Northwest Horse Pasture Management
Part 3 of a 3 part series
by Alayne Blickle, Horses for Clean Water
In this last installment of a three part series, we cover basic techniques to good pasture management for horse farms. Earlier we covered sacrifice areas and rotational grazing. We ended last month with the golden rule of pasture management, which is a good place to start for this month: NEVER graze your pastures below the 3 to 4 inch mark. This is so important because the plants need that much material available to manufacture food. When plants are grazed below this mark it compromises their health and you will begin to loose pasture quality and quantity. For beginners it’s a good idea to actually take a ruler or yardstick out in the pasture with you to get a good idea of exactly where that 3 to 4 inch level is. Sometimes just eyeballing it isn’t enough; pastures often tend to look better from a distance then when actually inspected up close.
Once an area has been grazed down to 3 to 4 inches it is time for you to go to work as a grass farmer by getting out your lawn mower or tractor and pasture mower. Horses are selective grazers, eating some plants close to the ground and leaving others untouched. Mowing “evens the playing field” by cutting the tall plants down to a size where they are more tasty for the horse. Watch your horses some time and note which plants they do eat! They will go to the short stuff and try to graze it down shorter and shorter. Besides improving palatability, mowing encourages grass plants to produce more leaves, called tillers, thereby making your pasture plant stand thicker. Also, mowing is a very important weed management technique, as most weeds cannot withstand mowing. So set your mower deck at 4 to 6 inches and ‘mow betta’!
Next, you need to harrow (or drag) the pasture area to spread manure. Harrowing breaks up manure piles so that grass plants are not being smothered, and plants can better use the nutrients and organic materials. To accomplish this you can pull a harrow with your tractor, riding lawn mower, ATV or a small 4WD vehicle. Or, you can simply take a manure fork and spread manure by hand. A wide variety of harrows can be purchased from farm and tractor supply stores or catalogues, or you can find them in the back of horse magazines. Harrows with teeth or tines are more aggressive and can be adjusted to have a greater ripping effect on the ground. A basic harrow can also be simply made -- a discarded piece of chain-link fence with a couple of old tires tied down for weight works well. An old, metal bedspring, metal gate or similar item may also work.
Another key pasture management technique is to have a soil test done for your pastures and apply lime and fertilizer accordingly. NEVER apply fertilizer without a soil test because you simply have no idea what your plants and soils need. By following the soil test results you will reduce the chance of applying too much and having it wash off into the surface waters. Applying to the correct rate will keep you from wasting money as well. Only apply fertilizers during the growing season so that plants can utilize them and nutrients won’t get washed away.
Over the winter keep horses confined to the sacrifice area and off saturated, rain soaked soils and dormant plants. This applies to summer storm events as well. Soggy soils or dormant plants simply cannot survive continuous grazing and trampling in winter months. Compaction of soil makes water filtration and plant growth very difficult. In addition, when the soils are wet, livestock hooves act like plungers by loosening fine particles of topsoil that can be washed away by rain.
An important caveat to remember: begin spring grazing time gradually for your horse. Too much pasture can cause serious problems, especially in the spring when grasses are green and lush. NEVER open the gate and toss your horse out! The bacteria in a horse’s gut require any dietary changes to be on a gradual basis. Be sure to contact your veterinarian if you have any questions on the grazing schedule appropriate for your individual horse.
By utilizing these pasture management techniques you will be creating a healthier pasture. Healthier pastures mean more pasture productivity, which means less money spent on supplemental feed. Healthy pastures have the added benefit of making happier, healthier horses, a prettier picture for you and your neighbors -- and a cleaner environment for all.
Good horsekeeping to you!
Upcoming FREE Horses for Clean Water Educational Events:
Horse Logging & Forest Health See a horse-logging demo performed by a team of Belgium draft horses & learn how this low-impact logging technique can actually improve forest health. Woodinville, WA. Saturday, July, 10th, 9am to noon. FREE!
Firewise & Defensible Space Learn ways to better prepare your home & farm to avoid the possibility of wildfire. Carnation, WA. July date TBA. FREE!
Pony Farming Come meet the grand dame of the driving and pony world, Isabelle Moe, and her 8 beautiful ponies. Tour her mudless Enumclaw Plateau farm, see how she raises her own hay, composts all their pony manure and reapplies it to her fields. Enumclaw, WA. Wednesday, August 25th, 6:30 to 8:30pm. FREE!
To register for any of the above classes and receive a map contact the King Conservation District at 206-764-3410, ext. 125 or Roseanne.Campagna@kingcd.org.
