Pastures and Paddocks

At Rohan Farm, we have five main pastures or paddocks for the horses. In Cathy’s and my shorthand, we call them: The Back Field, The Jenny Craig, The Barn Paddock, The Field Near the House, and The Front Field. For us, each area has its own particular use.

I was thinking about our fields recently when a friend and neighbor asked about using The Back Field for a while. This year, with the snow and rain, winter was a little rough on her own fields and she started having more mud than she wanted. She hoped to give her fields a rest while they dried out. Our back field, which is our largest, is in great shape and is always on the lush side. Additionally, we have not used it in a couple of years. Cath and I joked between ourselves that we thought our good friend Janet has a little secret pasture envy. Is that true Janet?  ;-). Of course we told her she could use the field.

 Each of our fields and paddocks have a purpose and most of the names for the fields are easy to understand. The Back Field is the farthest from the house, at the back of the property. As I previously mentioned, it is our largest field and surrounded by woods. Its only downside is that it takes more time to take the horses out there and bring them back to the barn. It has a run-in shed and the grass is always great.

 The Front Field is the small paddock you see when you first arrive at the farm and come down the driveway. We don’t use it much now, but when Cathy was raising Hanoverian horses, we would use the field to separate  a mare and new foal from the other horses.

 The Barn Paddock is quite small and as the name implies, next to the barn. It is primarily used for two things. First, if you need to keep a horse near the barn because the vet or farrier is coming, it is a convenient turnout. And second, when the weather turns severe with heavy snow or ice, we can put the horses there with some hay. They get turned out, but are close so we can keep an eye on them.

 The Field Near the House is, you guessed it, the field closest to the house. It actually has two fields separated by a gate, which we usually keep open. While not as big as The Back Field, it has plenty of grass and is also convenient to the barn. It borders the pond and you often see it in pictures I take. When we were first looking at the property 27 years ago, seeing the previous owner’s horses trot across this pasture in front of the pond was an enduring image that was one of the reasons we bought Rohan Farm.

 And The Jenny Craig? Everyone knows the Jenny Craig structured weight-loss program. Well, in this field, the grass is thinner and not as lush as in our other fields. There is more shade, and there are some boggy parts as well. When we want a horse to lose some weight, or not eat as much grass, they are Jenny Craig bound. ;-). It is also where Cathy’s riding ring is, in addition to a grass ring from the earlier owner.

 We made several field “improvements” to the farm over time. The lady who originally owned the farm only had water at two troughs near the barn, which meant some of the gates were always open, so horses could come from the back field to drink water near the barn. We extended water and electric to all the pastures. We also put a run-in shed with a small storage area in The Back Field, so it was completely self-sufficient. When we first moved here, the Front Field did not “exist”. We fenced it in when Cathy started breeding Hanoverians. There was also a small “training” paddock near the barn that we turned into a flower and vegetable garden. Fresh cut flowers, along with home grown vegetables, seemed like a good trade off for an area we were not really using. 

 One last point. You may ask, what is the difference between a pasture and a paddock? It is not exact, but in general, pastures are larger open grazing areas (usually over an acre), while paddocks are smaller, enclosed areas used for restricted grazing, exercise, or short rotations.

 I know this is a strange and short blog. Maybe it is even a bit of a throw-a-way. Still, I thought it might give you a little insight into our farm management at Rohan Farm. When we first moved here, we didn’t think or know anything about pasture management and we learned on the job. It all worked out pretty well, and over time, we made the farm our own.