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  Discussion on Too much lime?
Author Message
Member:
Imsmmt

Posted on Tuesday, Mar 16, 2004 - 11:52 am:

About three weeks ago, our pastures were limed in anticipation of the horses returning home (they are in boarding school for the winter) for the spring and summer. Unfortunately, the liming was done on a very wet day and the lime was wet. Three weeks have passed, including several rains and we still have all sorts of clumpy high density lime spots all over the pastures. We tried dragging the field which broke up the clumps but it just spread the lime in dense circles . The horses are due to return home a week from now and I am very concerned about putting them in these pastures with these heavy lime spots. There is no way for them to graze without coming into contact with the lime. What advice can you offer?? (There is supposed to be a snow storm coming later today, I'm not sure whether or not that will help.)
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004 - 7:39 am:

I think as the snow melts it should help return the lime to the ground. Not being able to see the ground I cannot assess the risk of poisoning, on the other hand there are no reports of agricultural lime poisoning in horses in the scientific literature.
DrO
Member:
Dtranch

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004 - 8:30 am:

Seeing this post has caused me some concern. I was advised some time ago that lime was good as the base for my stall floors to keep them solid and dry. I have since put about a 6" base of lime down on all my stalls. It seems to work great ... but did I do something stupid here!!! Have had it down for over a year and have had no health problems that I am aware of. I had a bout of rain rot with a couple of horses but I am sure that is not related to lime in the stalls. Any comments and suggestions appreciated.
DT
Member:
Terrilyn

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004 - 9:34 am:

Dennis--I'd be interested in putting lime in my stalls too...did you put it down over dirt? And then bedding on top of the lime? How did you accomplish this? We have hard-packed dirt floors and our horses aren't in that much, but come this summer we'll probably keep them in during the day because of flies and I want to minimize smell and moisture. (It's my first summer in this barn.) Thanks!
Member:
Dtranch

Posted on Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004 - 10:24 am:

Terri -- I did it the old fashioned way, my pick-up truck, wheel barrow and shovel. I had mats down but thought they held the moisture. I put approx. a 3" base of sand, then 4" to 6" of lime. I use sawdust bedding (I'll never go back to straw). I kept 1 mat in the front of each stall where they feed to eliminate holes from pawing. I think I will put another 3" layer of sand on top this year to help control the moisture. It works great and I have not heard of any problems with the lime. I sure hope it is safe.
DT
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Mar 18, 2004 - 7:28 am:

Hello Dennis,
Though as I stated earlier there are no cases of toxicty reported it has been always thought best to not allow horses to graze following application until a rain has had a chance to knock it off the grass. I do not know any studies Dennis that have tested the toxicity of agricultural lime.
DrO
Member:
Dres

Posted on Thursday, Mar 18, 2004 - 9:52 am:

why do you lime pastures..? bug control.?? i understand the concept in the stalls for odor...

thanks.. Ann
Member:
Annes

Posted on Thursday, Mar 18, 2004 - 11:37 am:

We limed our hay fields to increase forage which helped to crowd out weeds. The lime (I believe) neutralizes the soil acidity or ph. A lot of people fertilize and lime at the same time. The time we did lime, we were careful not to put the horses back on the field until the first rain soaked the lime into the soil. The lime was spread at a certain # of lbs. per acre (I can't remember how much) and resulted in an even dusting over the field. It all disappeared after the first rain. - Ann
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Friday, Mar 19, 2004 - 7:48 am:

For information on liming pastures see the article on managing pastures associated with this forum.
DrO
Member:
Imogen

Posted on Saturday, Mar 20, 2004 - 10:15 am:

But do test your soil first to check if you need lime... and ask around locally. I was suprised last year when I tested mine that they actually didn't need liming. I even wondered whether my friend who did the testing had used old ph testkits since we're in an acidic area where most farmers lime every 5-6 years.

This year I arranged for an elderly neighbouring farmer to reseed a pasture for me and was discussing liming it with him as well since it had been the only field which was borderline acid for pasture the previous year. He told me that the geology of the area is such that about half the parish needs lime, half doesn't and it's patchy, not predictable by looking at the topography - you absolutely have to test or you can over-lime.

Testing is also important because without it you don't know how much lime to use... and soil pH test kits are cheap and easy to use.

All the best, hope the snow melt sorts out the patchy liming

Imogen
Member:
Imsmmt

Posted on Saturday, Mar 20, 2004 - 2:40 pm:

Thank you, everyone, for all your advice! I am feeling more confident of bringing them back now.

OF COURSE, as of this writing, there is a four inch cover of snow on the pastures so there is no telling what is happening under there.

Isn't this supposed to be the start of Spring?????

-- Michèle
Member:
npo33901

Posted on Thursday, Sep 22, 2011 - 4:52 pm:

Lime wash on stall walls.
I painted my stall walls with hydrated lime . Last "lime wash" has been done 2 years ago .
The second day the paint/lime started to peel off. Now it is a big mess - powdery lime all along the base of walls .
Why is this happening ? Did anybody have this experience ?
Would it be possible that it was applied too thick or the lime powder used was not a good quality ?

Is it dangers to the horses ? - If they start licking the fallen material ?
Moderator:
DrO

Posted on Sunday, Sep 25, 2011 - 10:32 am:

Hello Anne,
I believe we can help you with your question but let me get you started off right so you can get the best answer as quick as possible. You will get more responses if you start your own discussion rather than post at the bottom on another member's discussion. Each discussion is "owned" by the original poster and all replies in that discussion should either directly or indirectly address the concerns of the original poster.

We don't have a article covering your topic where you can start your discussion so I would post it at HorseAdvice.com » Horse Care » Horse Pasture, Fencing, Barns » Pastures, Fences, & Building topics not covered by the above.

Select a short title that describes your specific concern. A title like "Help!!!" does not help others find your specific topic. Instead something like "Ace for Colic?" allows others to rapidly find and understand what your topic is about just by viewing the title. This is likely to bring more responses from those with some experience with your topic and allows members to find answers to their questions quicker.
DrO
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