Worrying about grass in AUGUST?!

There's a first time for everything. And this is the first time in four years I have been worried about grass in bloody AUGUST! 

Normally, the grass is brown and dead but due to the absolutely crazy 'summer' of on and off rain and sun, coupled with Covid meaning I couldn't advertise/do viewings and fill spaces (less horses to eat the small amount of grass that is there), this year it's never stopped looking like Spring.

I'd not realised actually how different it all looked until I look back at photos from this time last year (see last few pictures).

Following the horrdenous week of rain last week and a day of sun, last Thursday the grass all shot up and a one of the horses went a little footy and I noticed a few 'grass' poos appear. That's enough of a warning sign for me, and I set out to work and have shut most of the tracks off, giving them access to only the sections with no/absolute minimal grass and of course the barn and hardstanding.

I've been away this weekend and into this week, so will be back to see what's what tommorrow. My plan consists of getting the sheep back on and having them eat it down for me (thank god for the sheep! ).

It is also going to be fustrating having less space to continue intros with little Jimmy, but we'll make do and always pick the option that has the least risk.

The weather this year has been hugely challenging during the months that are supposed to be the easiest and I am quite done with the stress!! However there are positives to it, one being that because there's been enough grass coverage on the tracks all year to stop them getting slippy when it rains, so I've not had to shut the tracks at all due to heavy rain, which I have had to do in previous tears when the tracks where mostly dirt as heavy rain turned it into an ice rink, so the horses where shut on the hardstandings (with a small section of track) until it dried up.

It's times like these I dream of being a millionaire and able to fully surface most of my tracks, although, I am assured by other track livery owners who have mostly/fully surfaced tracks that this has is own whole host of issues!

Thank God we can keep our horses safe from the grass without stabling. Even with part of the tracks closed they still have freedom to move, lots of forage and friends