Back to Basics
By Di Stalter
Horse Pasture Rotation
By practicing pasture rotation, you can reduce or
eliminate the cost of hay during the growing season.
If you put a little thought into how you rotate the
pastures, you’ll not only save money, you will provide
your horse with quality food. After reading this article,
you will know when to rotate your horses on and off
pastures.
Pasture Mix
If you are starting from scratch and seeding a new
pasture, you can use this ‘recipe’ for seeding:
Pasture mix per acre
8 pounds alfalfa
3 pounds orchard grass
5 pounds bromegrass
if you want to add some clover, 1/2 pound will be
plenty.
Once you turn your horses out in the spring, you
will begin your management. If you have included
alfalfa and don’t rotate the horses out of the pasture
when they have grazed it to the right height, you will
start finding thistles and other weeds taking over. So, if
you don’t plan to manage rotation carefully, and horses
are allowed to graze too close, alfalfa may not be your
choice. Perhaps you should add bluegrass instead. Your
county extension office will have more information on
the right types of grasses and legumes in your area.
Grasses will do best during the cooler days at the
beginning and end of the growing season. Grasses are
more durable and resist trampling by horses.
Legumes (alfalfa and other clovers) are more productive
in warmer months. Legumes add protein for
your horse and nitrogen for the grasses. They are more
susceptible to trampling and overgrazing.
Pastures with a large percentage of legumes can lead
to bloat. You want to introduce horses to grass/ legume
pasture slowly. In the spring, when you and your horse
are eager to get into the pasture, start slowly. Let the
horses into the pasture for 20 minutes or a half hour
the first couple of days. Do not turn hungry horses
into the pasture - feed them hay before turning them
out. Lengthen the time in the pasture a little bit over
the next week or two, always feeding them hay before
8 • Walking On
turning them out and provide a salt block and plenty
of water to newly pastured horses.
If you plan on doing pasture rotation correctly, you
will include a few hours of mowing and dragging after
moving your horses off each pasture. If you don’t think
you will do the mowing and dragging, it probably
won’t be worth the extra money to include legumes in
your pasture.
Carefully monitor grazing. I’m not going to get
real technical here, I’ll just tell you the rule of thumb
- when the forages reach 6 - 8 inches, put your horses
in the pasture. Remove them after they have grazed to
an average height of 3 or 4 inches. Keep in mind that if
you have not planted alfalfa, and the pasture is mostly
grass, you can let your horses graze it down to about 2
inches average.
Also remember that plants will grow faster in the
spring and slower in the summer and fall. You may
find that you need to mow a pasture because the grass
is growing faster than the horses are eating. If the grass
reaches higher than 8 inches and it is not time to move
your horses to this pasture, mow it to about 4 inches.
By timing your rotation to pasture height rather than
by your calendar you can easily maintain a good pasture.
Uneven Grazing
Horses will graze younger, tastier pasture plants.
When you rotate them out of the pasture, they may
leave behind an uneven pasture with some tall legumes.
If you allow the ungrazed plants to remain,
they can shade out and stunt the growth of other
forages.
Mowing Your Pasture
Regular mowing makes pastures more productive. It
can also reduce herbicide usage.
After rotating your horses out of the pasture, mow
the pasture with your mower set at about four inches.
This will allow the good stuff to grow back. The bottom
2-3 inches of grasses are where the sugars and proteins
are stored. These sugars and proteins are needed for
regrowth.