[binner]

does any know the best weed killer to use on our horse paddock?
i have used a couple of good ones on the allotment but it kills all including grass.
despite mowing/topping digging and pulling them up over the last couple of years they have taken over
i need one that will kill dock leaves and rag wort but not the grass, also is it horse safe? or do we need to keep him off for a week or two or untill they are dead?
thanks

[joyfull]

I always thought the best way to get rid of ragwort was to pull it up, and dock seeds can lie dormant for over 10 years and then still grow 

[wighty]

We keep an aerosol can just inside the gate to our field so that on the way down to the stable you can spray any Ragwort you see, get the spade and then go back and dig it out.  You just have to remember to take the can back up to the gate when you leave.  The only time we have worried about Dock is after the hay was cut when we walked up and down collecting the leaves before the hay was baled. Not sure on a weedkiller though as it's not something we've ever bothered with.

[gillie]

Our local horse supplies shop sells a weedkiller specially intended for ragwort.

However the problem with spraying ragwort (and buttercups for that matter) is that the dead plants are more palatable than the living ones, so the horses might eat them dead while they leave the living ones alone.  So if you use a spray you have to wait until the plants are not only dead but completely rotted, which is only practicable if you can leave the sprayed area ungrazed for months.

We pull every ragwort plant as we see it.  We have been doing it now for twenty years, but we still get a few.  I have never bothered about docks.

Gillie

[Casey76]

Use a rag fork and dig out the ragwort and burn it (use gloves!)

Our farmers go round the fields and use a heavy duty strimmer/bushwhacker for docks, they have roots like you wouldn't believe.  But the only way to get the out completely is to dig them out, and make use you get all of the root.

Personally I wouldn't want to use any chemical weedkiller on my horses paddock.

[binner]

huuuuuuummmmmm we have a problem then, its not just a few weeds though, the whole paddock is covered in them and there is barley any grass.

now here is another thing, it is a rented paddock from the council, its on the same terms as my allotment but we pay a £45 surcharge for keeping the horse on it. should they not do something about it? or is it up to us?
thanks for the help

[gillie]

It sounds to me as though it has been heavily overgrazed.

Gillie

[binner]

yes it has, by no fault of our own my i add. i did re-seed it last year but half of it got washed away first time it rained and then the weeds grew faster than the grass