Spring Jobs for a Healthy Paddock

Why Early Spring Sets Up the Whole Year

There's a moment in late February or early March when the ground begins to dry, the grass starts to show the first flush of green, and every horse owner feels the urge to get out there and do something. That instinct is sound. The jobs you do in the next few weeks — before the spring flush really takes hold and the ground firms up — will determine how well your paddock copes with the year ahead. Get them right, and you'll have stronger grass, fewer weeds, cleaner grazing and less mud next winter.

But timing is everything. Go too early and you'll churn up saturated ground; leave it too late and you'll miss the window before growth takes off. Walk your fields regularly, test the ground underfoot, and act on the first dry spell rather than the first sunny day.

Harrowing: More Than Just Tidying Up

Harrowing is the job most of us think of first, and with good reason. A chain harrow dragged across the paddock does several things at once. It pulls out dead thatch and old grass stems that would otherwise smother new growth. It spreads droppings, breaking up the worm eggs and larvae inside them and exposing them to sun and frost. It lifts the surface, allowing air and moisture into the root zone.

The key is to harrow when the ground is dry enough to crumble rather than smear. Pick up a handful of soil and squeeze it — if it holds together like putty, wait. If it breaks apart easily, you're good to go. Work in straight lines, overlapping each pass, and keep the harrow set shallow. For heavily poached or rutted areas, a light roll afterwards will press the surface back down without compacting the soil beneath.

If your paddock has been rested over winter, harrowing alone may be enough. If it's been grazed hard, consider overseeding thin patches with a suitable horse-friendly mix once the harrowing is done. Light rain after sowing will do the rest.

Soil Testing: The Job Nobody Wants to Do

It's not glamorous, but soil testing is arguably the most valuable hour you'll spend on your paddock this spring. A basic soil test tells you your pH and your levels of the major nutrients — nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium — plus often magnesium and calcium. Without it, you're guessing at fertiliser and lime, and guessing wastes money.

Grass needs a pH of around 6 to 6.5 to thrive. If yours is lower, nutrients lock up in the soil and no amount of fertiliser will help until you correct it. Lime is best applied in autumn or early spring when the ground is workable, and it needs time to act. Testing now means you can plan properly.

• Take samples from at least ten to fifteen spots across the paddock, in a zigzag pattern.
• Use a clean trowel or soil auger and take cores from about 7–10 cm deep.
• Mix the samples together in a clean bucket and send off a representative sample.
• Avoid sampling right after fertiliser or lime application, or within a few metres of a gateway or fence line where animals congregate.

Keep a record of your results year on year. Over time, you'll see how your management is affecting the soil and can adjust accordingly.

Fencing: Finding the Damage Winter Left Behind

Winter is hard on fences. Frost heave pushes posts up, saturated ground loosens them, fallen branches bring down wires, and livestock leaning over rails can snap them silently in the dark. A thorough walk of your boundary and internal fences in early spring is essential before turnout.

Start at the gate and work your way round. Check every post for movement by pushing firmly — a post that wobbles now will fail under a horse's weight later. Look for broken or slack wires, rotten rails, and insulators that have cracked in the frost. Electric fencing in particular needs testing: a poor earth connection can be the difference between a secure paddock and an escape.

• Walk the whole boundary, not just the bits you can see from the yard.
• Clear vegetation away from the bottom of electric fences — damp grass shorts them out.
• Check gate hinges and latches; winter swelling can make them stiff or loose.
• Replace damaged rails and posts now, before the ground dries too hard to dig.

Managing the First Flush of Grass

Once the grass starts growing, resist the temptation to turn everything out at once. The spring flush produces rich, sugary grass that can overwhelm a horse's system, particularly natives and good doers. Introduce grazing gradually, and keep an eye on body condition.

If you have more than one paddock, rest the one you've just harrowed and tested. A rotation system — even a simple three-paddock rotation — spreads the grazing pressure, breaks the worm cycle and gives grass time to recover. Poached gateways and tracks are best fenced off and reseeded rather than left to turn to mud again next year.

Check water troughs and field shelters too. Winter can crack pipes, dislodge troughs and leave shelters in need of repair. Clean troughs thoroughly — algae and debris build up quickly once the weather warms.

A Calm Start to the Season

None of these jobs takes long on their own, and each one pays you back many times over. You'll have stronger grass, healthier soil, safer fencing and — crucially — fewer problems when the ground is wet again next winter. Spring is a gift of a season on a smallholding. Use it well, and the whole year feels easier.