- What counts as paddock maintenance?
- The everyday work of keeping grassland right: topping long or seeded grass, chain harrowing to pull out dead thatch, rolling after a wet winter, spraying docks, nettles, thistles and ragwort, hedge cutting, fencing, and clearing land that’s got away from you. If you’re not sure what your field needs, describe what it looks like — the contractor will tell you.
- How much does it cost?
- It depends on the acreage, the state of the ground, access for machinery and how far the contractor travels — so the price comes from the contractor who’d do the work, not from us. Describing the job takes a minute, quotes are free and there’s no obligation to accept one.
- How quickly will someone get in touch?
- Your job goes out to contractors covering your county as soon as we’ve checked it. Most jobs are picked up within a day or two, though it depends on the season — topping in high summer and hedge cutting after the nesting season are the busy times.
- How small a job will you take?
- A single pony paddock is a perfectly normal job. We handle work for private paddock owners and one-horse fields through to equestrian yards, smallholdings, farms and estates.
- Do I need to know the acreage?
- No. Give us a rough idea — “about two football pitches”, “a bit over an acre” — or just the postcode and a description. We work the details out and confirm them with you before anything goes to a contractor.
- Who actually does the work?
- The work is done by agricultural contractors in our network, which is run by Emmerdale Agriculture Ltd (Company No. 14950816) — the company behind Hampshire Paddock Management. You deal with the contractor directly and pay them directly.