# Abandoned Pasture



## Lynnmarie234 (Jun 7, 2017)

Hello, 

I'm in the process of purchasing a foreclosed home on 5 acres in Northern Illinois. About 2.5 of it is what i'd like to use as pasture, but its very over grown. I want to put 2 donkeys and 1 or 2 horses on it, and I'm fine supplementing with hay as needed for the first couple years. 

I'm trying to reference some photos. I know I'll have to remove any toxic plant/trees, but I'd like to leave some of the trees for shade - if they die later from being chewed on, so be it.... there aren't any dangers from having trees in there, are there?

How do i get the grass/weeds under control? Can I just mow it down, chip the small trees and fence it in? Would they eat that? 

I'd rather no use herbicide if i can avoid it b/c of the environmental implications. Could I just mow it down and "overseed" it? Would burning it be a good option? 

Any advice/experience would be appreciated.

Photos: Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet (...hope this works...)


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## tim62988 (Aug 30, 2012)

i would contact the local extension office. they should have someone that they can either recommend you to or have someone on staff that can come out and look through the property with you.

i know you want to avoid herbicides but depending upon your soil and what grass has taken over you may be best off to spray off the grasses there and plant something specific for your needs. But, that is something an agronomist can come out and go over your different options with you while walking the land


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## HombresArablegacy (Oct 12, 2013)

Check to see if there are any cherry, maple, or black walnut trees growing on the property and remove those, as all 3 are toxic to horses. Cherry has to be completely removed.. No burning or chipping. Same with black walnut. Then I'd bush hog all areas where there are no trees. Keep it mowed regularly and the grass will take over.


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## Avna (Jul 11, 2015)

Buy a small herd of goats and some electric netting from Premier One. Goats eat brush before they will eat grass. When they've eaten all the brush down, sell all but a few to keep it from coming back. They will be poisoned by cherry leaves same as horses but I don't think walnut is a problem. Goats are hard to poison because they nibble and move on, never eating all of anything at once.


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## JCnGrace (Apr 28, 2013)

If you have cherry or walnut sell them, don't just cut them up and toss.


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## stevenson (Sep 12, 2011)

You need to find out what type of trees those are,many are toxic.
I wonder about some of those brushy looking weeds, they could also be toxic.
If you have an agriculture school , nursery near you taek a cutting of the trees and see if they can identify them.


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## horselovinguy (Oct 1, 2013)

Time to go leaf picking...then internet surfing to compare leaves and toxicity with horses...or take the leaves to someone who knows trees for identification.
As for the rest of it..._*bush hog it.*_
Go about 8" then go to 5" where the scrubby garbage is... Don't cut shorter than 5" a it becomes very difficult much lower for the horses to get the grass and not dirt {I know they nibble shorter but don't purposely cut it shorter}
Fence it and turn the horses loose...
From your pictures you don't have that much of a problem with overgrowth that a bush hog can't easily handle.
Me, if the trees are not a issue to the horses safety I would leave them be. Doesn't look like any of those are varieties that need removing..
Horses won't purposely eat trees if they have other vegetation, grass... available to eat.
I also don't see branches close enough to the ground to starve out the sun and kill your grass.
What I did see was a break-line for weather protection the horses can use from sun, snow, and biting winds.

2 donkeys or 2 horses or a combination will eat that amount of pasture down in no time with unlimited use.
Prepare a area you can lose and fence that to protect that pasture when it is not growing well at certain times during the year. This is called a sacrifice area and I use mine when growing has ceased for the year, very wet & muddy conditions are occurring and when I need to pull a fatty off the lush growth for the horses well-being.
Prepare to feed hay and stockpile it when it is plentiful and cheaper to buy during growing & harvesting months... you're definitely going to be needing hay to feed. This isn't going to be a "for a few years" thing but every year thing unless you open up more pastureland to fencing and grazing.
Because it is green doesn't mean our picky horses will eat every blade...I bet you have 1/2 -3/4 of an acre they won't touch a blade of grass on just because horses are what they are.. :-(

Good luck on the purchase of the farm-ette.
:runninghorse2:....


