paddock. It works best if have another grass paddock to rotate to.
It’s funny, we’re in MA and we call our little farm Fieldstone too - welcome to MA!
That being said 1.75 acres is not that small a place, especially not in MA and that is not too small for two horses to graze on part time. We have a field that has a similar composition of clay/dirt and lots of ledge – it grows an incredible amount of fescue and clover. We have four on it for about 2-4 hours a day, and it is only an acre. The rest of the time they are in what I call their “big rock field” as they destroyed all the grass in there years and years ago.
The best thing to do about clay is to avoid poaching the topsoil - if it rains, delay a day in turning them out. Are you turning them out together or are they rotating? You will find you need to rest your paddock every once in a while - 3-7 days of ‘rest’ and you should be fine. If you don’t turn out on it daily you might not need to rest the paddock at all.
Thank you…we do have another field that is about 1.25 acres which we are also fencing in to use in rotation. I’m hoping between the three turnouts, and good maintenance, we can get this place healthy enough for two. It’s 5.25 acres overall, with only about <=3 available for turnout at this moment.
Thank you - they are out together. I’ve always boarded, but now they are home with us, so I’m learning on the fly about pasture management. We will have to build up the organic matter in the soil, that much is clear. We’ve got a “sacrifice paddock” already, so looks like they will be spending more time in that than originally planned in order to get the fields really established. There haven’t been horses here in 12 years, so the fields came pretty solid, but we’ve been amazed at how quickly they’ve eaten them down…I think it’s also the clay soil and the "bounceback"factor is slower on clay than more aerated soil.
Depending on where you are, be prepared for lots and lots of rock! That’s my biggest lament about the farm my parents have; there’s more rock than topsoil.
If you have 3 paddocks I think you will be just fine alternating; do you have a ring as well or will you be riding in one of the paddocks?
I know what you mean, clay seems to take longer to bounce back - but I’ve noticed clover does a really good job of recovering. It also, at least for me, dries out quicker than the dirt lot we have up top, which is interesting. One of our pastures is our riding ring as well, and it will get worn down quickly if you travel the same path, but clover does a good job of keeping up despite all the traffic.
We have clay, but not the ledge rocks to deal with. I spread bedding on our fields, which makes the dirt particles retain more air, so it is less “slippery when wet” and more absorbent of water with good drainage most of the time. My clay uses a lot of that organic material from the bedding to act more like “regular” dirt, so you almost can’t spread too much. Additionally the bedding will act like mulch, protecting the plants from sunburned roots, slows water runoff in rain or melting snows, just making better dirt.
I do fertilize in addition to spreading the bedding, after soil testing to know what minerals are needed for growing my grasses.
Even with horses grazing, I mow regularly, preventing height over 8-10 inches which might allow grass to set seed, then go dormant. I mow high, never shorter than 5 inches to let plant keep some leaf length, protect the roots. Mowing also helps promote plant root growth, makes for stronger plants. Long roots help if you should get drought times, that damp clay keeps the growth coming for you.
I get a local grass seed mix for Mares and Foals, which has no fescue to harm broodmares carrying a foal. Local seed works for YOUR area. My seed might not work well for your area with different seasons, light from the sun. National seed brand mixes might not be a best choice in your location. So do read where seed came from, what is in mix, on the label. You want Perennial Seed, comes up every year. NOT cheap Annual seed, only good for this year. If you don’t have broodmares, other seed mixes containing fescue will probably work for you.
The clover mentioned above, can help or harm, depending on the type clover it is. You don’t want Red Clover or Alsike Clover in your seed mixes, not good for horses. You can find the issues they cause by looking them up. I do have some volunteer clover from blown in seeds, but I keep it mowed and have not had Clover Slobbers or other issues because it dries fast with short height mowing allows. Get a mixed seed if you need to put seed down, so you have some foliage growing all season long. Some grasses like Blue Grass, like cold weather, while others, Orchard, Timothy, do better in hot weather. Get local seed, developed to use in your area for best success. Cover any seed with old hay, straw or bedding, so birds and wind don’t waste it. If you have a manure spreader, a bale or two of straw run thru the beaters makes great cover for seed. Seed is HORRIBLY expensive, so you want to get 100% germination of every seed for that money invested.
With your small pastures, limited grazing is the way to go. You should have enough grass to keep horses busy, not obese, with timed turnout. Should work even with 4 animals mentioned.
Congrats on having horses at home to enjoy.
[QUOTE=goodhors;8690821]
You don’t want Red Clover or Alsike Clover in your seed mixes, not good for horses. You can find the issues they cause by looking them up. I do have some volunteer clover from blown in seeds, but I keep it mowed and have not had Clover Slobbers or other issues because it dries fast with short height mowing keeps it at. [/QUOTE]
Is Alsike clover in the states?
We have red clover and white clover. The red doesn’t bother the horses, we’ve never had them slobber with it. One of ours is particularly fond of white clover, will roam the entire paddock and pick what he wants first, including if you bring him some in hand.
[QUOTE=beowulf;8690832]
Is Alsike clover in the states?
We have red clover and white clover. The red doesn’t bother the horses, we’ve never had them slobber with it. One of ours is particularly fond of white clover, will roam the entire paddock and pick what he wants first, including if you bring him some in hand.[/QUOTE]
Sure Alsike is here. Here is a link on why you don’t want it for horse grazing:
http://southcampus.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants/report/report_detail_1.cfm
Here is the link for Red Clover:
http://southcampus.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants/report/report_detail_1.cfm
As mentioned before, mowing to keep clover short, seems to help in preventing the dampness needed for the fungus causing problems, to florish. Drying the short plant with sunshine daily, changes the plant environment.
