Release the Lawnmowers!

We are still struggling with the mammoth fencing task, the problem is where we are putting a stock proof fence where there once stood lovely old stone walls.  One day we hope to restore the walls but some are so far gone that the only evidence that they were ever there is a grass covered hump with quite a few scattered and buried stones.  As you can imagine this makes putting in wooden posts rather tricky and very frustrating!

Woody and Ian made great progress yesterday despite the awful wet and windy weather. While I continued ripping out the old barbed wire and putting up electric fencing, it was time we released the lawnmowers!

The 9 month old welsh filly enjoying the rough grazing.

As you can see most of the land still has the remenance of last years grass.  Now dead and sitting as a "crop" of standing hay it is fairly useless, not very nutritious and creating a mat that the new growth is having to fight to get through creating weak roots.  However this dead grass is perfect for the ponies to graze on as it is not too rich for them.  

The grey mare using the gorse as shelter.

I fenced an area that would offer some shelter from the still unpredictable spring weather and give a selection of grazing both rough and part of the paddock we had flailed before Christmas.  Grazing this area hard now would allow the spring growth a boost in the next few months and produce stronger more dense grass for the future.  It would also be interesting to see if the ponies would brows on the gorse too.

At the moment the ponies are still rather wild and we will limit their time out by catching them in at night so that we can ensure they have daily human contact and don't turn feral!  Once they are settled and the perimeter fencing has been completed we will introduce the other two horses and we will then have a real go at blitzing the old grass to improve the new stuff.  At that point we may introduce sheep to further improve the ground by treading it down, fertilizing and eating anything the horses don't.

We don't want to promote a mono-culture but want to strip back the old grass/gorse naturally so we can better see what we have.  We still want that wild flower meadow so we may end up barring horses from certain areas as they are not the most careful of animals and tend to poach the land.  There are also allot of Bluebells in the headland so we are being careful not to squash their early growth and are looking forward to their show in April!

Springtime Whirlwinds

Woody and I witnessed something a bit magical on Sunday.  It was warm enough to work in t-shirts and there hadn't been any rain over the last week or so.  A playful breeze kept the air fresh and shifted the dry brittle leaves that had collected under the trees.

We were working away with the bolt cutters clearing a section of four strand barbed wire from the trees when Woody shouted to look up at the top triangle.  From where we were stood some 400m further down the field it looked like two dozen brown butterflies fluttering about in the sun but its too early in the year, they must be birds?  We stood watching them twirl round only to realise they were just dry leaves in a whirlwind going 10ft up, they were so beautiful and so alive!  I should have gone for my camera but I didn't want to break the spell, sometimes you just have to watch and take in the moment.

So we are still clearing wire and the fencing is still not complete due to a million other things going on but we feel like we just have not stopped.  We cannot wait for a long hot summer!  We are ready to enjoy this now, truly, we just want to stop with the graft for a bit!

Yet another barrow load of rusty barbed wire.  There are bluebells sprouting all along this treeline.

However spring is now with us meaning everything will start growing again so we cant relax just yet (if at all!).  The 2.5 acre pony paddock needs harrowing but we may just put the ponies on their first to graze off the old dead grass so that the new stuff can break through in a month or so, but first the fencing.

I have also been looking at what to plant for the future and found a good website kissmygrass.co.uk that stocks both wild meadow flowers and bulbs.  I will wait to see how many bluebells and spring flowers come up over the next months, make a note, take photos and plan my seed bank purchase! 

We have had allot on; family stuff, vehicle stuff, work stuff with trips away then I add on three new ponies we are maxed out, in a good way, they are all good problems to have (we try to remember how lucky we are) but it's been a whirlwind!

Barbed wire has no friends....

For at least 40 years the farm that our land was once part of had been patched up and made good with barbed wire, most of the time stapled directly onto the trees.  When we had quotes for replacing all the fencing the first bloke that came up suggested we did the same... well, I was not impressed even though he assured us that that is what all the locals did (they don't!).

Many of the trees bare the scars of barbed wire that will eventually lead to their premature death, allowing infection a doorway into their heartwood.  

We promised that although we may have to continue to use wire to fence the land, we would never staple onto trees, its quite sad seeing them like this, I have to admit to giving them a pat to apologise (yes I am a daft old bugger).

We set about with bolt cutters and started the painstaking task of cutting away all the wire, there was allot and much of it is buried into the ground like brambles (I have been slashing away at "brambles" only to find out its rusty wire!).  Carefully we have collected and folded a growing pile of scrap metal and wire from the land, its pretty surprising for such a small area and there is still much to cut out of the trees.

It is horrible stuff, but used correctly it is useful stuff...we are putting 1km of clean new, tight, barbed wire back in after taking all this out!

Talking of which, Woody had a little accident on Saturday... 

Wire tensioning had not been going to plan all day but the sun was shining and I could hear the banter chattering away across the fields.  I was having a tantrum with brambles getting tangled in the slasher for the millionth time, I heard a yelp, looked up but all seamed ok so carried on...

What had actually happened was pretty scary and could have been a lot lot worse! Whilst tightening an awkward 100m section the wire was constantly catching on things, Woody was leaning over the barbed wire sorting it out when it snapped like an elastic band. PING... OUCH.

Fortunately the main impact was on his forearm, missing all arteries, veins and eyeballs!!  After a quick patch-up with a bandage he was back working in no time, but it could have been so much worse.

A sobering reminder that the work we are undertaking is dangerous...and we need a bigger first aid kit!!!  

The four legged lawnmowers.

In theory we could graze 7-8 horses on the land.  Tempting, but no!  We have a more varied plan.  

Goats, maybe sheep, cows?  We haven't got round to researching into specific animals as the fencing and clearing had been the more pressing issue.

I had worked in various dairies in Sussex during my college years and also sheep and goat farms in New Zealand.  We had also had sheep, cattle, goats and pigs at home and I had a bit of an obsession with breeding chickens; Light Sussex, Leghorns and my favorite little Sea brights.  However my expertise was fixed in equines and knowing that sheep always try to commit suicide on you and goats can get through most fencing I convinced Woody that our first choice of grazing stock should be ponies.

(continuing to pay livery and the option of paying someone to top the land was an annoying prospect)

While looking for a suitable hunter/hack to team up with Easter to enable us to put two horses safely on the land I was offered two Welsh hill ponies.  It kinda made sense, it would allow one or both horses to be worked while still having two companion ponies to keep one of the horses or each other company, keeping stress levels to a minimum.

Woody and I viewed the ponies in early Feb, they were totally feral and is a terrible state having been rescued from a barren common land.  If I was to take these fillies on I would have to start from scratch with their healthcare and handling.  We would need to keep them off the land in a quarantine area until wormed to ensure the pasture was not contaminated.  So putting stable doors on the cow shed was another job added to Woody's list.

I was then offered a lovely Tb mare who I have known since she was born in 2008 Jenjen out of my yard favorite Teepee.  Jenjen didn't really fancy a career in racing so it felt right when her owner and breeder said we could have her.

The two ponies are due this weekend with Jenjen next week, I hope they all get on!