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## Lynnmarie234 (Jun 7, 2017)

Thank you all - super helpful!! Seems easy enough!


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

If you have adequate pasture, supplement hay when necessary and the horses are never looking for food then I'd say just limb the trees up that are poisonous to keep branches that could be browsed out of reach and walk your wood for downed limbs after high winds/storms. We go up 16 - 20 feet which keeps new growth well out of reach. No reason to go through and cut everything out. I'd also recommend in areas that are going to be left wooded that you selectively trim and take out diseased or young trees that are in browsing range. You want open space that you can bush hog through to keep new growth out. Black Walnut poisoning is from exposure to the heartwood which can be found in shavings that are not sourced from someone you trust to leave this out of the mix or not sold retail specifically for horses. Cherry and Maple if they are not thick can be managed by limbing up, removing dropped limbs and making sure to feed or hay well away from any wooded area. If thick then either remove all and convert to pasture or fence off during drought or frost as that is what will cause the toxin levels to be high. Tree/ large shrub wise there are only a couple of plants that should be avoided at all cost as just a mouthful (yew) or a couple of mouthfuls - 30ish leaves or so (oleander) would kill a horse. The rest you are looking at 2-3 pounds of leaves ingested and that is a lot of leaf matter. Not something a horse would intentionally search out for food unless there is nothing else available and that is a last resort. As to weeds and smaller shrubby stuff, have your plants id'd and remove what you can. Know that it will continue to return as long as there is a seed bank in the soil, there are plants nearby on other property and conditions are favorable. If you are aware and stay on top of it you can control exposure. Again, your horse is not going to search these plants out if they have good forage and hay available. Common sense, a little knowledge and walking your property to remove what needs to be removed can go a long way to keeping your horses safe.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I live in NW IL - and can say that you want those trees! Do not let any animals kill them. Put cattle panel boxes around them. Any animals you put into that pasture will appreciate the shade - especially when we have weather like they are forecasting for this weekend (high 90's high humidity) 2 - 2.5 acres is about enough for 1 horse. Remember they will poop in a spot and not eat that grass.


Our biggest trees issue here are Walnut and Red maple - both being toxic to horses. Most weeds that are toxic the horses will leave. If you have 2 horses on this land create a sacrifice area so you can lock them up in the winter or in rainy seasons so they do not make the pasture one huge dry lot.

Congratulations on your purchase! Having horses at home is awesome.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

Lynnmarie234 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm in the process of purchasing a foreclosed home on 5 acres in Northern Illinois. About 2.5 of it is what i'd like to use as pasture, but its very over grown. I want to put 2 donkeys and 1 or 2 horses on it, and I'm fine supplementing with hay as needed for the first couple years. That would be enough for 1 horse. You'd need more if you added animals. You might could get by with 3 acres for 2 horses. Just depends.
> 
> ...


I wanted to come back and add some pics of our property with different amounts of trees removed and different strategies used. We are far from done. We did leave the Maple and Cherry. Have no Black Walnut but do have Hickory and Pecan, mostly it is Oak with Pine. These are during drought. 8 horses on 25 acres. There are two 1 acre sacrifice areas that do have a few trees for shade but are dirt. 5 acres is completely cleared, no trees - grass only pasture. 8 is pasture with mature trees thinned hard and left for shade. They have been pruned up and had their canopies thinned. One area is fenced off and has a round pen with aged mature trees (think 100+ years). The remaining acreage has been thinned and continues to be thinned. We bush hog and burn as there is still too much canopy for grass in most areas. We have issues with lawn grass invading and are fixing to overhaul all the pastures but this gives you an idea. With 2.5 acres one horse would probably be your limit unless you restricted grazing.


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## QtrBel (May 31, 2012)

The first two should be wooded areas in the low ground where there is a wash that is dry most of the year. First is facing south, second pic is north. After rain it is where all the water runs and can have water for days. The third is to the southwest and is mature pasture with trees then next is west and is the aged mature trees with open ground (you can see how much the lawn grass likes it as this is hubby's pet area that he fertilizes but refuses to lime - this is also on another piece of property closer to the bay) and last would be to the east and is more woods that we are working on. All pics are from a central point.


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