I went on vacation recently and while I was gone, had my farm sitter leave the yearlings in my small front paddock. It’s now totally overgrazed. I have removed the horses from it immediately, but what are my next steps?
The grass is very thin in some places - non existent by the gate where she fed grain, but there are some patchy spots where the grass is thick but short.
We are in a dry spell - fingers crossed for rain on Friday. Should I fertilize? Overseed?
If there is manure out there, you could harrow that… spread it and break it up. That is natural “fertilizer”. Then water it (if you can). If the grass roots are intact, they will sprout and grow. If the roots are not intact, and the soil badly compacted, you may be looking at reseeding it… which can be a lot of work, including ploughing it up, and/or rototilling it first.
Good luck!
If you are in a dry spell don’t fertilize unless you are sure it is going to rain. You can overseed but if you don’t get rain the new grass won’t germinate/ grow unless you water it. I run into this too. I have tried to get grass going again in bare spots. The forecast will be rain, I seed and then it doesn’t rain so the grass won’t grow. We have been having drier and drier summers, so I have to renovate bad spots in the spring. If you can rake up the soil so it is not as compacted and water the spots after you put out seed then you can probably get grass growing there. But the new grass will need water on a regular basis until it gets established. I am assuming you have dry summers, if not this might not apply.
I pick my paddocks so no manure to drag. Yearlings are too gross for that 
From that picture it looks like you are in the northern half of the country and have bunch type grasses. In the south we have fescue and further south bermuda and bahia. Bermuda and bahia are really tough grasses and they spread by stolons and rhizomes. For some reason bermuda loves to grow on top of aged, peed on shavings. So if you get the horses off the pasture and create a less compacted surface of the bare spot those grasses will eventually spread out and cover up the bare patch. You have bunch grasses and they don’t grow that way. They are more fragile. But on the good side, it doesn’t look really dry where you are.
So if you get rain regularly you can spread old hay there and put out seed. If you can de-compact the soil that will help too. Getting the horses off the new grass will speed up the process since most horses like to stomp and destroy.
If in the north of the country it is too late for effective overseeding until the fall (unless you have serious irrigation). Honestly, that picture doesn’t look that bad? Let it rest for a month or two and it should be fine, I might mow it a few times if you have a known weed issue. Keep it at four to six inches.
That’s what I was thinking, just get the horses off of it and it will be fine. I scalp grass regularly (purposely) before aeration or dethatching - if it was healthy before it will be fine. Just watch out for weed growth, and keep it mowed high (4-6") while it recovers.
We are in N. Indiana. Makes sense about the overseeding. I am mostly worried about the gate area that is completely bare. I’ve been dumping my boarder’s water buckets there. Her horse eats straight oats and drops them in the water, so it can’t hurt - lol.
I’ll let it rest for now. When should I think about overseeding? September? Small acreage is so stressful!
I think you will be just fine. Grass is persistent and resilient. You may want to eventually overseed depending on how well it comes back. Let it grow and keep horses off of it in the meantime. More than likely, the grass will spread and refill the gate area.
When you seed depends on the type of seed you sow. I would also get a soil test if you haven’t already.
We got some rain last night, but not a lot. Here’s a better photo of what the paddock actually looks like. I think the first photo I posted was deceptive because of a thick patch.
I don’t think you can do a lot to fix that without water. If you are going into the dry period where you live I would wait until you get a rainy season again and it might fill in fine without intervention providing the horses are off it.
That’s when I’d throw seed down - the week before labor day. Even better if you can harrow it in a little.
I still think you’ll be fine - it will fill in.
It looks like more than being overgrazed is an issue. Can you plan on using a no- till drill and seeding it that way this Fall? You just have a very poor stand of grass to begin with.
Keeping them off permanently , keep it mowed to encourage even growth and using a drill to plant new seed should have you in better shape next Summer.
I can ask my hay guy if he can seed it in the fall. Not sure who else would have the required equipment. Any suggestions on finding someone?
Our county ag extension has a seed drill they rent out that we have used. Maybe yours does too or they may know of where you can rent one if you want to do it yourself. It just does a good job when you want to planted in an existing pasture.
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