March at the farm has been gloriously warm and sunny. I find myself just stopping outside in the sunshine and lifting my face upward to bask. It feels foreign and familiar all at the same time. I think I may have had the best job at the farm today. I spent the entire afternoon in the large mare/foal paddocks dragging and seeding them.
From my post on the Gator, driving laps and dragging the pastures, I watched mares lazily eating new Spring grass and foals napping the deep slumber of newborns. The yearlings romped and ran for hours- Maxim seemed to challenge each of his pasture mates to foot races and wrestling matches. It seems that adolescent boys are the same in any species.
I pulled the heavy drag behind my machine and slowly scribbled a pattern of lines across each paddock. I weighted the metal frame with cinder blocks and a heavy log that just spans its width. The extra weight makes sure that the teeth score the earth to prepare it to accept the new seeds and it breaks up and spreads the left over manure from the paddock's former occupants. By breaking the manure into smithereens, any parasites living within it are exposed to sunlight (and heat and weather) and their lifespans are greatly shortened.
Part of our pasture management practice at Fields Quarter Horses is to keep our paddocks rotated, rested, dragged, and reseeded. Many people question me because we do not spread the manure and waste removed from our stalls onto our pastures. This practice was commonplace at stables and barns everywhere for many years. We have always opted to remove the farm's waste from the property or spread it onto green areas of the farm which are not used to house horses. This ensures that there are no new parasites or pathogens introduced into our soil.
After I finished dragging the paddocks, I filled the hand seeder with the special (insert the word expensive here) horse pasture seed mix. Then, with my best organ-grinder-monkey interpretation, I began cranking the handle as I walked. The little wheel began to spin and the seed dispersed into a circular pattern around me. Systematically, I walked each paddock spreading seed over the already greening ground. The newly seeded paddocks will be allowed to lie at rest for 30-45 days and then they will be reopened to greedy mares with tiny foals who will lie in the lush green grass.
As I walked the paddocks today, I was simply thankful. Perhaps Spring is Mother Nature's way of rewarding us for making it through Winter. Everywhere around me, everything seems pregnant with life. The mares, the grass, even the underground spring which gurgles beneath the paddocks- all are awakening from Winter with a vengeance. I for one, was happy to work from my home office today.
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