Topping the field

[Little.Miss.Duc]

I am rstarting to rent fields off a farmer and he is going to top the fields on Saturday and has said I can put my horse in on Monday. I don't know if this is a stupid question but is a horse able to graze on a field that has been topped tow days before? I have had many people say yes it is fine, but I didn't think that you could, I thought it was dangerous for the horse???

Any advice or anyone that has had their fields topped would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks

 

[minihorse]

I am rstarting to rent fields off a farmer and he is going to top the fields on Saturday and has said I can put my horse in on Monday. I don't know if this is a stupid question but is a horse able to graze on a field that has been topped tow days before? I have had many people say yes it is fine, but I didn't think that you could, I thought it was dangerous for the horse???

Any advice or anyone that has had their fields topped would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks

Listen to the farmer he should know what he is doing.We have little minis
and they were back in grazing 2 days after.the farmer came back a few months after just to go over field again and the little ones went straight back
in to graze. According to farmer we did not have anything nasty in the field ie. ragwart etc. so could go back in...my little ones managed fine

 

[TB_horse]

Unless its gathering up the cut stuff i personally would keep them off, as i believe they can colic if eatv lots of grass cuttings (don't shoot me if i'm wrong he he). I had mine topped and kept them in 5 days then gradually built up time out back to full time!

 

[wildponies]

If he is topping it then he should only be taking tops off the cr*p and not 'mowing' it as such anyway?

I think they'll be fine.. as long as there is nothing but 'topped' stuff to eat then they probably won't touch it anyway.

 

[minihorse]

Dont shoot me but does it not dep. on the grass as well he said our was old
I have no idea what he was going on about

 

[Little.Miss.Duc]

Unless its gathering up the cut stuff i personally would keep them off, as i believe they can colic if eatv lots of grass cuttings (don't shoot me if i'm wrong he he). I had mine topped and kept them in 5 days then gradually built up time out back to full time!

This is what I thought, so does the grass that has been cut off just rot into the ground? So you left your for 5 days and then it was fine for them to go out again? Thanks

 

[lachlanandmarcu]

If its fresh young grass and is topped the tops might ferment and the horses might eat them. If its old pasture and this time of year it probably wont be an issue, tho I would still keep them off for a week so I could examine it with a fine toothcomb and ensure there is absolutely no ragwort (farmers ideas of no ragwort and horse owners can be a very different definition....) once cut and wilted the ragwort would be more dangerous than growing.

 

[Little.Miss.Duc]

If its fresh young grass and is topped the tops might ferment and the horses might eat them. If its old pasture and this time of year it probably wont be an issue, tho I would still keep them off for a week so I could examine it with a fine toothcomb and ensure there is absolutely no ragwort (farmers ideas of no ragwort and horse owners can be a very different definition....) once cut and wilted the ragwort would be more dangerous than growing.

It is old grass and it does have a few weeds, obviously now dried. I want to get the weeds treated ideally. I would like to rest it for a week or so, does the grass just rot into the ground?

 

[eml]

At this time of year I would tend not to top but use the dry long grass as 'growing hay' . Obviously you need to inspect for ragwort etc but you would need to remove that before topping anyway.

(I assumed you are in the UK?)

 

[Little.Miss.Duc]

At this time of year I would tend not to top but use the dry long grass as 'growing hay' . Obviously you need to inspect for ragwort etc but you would need to remove that before topping anyway.

(I assumed you are in the UK?)

I need it topped before I go in there because the grass has been left for so long and to put it bluntly the grass is crap! The farmer who the fields belong to wants to top them. I know about ragwort etc and I have checked for that, my question really was how long should fields be left for horses to graze on after being topped???