# Dry lots...



## kmdstar (Nov 17, 2009)

This will probably seem like a silly question, but how exactly do you...make a dry lot? In the fall I'll be looking to move and Dream is overweight (we believe she is Insulin Resistent) and if she was on grass... :shock: the thought of her on grass makes me cringe. So I'll be needing to have a dry lot, but I don't know how to go about that. Help? :lol:


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## DakotaLuv (Mar 21, 2009)

Just have a small pen, quarter acre or around that is a good size for dry lots. And just don't irrigate it...there ya go! You could even take a fourwheeler or something and drag a harrow over it so it kind of keeps the grass from growing. There's not much to it.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

DakotaLuv said:


> Just have a small pen, quarter acre or around that is a good size for dry lots. And just don't irrigate it...there ya go! You could even take a fourwheeler or something and drag a harrow over it so it kind of keeps the grass from growing. There's not much to it.


If you make a 1/4 acre paddock, just leave the grass....your horse will eat it to the roots in no time at all and it will be gone. Try to pick a place that drains well or you'll have more mud than you can believe when it rains a lot.


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## kmdstar (Nov 17, 2009)

PaintHorseMares said:


> If you make a 1/4 acre paddock, just leave the grass....your horse will eat it to the roots in no time at all and it will be gone. Try to pick a place that drains well or you'll have more mud than you can believe when it rains a lot.


I was wondering if that would work, but it'll grow back so I was wondering if there was an alternative. I can have Starlite clean it up in no time for Dream but when it grows back I don't want Dream eating it. :?


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## DakotaLuv (Mar 21, 2009)

At that size and if you don't keep your horse of free choice hay then you're not going to get much growth. As the horse eats it down to the roots, the grass will die.


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## Honeysuga (Sep 1, 2009)

Or you could apply something to kill the grass and cover it with pea gravel, crusher fines, peanut hulls, sawdust, shavings, or something that will keep it a "dry" lot. Make sure it gets great drainage.


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

DakotaLuv said:


> At that size and if you don't keep your horse of free choice hay then you're not going to get much growth. As the horse eats it down to the roots, the grass will die.


Exactly...the grass will be gone, and anything she doesn't eat (like weeds) will be trampled to death and be gone, too. You really don't need to do anything at all.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

She's 24 years old. Why not cut back her grain or hay intake? 
Horses are meant and made to graze all day.


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## iridehorses (Oct 22, 2007)

Last fall I acquired 2 minis for a friend and put them in a small grassy paddock to keep them separated from the horses for a time. Within 2 weeks, the grass was gone and never came back. 

One horse on a 1/4 acre will keep the grass from ever having to be worried about. However, if your grass grows quicker then you like, put a second horse in there for a short time.


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## White Foot (Jun 4, 2009)

xD I have a solution, why don't you just bring them to my house? We can't grow grass!


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## kmdstar (Nov 17, 2009)

White Foot said:


> She's 24 years old. Why not cut back her grain or hay intake?
> Horses are meant and made to graze all day.


Her being on grass really isn't even an option for me, I mean we'll bring her out and graze for a few minutes but that's it. I'm sure she'd prefer being in a grassy pasture but I guess it's kind of a health over happiness kind of thing, but she's not unhappy LOL just not happy in a green pasture, that's all!  Plus she would have hay all the time, I wouldn't stick her in a dry lot with nothing to chew on.

As you can see, she's quite a big girl :lol:










Thanks for the help everyone! I think Starlite will make a good lawn mower for Dream


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## Cat (Jul 26, 2008)

If the area is small enough they won't just eat the grass down, but completely kill it as well. I penned up the area and put the horses in there. The grass was gone in no time and while it tried to come back a couple times - we don't even get a blade of grass growing in there anymore. Horses are VERY hard on grass when they are penned up in a small area.


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## Vidaloco (Sep 14, 2007)

We keep ours on a dry lot (sometimes called a sacrifice lot) during the winter and during severe wet weather. It keeps my pasture in shape and keeps it from getting overgrazed. Its about 2 acres for 4 horses. We have put down limestone screenings in the heavy traffic areas and a large mound where the hay bale is. It drains well and keeps the mud at a minimum. We plan on bringing in some large gravel around the water tank and in the alley ways this spring. 
In the summer there are areas where grass will grow if the horses haven't used it in awhile. I just mow it.


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