With high grain prices and projected greater increases, maximizing equine pasture nutrition makes good economic sense. Investing in agronomic solutions will save money by feeding less grain.
Pasture grazing has many health benefits as horses were designed to eat grass and they are happiest doing it. Research has proven that the risk of some types of colic may decrease with pasture turn out. Pasture grazing provides exercise, decreases stress and may help prevent stall related vices. Certain horses have unique health risk on pasture but most of our horses will be healthier if they spent more time on pastures and less time in a stall eating grain.
Pasture management requires a year round approach incorporating local team work. County extension offices and a local agronomist are valuable resources to anyone desiring practical pasture solutions.
All of us try to provide the best grain ration, hay or supplements for our horses. We understand how nutrition can impact our horses but we often overlook the nutritional requirements of our pastures. Too often we consider pasture as only a “turn out space”. We might occasionally mow the pastures but we then allow our horses to overgraze and we pray for rain. Then when our pastures look like barren desserts we blame the weather.
Sacrificial Paddock – Before investing in pasture renovations, dedicating a small turn out area is a critical first step. There are times of year and stages of plant growth when grazing is contraindicated. If pastures are too wet, too dry, or recently seeded, you must have a sacrificial turn out paddock to allow your pastures to recover.
Lab Work & “Dirt Doctors” – When our horses are sick we don’t hesitate to listen to our vet and invest in diagnostics. Soil testing and working with a qualified local agronomist is wise, as fertilization and planting is a mistake unless your soil pH is 6-7. The ideal seed varieties and planting details depend greatly on your local climate and soils. Listening to an agronomist for their local expertise is paramount to your success.
Overgrazing - This is probably the single most common mistake horse owners make. Stocking rates vary greatly by region, climate and season as I have seen ranges of 1-4 acres per horse. The stocking rate in the spring will not be the same in an August drought. You must weekly walk your pastures and adjust your stocking rates and without this any agronomy investments will be wasted.
Rotational Grazing - This is a simple process but it takes attention to detail and investing in fence. Simple put, if you allow the plants to recover you will maximize the pastures’ forage capacity. Fence is expensive, but if you can amortize your savings in feed, the investment will pay dividends. Most of us can design a workable rotational grazing program by utilizing portable electric tape fencing.
Your county extension agent can be a good source for rotational grazing programs and diagrams. Often times the limiting factor with rotational grazing is water access. Having a common alley to your water source that can connect to all pastures will provide optimal rotational grazing options.
The goal with rotational grazing is to remove horses when plant height is about 2-4 inches. Again you must walk these pastures to determine this. A quick look over the fence is confusing as horses avoid areas with manure “roughs” and over graze new plant growth “lawns”. When the lawns are about 3 inches it is time to move the horses.
How long it takes for your rested pasture to recover depends on you r local climate. As a general rule (with adequate rainfall) in about 3-4 weeks the plants will be about 6-7 inches in height. When horses are removed you can mow for uniform height, harrow and apply some soil treatments.
Continuous Grazing One Pasture - Even with one small pasture you can practice rotational grazing utilizing a sacrificial paddock. When the “lawns” in your lone pasture are approximately 2-3 inches, move the horses to your sacrificial paddock and feed hay. Allowing your horses to overgraze will eventually ruin your lone source of pasture fiber.
Supplementation - Depending on your region, pastures can be deficient in copper, zinc, selenium, phosphorus or Vitamin A. In addition, some pastures and water sources can be high in sulfur which has been proven to prevent trace mineral absorption. Offering your horses a free choice source of salt and minerals is helpful. This is especially critical for broodmares and growing horses. In my opinion the best source of trace minerals are acid resistant organic “chelated” minerals as they are more bioavailable.
Traditionally trace mineral salt blocks are offered and while these can be helpful the mineral content is small and many horses cannot lick enough. This is why you see horses chewing on blocks. Blocks were originally designed for cattle and unlike our horses cattle have tongues like sand paper. I prefer loose salt-mineral-vitamin products that are formulated for horses. These product look like brown sand and must be fed in a protected tub. Free choice equine loose minerals provide better intake and usually have improved fortification over salt blocks. Loose mineral products require more management but in my opinion these are a better option over salt blocks.
Pasture Cautions - Horses must be acclimated to pasture as any radical dietary change may cause colic or laminitis. If a horse is prone to laminitis or has been diagnosed with Cushing Disease or Metabolic Syndrome extreme caution with pasture access is paramount. Some of these horses must avoid pasture grazing completely and only be fed hay that is tested for low carbohydrate content. Some can be turn out on pasture with a grazing muzzle, but they must be closely monitored. Horses can learn to graze through the muzzle and some may worked the muzzle off.
Best Time To Graze - If for health reasons you must limit pasture carbohydrate intake there are safer times to allow grazing. This is not an exact science but generally the plants have the greatest sugar content in late afternoon or early evening after a sunny day. The sugar content in plants is usually lowest from 3 AM – 10 AM, so early morning grazing may be safer. However, sugar content in plants can vary greatly and caution is warranted in at risk horses. Extended periods of cloudy weather can lower plant sugar content but be careful with sunny days and nights less than 40 degrees F. The following web site is a good resource if you have at risk horses.
www.safergrass.org
In summary, horses were designed to consume pasture and investing in agronomic solutions will save money and provide a healthy nutrition source. Pasture management requires a year round plan, local professional help, hard work and attention to detail. Pastured horses still require salt and trace mineral supplementation and certain equine health conditions mandate extreme caution to limit pasture carbohydrate complications.
Kenneth J. Kopp DVM
Technical Service Veterinarian - Arenus