Desperate for rain, but dreading it too

Jessey

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2004
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Suffolk, UK
We are in full on drought now :( the grass is brown and so crispy it crumbles as you walk on it and even the nettles are wilting away. Don't get me wrong, I am loving the weather, we just need some night time rain to keep the equilibrium. At the same time I am now dreading the rain coming, because I know when it does everything is going to spring back to life and shoot up and the lami risk will, no doubt, be through the roof :( I hate to complain about good weather, and I'm not really, just dreading what follows :cool:
 
There is a balance isn't there? We've not had proper rain for weeks here. Cold temps and wind / gales but no real rain. My other paddocks are like cast iron:(so for now everyone is in the smaller ones where they cannot run about too much and do mischief. I walked the big field yesterday and it's so hard. I doubt if we could make smaller paddocks as driving posts in would be nigh on impossible. Never thought I'd wish for rain:oops:
 
Oh yes, don't get me started on hard ground, in the 15 years I've been here I don't think I have ever seen it bake like concrete, sand normally goes soft but its rock solid at the moment. Both last weekend and this, I've been very wary of doing masses of trot/canter because of it.
 
My lami app says it's high high high risk here at the moment, but I don't think it's half as bad as it will be after some rain. If we ever get any
 
My lami app says it's high high high risk here at the moment, but I don't think it's half as bad as it will be after some rain. If we ever get any
I haven't even looked at the lami app in weeks, I just stopped giving any new grass while its like this. Just pulled it up now though, its not as high as I expected, it in the orange for here.
 
yeap really dry here, Weather apps show bright sun all week with no break as much as I love it and I do and I don't worry about the boys being out all day in it as they are horses at the end of the day they aren't expected to do any work until the sun drops. However I worry about my grass. it was looking amazing in my spare field but the ground is now solid.
 
Temps are due to rise here this week and it was already 28c in my field yesterday afternoon, there is no rain forecast for us at the moment, I just know that's going to make the flush all the worse the longer this goes on (Good for your TB boys OBC :))
 
And just seen our forest ranger's post, 6 fires around us in the forest already, thankfully only small ones that they contained, the forestry is staying on high alert for fires through this week at least :(
 
It goes from one extreme to the other doesn’t it? A couple of weeks ago there was so much grass that YO was thinking about having even some of the fields with horses in topped, now she’s thinking she’ll have to start putting hay out if we don’t get some rain soon, everything is baked and burnt. At least the farmers are having a good time getting the hay in - driving down from Inverness to Yorkshire via the Dales at the weekend everywhere were gorgeous hay fields with the cut grass laying out to dry. Idyllic picture :)

Here’s hoping we get some gentle rain soon to refresh things a bit but fingers crossed for the lammi risk.
 
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I am absolutely loving this weather as far as managing them goes anyway, hate it is too damn hot to ride :( The small field they are on is barely growing and turning crisp and dry as I look at it, the other fields alongside them have neighbour's cows eating off all the lovely lush growth i would not dare give any of them., and super bonus where the cattle have been it is also turning dry and crispy. Bliss for the owner of a fat and unfit horse recovering from several months of unknown health issues , a lammi prone donkey and another donkey who has no issues with lammi but is starting to get scarily rotund and more easily over fed with each year he ages.
And this winter's hay is safely in the barn - I'm happy;):)
 
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