By Fred Miller
Fast Facts:
- Horses are slovenly grazers, so forage requires careful management.
- Soil fertility, weed control and regular mowing are key to good pasture management for horses.
- Splitting large pastures into smaller paddocks aids in good forage management.
Most forage plants are not well suited for the grazing behavior of horses, said Dirk Philipp, forage researcher for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.
Unlike cattle, Philipp said, horses have teeth in both lower and upper jaws that enable them to bite off vegetation very deeply.
“Horses are terrible grazers,” Philipp said. “They graze forage very close to the ground.”
As a result, he said, weeds can become very competitive and take over as forage is weakened and diminished.
Many paddocks are relatively small, Philipp said. “In those cases, extra care has to be taken to keep weeds under control and allow forage to keep growing.”
If enough land is available, Philipp said, it should be split up into two- or three-acre paddocks through which the horses can be rotated.
Philipp offers some pointers for managing land resources to keep horse and pasture happy:
Select a robust forage to start with — bermudagrass withstands closer grazing; novel endophyte tall fescue is good when there’s enough land to rotate horses around paddocks. Orchardgrass is also a good choice for northern Arkansas pastures.
Avoid older, toxic endophyte fescues that are detrimental to mares’ health and reproduction.
Fertilize according to soil tests.
Stay on top of weed control — invest in a sprayer that can be carried on an ATV or a backpack sprayer for spot spraying.
Spray weeds on time and spray fence rows regularly with glyphosate to keep them clean. “This also keeps unwanted critters from nesting there,” Philipp said.
Philipp said a mower may be the single most important investment when keeping horses.