Here is the main site, if you want to look up other plants. It seems to need specific names, like Red Clover, to find them. No general “Clover” category. There are other Horse specific poison plant sites, which will have information on other Clovers. I can’t think of other Clover names at the moment.
http://southcampus.colostate.edu/poisonous_plants/report/search.cfm
It is sometimes amazing to me, that horses ever survive with all the poison plants out there! Of course not all will kill them, but side effects are pretty bad. That photo sensitivity from Alsike Clover is just nasty to deal with. Skin leaking serum all the time, once sensitized. A kid in Pony Club had one to manage while we were in PC at the same time. A daily job for the rest of pony’s life.
I’ve never seen Alsike here. We were taught about it in PC all those years ago, but it hasn’t been something I’ve seen in MA. Where have you seen it?
Red Clover in itself is not toxic; so you can have plants in your pasture that do not negatively affect the horse. We have had red clover in our pasture for years without a drooling incident. The fungus that grows on red clover grows on other plants as well (alfalfa included) and that is what causes slobbers; slobbers itself is not something that puts the horse in danger.
There’s plenty of alsike in Massachusetts.
An old horticulture professor friend of mine was involved in ID’ing the culprit in a case that killed one horse and damaged a couple more some years back.
It used to be included in pasture seed mixes, because it grows well in poor soil and cattle do fine on it.
Clay has two major problems:
- Acidity. Neutralize (lime) as much as possible. Do not fertilize (more acidity) until you neutralize.
- Poor water retention/capacity. Look at the cracks when it dries out - that’s disappearance of water from between the clay planar structure. Add moisture retention material (loam, organic, etc.) or keep it wet.
I love all the input - much appreciated! I’m hoping that because pretty much nothing was done to this property in terms of improving the land for the past decade-plus, we only have room to go in a positive direction if we do this right.
Adding organic is going to be key and we did just spread the first manure pile in the fenced off portion of our sacrifice area which had poor surface/exposed clay. (Hoping to rotate even THAT). I wish I could mow only to 5", but it’s already shorter than that. I’m keeping them in the “big” pasture only a few hours a day going forward, to try and give it a minute to recuperate. Pasture seed IS horribly expensive (Holy moly…) so thank you for the tips on getting the most seeds to germinate. We don’t ride in the fields - miles of trails abutting the property, and we do our “schoolwork” a few miles down the road in an outdoor and indoor arena, so at least we’re not further hammering on the pasture. Many many thanks all…so helpful.
Thank you! It’s actually quite interesting learning about the land management part…and SO lovely to see them out the window, and hear their nickers when I walk down to give them breakfast…
[QUOTE=secretariat;8691049]
Clay has two major problems:
- Acidity. Neutralize (lime) as much as possible. Do not fertilize (more acidity) until you neutralize.
- Poor water retention/capacity. Look at the cracks when it dries out - that’s disappearance of water from between the clay planar structure. Add moisture retention material (loam, organic, etc.) or keep it wet.[/QUOTE]
I have to disagree on the idea that “all clay” is acidic. That simply is not true. You do a soil test to find out what soil needs for your “crop” of grass. Then you apply those NEEDED minerals to the soil. Adding other minerals, more than required mineral quantity by the soil test is wasted money. The land doesn’t “save them for later” and they get washed away, unused. Adds to pollution of your water shed, carrying those unneeded fertilizer products away.
Some clay soils are acidic, but others are not. You can’t generalize dirt by type, takes a soil test to be sure. My local clay soil is not acidic enough for certain shrubs I want, they die.
Clays are not inherently acidic. They have a pretty high cation exchange capacity.
Whether they are holding onto hydrogen or aluminum ions or to calcium, potassium, or nitrogenous cations is quite dependent upon various factors such as fertilization and plant population.
Well, OP, you’re getting the motherlode of good advice.
If you want some help with pasture development, there’s a crew of young farmers in Essex/West Gloucester with ag degrees who also grew up here & do great things with our rocky, wet soil – Alprilla Farm, Cedar Rock Gardens, for starters. They’re at the Cape Ann Farmers market, online – easy to find. PM me if you’re interested in a specific recommendation of a consultant. I have about 1.5 acres that I hope to keep in grass, but even the pressure of 1 horse & 2 mini’s (piggish mini’s, of course) are starting to wear on it. Best of luck, and I hope you’ve got more topsoil over the ledge than I do!
You should definitely take Frog Pond up on this offer!
[QUOTE=Frog Pond;8692740]
Well, OP, you’re getting the motherlode of good advice.
If you want some help with pasture development, there’s a crew of young farmers in Essex/West Gloucester with ag degrees who also grew up here & do great things with our rocky, wet soil – Alprilla Farm, Cedar Rock Gardens, for starters. They’re at the Cape Ann Farmers market, online – easy to find. PM me if you’re interested in a specific recommendation of a consultant. I have about 1.5 acres that I hope to keep in grass, but even the pressure of 1 horse & 2 mini’s (piggish mini’s, of course) are starting to wear on it. Best of luck, and I hope you’ve got more topsoil over the ledge than I do![/QUOTE]
This forum is the best thing I’ve discovered since 2 for $5 flipflops at Old Navy. Thank you so much…Frog Pond, I will most definitely look them up… This is a work in progress. We have no ledge in the fields, but the clay and slow drainage (especially after the armegeddon rainfall we had last night and yesterday) are keeping us busy figuring out the issues we DO have. We’ve only been here since September, and hope to continue to
be for a very long time…so hopefully we can make a difference in what we’ve got now with the right management.
