around the farm - Little Forest

To continue our look around the farm …

sand school

At the end of Barn Field, just behind the barns, we have a sand school that’s used by the livery yard riders. This is a specially constructed arena that allows riders to exercise their horses all year as it doesn’t get muddy in winter or hard and compacted in summer. A compacted stone base was laid, covered with a geotextile membrane and topped with a silica sand and recycled rubber mix.

The Mott

Next to the arena is The Mott, which separates Barn Field and Little Forest. This is just a wide ditch though the fact that it's been given a name suggests it may have been more important in the past. We've had so little rain over the winter that it's dry at the moment.

Little Forest looking west

Little Forest is another small grass field (3.59 hectares); we took a cut of hay from this field last summer and will do the same again this year and then fence it so the horses can be put in here to graze.

Little Forest looking back towards the yard

The hedge on the left of the photo is made up of many species including hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, holly, field maple , dog rose and bramble, which makes it very good for fruit and nut foraging.