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Damage by horses, but this from the archive might help:
https://landscapejuicenetwork.com/forum/topics/deep-horse-hooves-on...
u got a heavy roller? and sand to level?
I just had a similar inquiry myself and the lawn has a lot of moss and would take 1 hour to cut on the ride on roughly so it is a fair size,
my thoughts are reducing the height of the grass to allow a sand - soil mix to be used to fill the holes and level over, then re-see using a seeder- however that’s just my take!
Graeme, I get the feeling a roller won't be heavy enough, also reading through the comments from the previous thread perhaps a roller is not the best route or are we just being too scientific
How bad is it? If it's very bad and not too large then re-turfing might be the only option. Other than that, roll as best you can and fill in, level with top soil and re-seed. Personally I would never use sand. I know it is popular and somewhat conventional for levelling a lawn, but sand never compresses, never firms up like soil, and so remains unstable and soft. It washes away more easily than soil. I suppose that's why you see so many on Youtube levelling their lawns every year using sand.
I think sand is popular because it is very easy to spread out and level. But using screened, bone dry top soil is just as easy to spread and level, but unlike sand, will compact and firm up. Use screened top soil and avoid having to keep repeating the process.
I would try lifting the rutts out with a fork if possible in the first instance, as the beasts have compacted the area below their hoofs. Then apply top dressing to level out & reseed the effected areas.
Rolling will only compact the rest of the lawn down, but may be an option after doing the above.
yes, I’m going to try forking it a bit, but it’s a large area and going to be hard work:( then maybe raking it and if then it looks any better topsoil, sand and seed ?
Before you do anything, make sure your lawn is not once more going to be a migration stop for a bunch of thoughtless hungry Herfords from a neighbours badly fenced farm, who are on their way to seek soft succulent cud from whatever patch of green they can get their grass munching gums into! A cattle grid on your driveway and some D-rail fencing is a start! Depends of course where you live. Barb wire might suit you better? Or a fully sensored set of gatling guns, strategically placed in some random shrubs might also work if you live in a similar area to me!
Now, down to the area damaged by those feet, whose tiny surface area should never have evolved to carry the mean weight of 700kg! That weight on those wee hooves can compact a heavy loam soil never mind a carefully manicured, well aerated lawn. Rather than simply filling in the damaged areas, which may well go to the depth five to six iches or deeper, depending on soil structure, I would suggest digging each hoove "hole" out by a margin of 12" diameter, and then break up the compacted soil with your spade to until it has become light and fluffy, add one egg, some sugar and beat for 20 mins...oops. Break the soil, which was removed from the hole until crumbly (uncompacted), mix in some course sand to bring the volume back and toss it back into the hole. Then sow it out with the same grass mix you used for the the rest of the lawn. This seems like a lot of work to fix what took one cow or maybe several cows a few seconds to create but at the end of the day, it depends on what you use your lawn for; Saturday morning 5-a-side rugby, Wednesday evening croquet or Sunday afternoon lawn bowls? If it's the former, then just fill the holes with anything unwareable from your sock drawer and level it up with beer bottle tops and ciggarette stubs from any weekend party tidy ups! Hope this helps and hasn't prompted you to visit your local concrete pouring facility!