poo picking connesiurs (sp)

[☼ WIZARD ☼]

so if i dont poo pick the mud how will the grass grow back will it be rank and sour or will it have the benefits of fertilizer?

[jill]

Cloppy, no, it only gets rank and sour in summer when it is growing and the horses won't graze it - it gets to long, and they like the short sweet grass. What you need to do if you don't poo pick in winter is harrow in spring - that spreads it evenly so that the grass grows evenly, and of course it washes in/worms take it into the soil.
Ponypit, I think there are more horses around nowadays, and there is more grazing which is only horses. But you're right, I don't EVER remember anyone talking about poo picking years ago, makes me wonder if it's not just a fashion, and if so where did it start? I still think the quality of modern wormers makes it unnecessary to poo pick for the purposes of keeping grazing worm free

[kas]

I'll tell you why I poo pick - I have very limited grazing. 3 and a bit acres for 3 horses. They're only using about a third of that at the moment, eating loads of hay as there's hardly any grass. So I have to poo pick or it would end up really nasty.
I didn't poo pick when I had 15 acres! But when I had about 6 I did, because there was loads of grass so again the paddocks being used where quite small. If the area is small it's quite easy anyway. Mine live out so I just treat it as a task to be done instead of mucking out. It probably takes less time each day than if I had to muck out 3 stables.

[breezeocean4tray]

I never did poo picking as a kid either, and never seen anyone do it......

I have a 3 1/2 acre field for my 2 girls, and a seperate 1/2 acre paddock....Last yr i split the field up in2 3 paddocks, which was so much easier to keep on top of.....
Ocean just ploughs threw the elec fencing (4ft posts 3 strands of tape) to get in2 the other paddocks now theres not much grass. We call her Stephanie Mc Queen (great escape, Steve Mc Queen lol).....
If we (hubby) didn,t poo pick, we wud be knee deep in it by the end of the yr......mind im only 4ft 11, i suppose i cud do with standing in it awhile....lol

[cobby]

Well I remember poo picking our small field when I was a young teenager and that was over 30 years ago. I don't know who told me to do it as my parents weren't very horsey. I did read all the horsey books fact and fiction that I could so maybe I got it from them. Anyway I'm still doing it daily for my 3 on small fields. I look on it as exercise for me, preserving grazing and and worm prevention and as Kas says it's really like mucking out but without the bedding. It's an art really isn't it. ;D

[rj]

I have 2 small acres for 2 horses so yes I do poo-pick, and that as KAS says is mainly to preserve the grazing areas.
There are some pretty poached bits now with ingrained poo so I don't worry about them, just scrape up what I can. We have worm counts done, only have my horses there so worms not really a problem, tho I have been really hung up on it for years. Thought all the horses at the livery yard would die because someone wasn't doing their fair share of clearing the fields.... they didn't tho! However, worm damage is a serious problem and not always immediately obvious. I reckon if they're wormed properly while young, counts done when adults and checked carefully when adults, they should be OK. Obviously in yards where there are horses coming & going there has to be strict rules to avoid problems.
Now then. HOW does everyone poo-pick? I can't get on with the those long handled scoop things. It's a pair of thick rubber gloves and a couple of feed bags for me!!

[cobby]

rj - Yes it's tough rubber gloves for me too and 2 medium size tub trugs.

[jill]

Shavings fork and wheelbarrow does it for me, provided I don't have to wheel it too far. The problem I've found isn't getting the poo off the ground, it's removing it to a suitable muck heap. I have on occasion set one up in a corner of the paddock and then the horses quite often use that as their toilet area, so it works to reduce the amount to be removed. Still has to ultimately be shifted though.

[kas]

I have a little ride-on lawnmower without the mowing bit, with a trailer attached that tips manually. When it's dry that can go in the field and I get 4 barrow loads in it. At the moment it gets bogged down in the field, so sits just outside the gate, where I fill it up. A relaxed trundle down the track, at less than walking speed ;D, and then I tip it out at the muck heap. At the moment I have employed a "staff" called Brian who, for fiver a week, shovels and tidies the heap for me.
I get backache with a shavings fork. The best tools I find is one of those scooper buckets with a handle, but replace the fork that comes with it with a child's rake from a garden centre, which will cost about £5. Make sure you get the long handle scooper, they come in two heights.
Pushing the wheelbarrow uphill through the mud is very good for firming your thighs!

[marigold]

Ooh KAS I think I need a Brian (and a brain as I originally typed!!!)
I use the scoop thingy but I end up with cramp in my hand cos the the fork bit is too narrow.
I am also sad enough to do poo maths whilst scooping; if one horse does 15 poo's a day, 3 do 45 a day, blah blah blah, by vastly rounding up and dodgy maths I worked out that I have scooped 3000 poo's from the stables and fields in 4 months.
I really must get a life!!!!!

[breezeocean4tray]

Oh Marigold ur post had me laughing so hard.....

Thanks...Lv Tray xx

[kas]

LOL!
Get yourself a kiddies rake marigold, it will help with the scooping, but probably not with the maths