Clearing our bush?

Question

We have cleared a lot of bush already for our horses in the spring. Some stumps we can easily kick out and stuff. Do we really need to pay the money to bring a bulldozer in to clear the whole bush of stumps? Or can we just clear where we want the barn?

Will the horses be okay if there are some patches of stumps in the bush?

Answer 1

kick out the stumps that you can.As for the whole bush of stumps I would day dig them up if you have to don't hire someone to do it unless there are tons!Also If the horses won't be near that area then dont worry about it.I would say just clear where you want the barn.I dont know how big these are but if they are too big a horse can get seriously hurt in many ways so its up to you and if the horses are going to reach it

Answer 2

The horses should be able to see that the stumps are there.  If they are surrounded by bushes and the horses run through the bushes, then the horses wont see the stumps and could get injured by them.  

In general horses are perfectly fine with having stumps in their area...just make sure the horses actually know they're there...

Answer 3

Thankfully Mother Nature has blessed her animals with instinct and savvy.  The horse is an intelligent adjustable animal...after all look how it has survived human interference.  The horses will have no problem with the stumps and bush...it will be a little slice of heaven to them.  Being grazing animals they know what is on the ground ahead of them and under them...they will be fine...leave the stumps where they are.

Answer 4

By stumps, do you mean brush sized or tree sized?

If they're brush sized, at least cut them down level with the ground.  Problems arise when the horse steps just over one and his pastern comes down on it, or he falls, or he's in a fight and not watching his feet, or...  Situations arise where the horse can't avoid these things, and you don't want him (and your pocketbook and heart) to suffer the consequences of a moment of inattention!  Getting staked on a 6" tall 1" diameter stump can be deadly.

If they're tree sized, they may be less of a problem...  but fields need to be mowed frequently or they turn into brambles.  You'll probably spend more time and money mowing around them than it would cost to have them cleared.  Add the veterinary cost of a single misstep...  it's more cost effective to take them out now.

Knowing how accident prone horses can be, I'd clear them.

Answer 5

Horses aren't dumb, they can navigate obstacles like that.  I say don't waste the money having them removed.  I know I wouldn't.

Answer 6

If it is going to be somewhere that the horses will be walking/grazing, I would clear them all.  A horse can severly pull a muscle or ligament or even a tendon if he steps down wrong and sometimes they wont ever completly heal.  If it's just a space behind the barn where no one will be, forget about it.  Good luck!

Answer 7

Your horses will be okay with the stumps, but they will be a bother for the next 10 to 15 years.  I have a bunch of smaller stumps in my field, mostly 6-12".  They were cut between 10-12 years ago.  After being cut, they try really hard not to die.  The next year (or more) sprouts will come up from the stumps.  You have to cut around them when you mow, but when the grass is high you might not be able to see them, so there goes another shear pin on the mower.  After 10-12 years, many of mine have rotted and gone away, but there are still some out there that won't disappear.  I hit one on Sunday and had to stop and make a trip to the hardware store for more shear pins...

Anyway, if you can afford to have them bulldozed out, I say go for it, it will be worth it.  If you can't afford it, your horses will be fine and you'll just have to learn to deal with stumps.

If by "bush" you only mean bushes, brambles, and smaller things like that, I don't think you need to worry about the bulldozer, you'll just have to keep after them to keep them from re-growing.