Help your fields recover from drought with helpful tips to rehabilitate grazing

How to help fields recover from drought will be a question that resurfaces more and more frequently as climate change continues disturbing weather patterns and unleashing hotter, drier summers.

We have all witnessed the UK turn from a green and pleasant land to a consummate Sahara, with our horses’ fields withering away into hot, dry plains. Grass, unable to grow, has been in short supply. With the 2026 hay yield diminished, many of us have been putting out forage from our winter stocks and are now not only worrying about how to reduce the upcoming hay bills, but how to help our paddocks recover.

What happens to fields during a drought?

• Grass stops growing to conserve moisture.
• Soil becomes compacted, which prevents air, moisture and nutrients reaching the roots.
• Rain runs off the surface instead of being absorbed, which can contribute to flooding.
• Bare areas develop where grass is overgrazed (also weakening the roots) and in. high-traffic areas.
• Opportunistic weeds grow before grass has chance to re-establish.

How to help fields recover from drought

Is there anything to be done to help fields recover from drought? Experts at Posh Pastures, suppliers of field maintenance equipment, say yes in many cases.

Rehabilitating your paddocks means waiting for moisture, assessing the damage and working the land appropriately. Here is Posh Pastures’ advice.

1. Wait for moisture

Helping fields recover hinges on moisture.

Before you do any paddock maintenance, the land must be workable to avoid damaging equipment. This means you do unfortunately need to wait for that long-awaited downpour before rescuing your field.

If you can push a spade or soil probe (like this one) into multiple areas across your field without excessive force, the land is ready to work.

2. Aerate or slit compact ground

This makes openings in the soil, helping moisture, air and nutrients reach grass roots. Concentrate on the most heavily compacted areas first, but expand if compaction is widespread.

3. Harrow to remove dead grass and improve the surface

This will also make more productive conditions for overseeding where necessary. You may need to harrow badly affected paddocks more than once.

4. Overseed bare or thin patches

Overseeding speeds up the recovery process where grass has died. You should seed after harrowing.

Ensure:

• You choose a seed specifically formulated for equestrian paddocks (like this one) and apply at the recommended rate.
• The seed makes firm contact with the soil – rolling can help with this, but only when conditions are suitable (i.e. not too wet).
• Moisture is sufficient for germination.
• Horses are kept off while the new grass establishes.

7. Apply fertiliser once the grass is growing

Adding fertiliser to dormant grass will not help, but when growth has restarted with sufficient moisture, a suitable fertiliser (testing your soil will help you find the right one) should improve recovery.

8. Allow the paddock to rest and recover

Before allowing horses to graze, you should ensure the grass is established well enough so that the roots of new seedlings are not pulled up by horses grazing.

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