WE have been blessed with the good weather lasting as long as it has. For a lot of breeders and farmers it has meant that horses and stock have been able to stay out grazing for much longer than normal. We can only be hopeful that this will ease some of the pressure of having such poor grazing during the summer.

Now that the temperatures have begun to drop it’s worth getting yourself organised for the winter so that you don’t suddenly get caught out.

The ground is likelyto get muddy and horses can do a lot of damage to the land if they are out all winter. If possible organise your land into smaller paddocks so that you can rotate between fields.

If you have one large field, paddocks can easily be made using electric tape and plastic stakes. Using a mobile electric battery pack means you can have a current in whichever paddock you are using and move horses around so that one area doesn’t get horse sick and over grazed.

Gateways can be one of the worst affected areas if you are using a field over the course of the winter. If you can, consider putting some stone or hard core down at gateways especially if they are in an area that’s likely to get very wet. In the longterm it might be worth while putting in drainage for very wet gateways.

Make sure that all gates are correctly hung. If they are dragging now while the ground is dry they will be a lot worse during the winter. Get gates rehung now so that you don’t have to drag them through the mud. Also check that all gates shut correctly and are secure.

CHECK DRAINAGE

It is unusual that it is possible to drive machinery though fields without damaging them at the beginning of November but it currently is. Now might be the ideal opportunity to check that all the drainage is working correctly.

Recent stormy weather combined with the leaves falling may have resulted in some drains getting blocked. Take the time to get these cleared now, if necessary getting a digger in to clear ditches and drains.

The same applies to any drainage around the yard and for gutters. It is worth clearing all these drains out and replacing anything that is unlikely to survive the winter now. Remove any fallen leaves that have gathered around drains so that they don’t end up blocking them.

BE PREPARED

If last year’s winter is anything to go by you might want to have a plan to bring horses in during the worst of the winter. Now is the time to make sure this plan is set up and ready to go. If you have field shelters give them a once over and check everything is as it should be.

Take stock of how much hay and bedding you have in and decide if this is enough to get you through the winter. It’s likely to be easier to buy more now than it will be when it’s in greater demand.

In Ireland you are only permitted to cut hedges between September 1st and February 28th. If possible try to cut hedges as late as possible to help preserve wildlife. Teagasc recommend leaving one new whitethorn tree in every routinely trimmed hedgerow. This is part of a new strategy to protect bees.

This can be difficult during very wet years as getting hedges cut can damage the ground. If you haven’t got your hedges cut this winter and are hoping to, the coming weeks might be the best time to do it. The ground is unlikely to get too damaged and most of the berries will be off the hedges.

As the leaves come off the trees and hedging is tidied up gaps in fencing may become more obvious. If you can, get all boundary fencing fixed as a priority and work on internal fencing as you go along.