I am in Coeur d’Alene and
probably have the same cruddy, nasty, irritating clay soil as you. It is
quicksand in the spring and hard as rock in the summer. I planted my 2 acre pasture
the summer before last. The first year I got mostly weeds and gave up and
let my horses out to play. I tried to water with a sprinkler, but try to do 2
acres when your well will only let you run 1 sprinkler! I did notice
thought that the when it came in the next year, the area I watered was
thicker. Last year I seeded again in the spring – it did come
in from the year before but was sparse - and tried to keep the horses off
it. I ended up feeling sorry for them and let them out again. This
spring I did the same thing, but kept the horses off for a couple months till
everything dried out. Then I would let them out for 2-4 hours a
day. By the time everyone was cutting their hay, I was letting them out
24/7. The grass came in pretty good this year, although it could be a lot
thicker. The local farmer told me that I should have kept my horses off
for 2 years because the roots need time to establish themselves. When the
grass is new and the horses are eating it, the root system is weak and the
horses pull the whole grass – roots and all – out when they
eat. I just hate to coop them up with nothing to do, so I decided to just
to put down more seed each year until it eventually fills in. Of course I will
probably keep them out when the rains come and it is soupy. Hopefully next year
will come in even better. Believe it or not someone told me from a
distance how good my pasture looked. I thought it looked kind of pathetic
though.
