1967-Voice Of The Tennessee Walking Horse 1967 July Voice RS | Page 60
Good Horse Pastures Help
Make America Beautiful
By Mary C. Williamson
Fayetteville, Tennessee
Horses have returned to the Amer
ican way of life in an altogether dif
ferent perspective than the horse of
yesteryear. In this article we are going
to emphasize some very basic essentials
where management of your horses and
the beautification of the paddocks and
pastures arc very intimately related.
We arc all aware of the current need
to beautify and conserve rural Amer
ica through the “America the Beauti
ful Program.” What is more pictur
esque than a fat. sleek horse or horses
in a nice grassy scenic background? I
take for granted that people who own
horses have feelings of being close to
nature. There is no question that the
horse is an outdoor animal, and that
grass is the natural forage for these
animals. So let’s get into how to es
tablish a well-developed pasture pro
gram for your horses. Here we need to
call to your attention the soils and the
topography of your pastures. You will
have to work with these two con
stants in developing an effective pas
ture program.
The topography of your land is a
key factor in erosion control. To get
an effective soil and water conservation
program on your farm is of the utmost
importance. Our most severe problem
in conserving soil and water lies be
tween what is known and what is ap
plied to our land. This conservation
of soil and water is the lifeblood of
beautiful and nourishing pastures. . .
pastures that produce fat, high-spirited
horses frolicking, grazing on land with
an abundance of vitamins and minerals
while getting the bodily nourishment
to produce a strong healthy foal or
those gangling yearlings that are de
veloping stamina, bone structure, and
wholesome bodies to stand the months
of strenuous training necessary to pro
duce top show horses.
Seek technical help in planning and
applying systems to retard rainfall run
off and to carry the excess water off at
non-erosive velocities. Many of these
can be installed with regular farm ma
chinery7. To you people who have the
problem of too much water, drainage
systems can be planned. Once you have
come to appreciate the topography of
your fields, then you will be in a
stable environment to proceed with a
pasture program. Make no mistake
about it, an effective pasture program
requires action on many fronts. Land
use practices must be designed to safe
60
* ■
r?
w
> v Mi
,5^ J
guard topsoil and avoid unnecessary
erosion, siltation, and waste of water
or soil moisture.
A certain man had a fine horse that
was his pride and his wealth. One
morning he got up early to go out to
the stable and he found it empty. The
horse had been stolen. He stayed awake
many nights afterwards, thinking what
a fool he had been not to put a good
stout lock on the stable door. It would
have only cost a couple of dollars and
saved his most prized possession. He
determined that he would give better
protection to the next horse he had,
but he knew he would never get one
as good as the one he had lost.
This is what happens to your soil
when you arc not aware of how to
properly manage your pastures. So
know your soils and treat them accord
ingly because once wasted, it can
neither be re-formed nor feasibly re
placed by man.
Basically there are 6 steps to a suc
cessful pasture program for your
horses. (1} First of all, prepare a good
seedbed. There are many ways to do
this, so select the one adapted to your
needs and prepare your seedbed. (2)
Use plants that are well adapted to
your particular area. Select plants that
will grow in harmony with the soils and
climate conditions that exist on your
farm. The point I am trying to stress
here is, use something that has been
tried and proven locally, not some
exotic plant that got good publicity
somewhere. (3) Feed your pasture
through the wise use of fertilizer. There
is only one way to know exactly what
you are doing in a fertilizer program
and that is to test your soil. This is
very inexpensive. A soil test reflects
the need for the lime and other nutrient
needs for your farm or ranch. Tailor-
made requirements should be made for
your own pasture whether it be one
acre or 1,000 acres. Of course this is
elementary, but is it always done? We
can sum up here by saying “know your
soil first,” then keep current soil tests
to know when, how much, and what
analysis of fertilizer to apply. (4) Pas
ture management. Here again, you will
want to use grazing practices which
work well in your area. Generally, we
are all guilty of over-grazing or keep
ing the plants' too short over a long
period of time. Then along comes one
of Mother Nature’s drought periods,
and those over-grazed pasture plants
have pulled their root systems up near
the surface because they have only
been maintaining a very short top
growth, and many pasture plants die.
(5) You will also need an effective
weed control program. Unwanted
plants in pastures will need to be con
trolled for they will use the fertilizer
and water needed by the more desir
able plants that you have seeded.
Usually clipping pastures before these
weeds produce seed will aid in their
control. Chemical weed control can
be used with proper management. (6)
Pasture maintenance. From time to
time you will need to give special at
tention to critical areas within a cer
tain pasture through additional seed
and fertilizer along with some type of
manure scattering device. Many horse
men use a harrow or heavy wire mesh
drag behind the fertilizer distributoi
to accomplish this. There are many
good reasons for scattering the manure
piles. Some parasite control will be
derived, but most of all a more uni
form growth and grazing pattern will
be maintained.
VOICE of Ihe Tennessee Walking Horse