Once a pasture has been established or renovated, or when a more efficient native pasture is needed, implementing a management practice to promote a more vigorous, healthy plant community should be performed.
Grazing Management:
Proper grazing management is essential to maintain a productive forage base for any pasture. Two very important practices that need to be implemented into your horse pasture grazing management plan are proper timing of grazing and a rotation schedule.
Proper Timing:
Grasses and legumes need sufficient growth before grazing is allowed. If grazed too early, plants lose vigor and competitiveness, eventually dying and replaced by undesirable plant species. Native range should not be grazed in North Dakota until late-May or early June, except for the southeastern region where around May 20 is the suggested turn-on date.
The carrying capacity should be based on utilizing no more than 50 to 60 percent of the above-ground foliage by weight. This is generally about 3 to 4 inches of stubble at the end of the grazing season for the mid to taller grass species and 1 to 1.5 inches for shorter grass species.
Introduced grasses begin growth earlier in the spring than do native grasses, allowing for an earlier turn-on date. Crested wheatgrass and smoothbrome can be grazed when they reach the three-leaf stage in development, or late April to early May in North Dakota.
Achieving a degree of grazing use of 60 to 70 percent is recommended for the entire grazing season (about a 1.5 to 2.5 inch stubble) on crested wheatgrass, but only about 50 percent on smooth bromegrass. If crested wheatgrass is not grazed early, it will become rank, taking on a more clumped pattern, and unpalatable to horses.
Intermediate wheatgrass and Kentucky bluegrass are also introduced cool-season grasses that can be grazed earlier than native range. The turn-on date for Kentucky bluegrass and intermediate wheatgrass is mid-May in North Dakota.
Kentucky bluegrass should be grazed at a stocking rate that will achieve a 50 to 60 percent degree of use, or about a 2.5-inch stubble. Intermediate wheatgrass will not withstand a heavy degree of use for long periods of time, so should be grazed at no more than 50 percent use and rested more than Kentucky bluegrass.
Orchardgrass is not common in North Dakota. It should be grazed similar to Kentucky bluegrass but not as heavy, achieving degree of use rates of 40 to 50 percent. Legumes should not be grazed until they start to flower and not overgrazed on any one area, since this quickly reduces the amount of legumes in the stand. Rotational grazing is a must with legumes to retain productivity and long grazing periods on one area.
Rotational Grazing: Dividing the acreage into two and preferably more pastures is recommended to allow rest periods of 30 to 45 days. Rest is necessary to permit plant regrowth and improve plant vigor.
Rotational grazing:
can help control parasites and discourage some animal diseases. It also provides better animal distribution. Horses are spot grazers, causing underutilization of some areas and overgrazing of others. Rotational grazing should allow for higher stocking rates as compared to seasonlong grazing.
Grazing with other classes of livestock:
As mentioned earlier, horses are severe spot grazers, resulting in poor pasture utilization. If possible, graze cattle or sheep with horses to maintain balance among grasses, legumes and forbs. Cattle will utilize the otherwise wasted grasses, while sheep will utilize more of the forbs and shrubs.
Cattle droppings are also more randomly distributed while horse droppings concentrate in specific areas, becoming “hot spots” for parasites. Cattle and horses do not have the same intestinal parasites, allowing each to graze around the other’s droppings without becoming infested.
Clipping and Dragging:
Clipping mature, rank grasses is generally required if cattle are not grazed with horses. Horses tend to avoid areas where grasses become mature, overgrazing those areas previously grazed and regrowing. Clipping can encourage legumes by controlling rank grass and weed growth that horses don’t eat. Remove the excess clippings for hay or bedding to avoid smothering new growth.
Horses tend to avoid areas with heavy contamination of feces and urine. Spreading the droppings by dragging a chain across the pasture will help break down the material and eliminate “hot spots.” However, horses should not be placed in a pasture that has just been dragged. Dragging spreads parasites over a wider area of the pasture. The manure should be allowed to dry and start the decomposition process.
Fertilizing:
Domestic grasses perform better when properly fertilized. Use soil testing to monitor soil fertility levels. Monitor the levels of phosphorus and nitrogen and add only what is needed to maintain nutrient levels. Typically, nitrogen will become limiting once your stand becomes three to four years old.
Other Pasture Requirements:
Keep horses out of wet and muddy pastures. In wet weather, horses can punch holes in the sod, destroying the pasture. Drylot the horses during these times until mud is eliminated. Watch for mechanical hazards in the pasture. Wire, glass, nails, and iron can be damaging to the feet, mouths and eyes. Remove them promptly.
Grass Founder:
Grass founder can occur on lush pasture. Make sure horses are well fed prior to placing them on pasture. This may reduce over consumption when initially placed on lush pasture. Gradually adjusting the time on pasture should also be considered if grass founder has been a previous problem or with new horses. Horses should be observed daily when first turned out on pasture.
Exercise Pastures:
In certain cases, sufficient acreages are not available for a pasture that will supply the forage needed to furnish the nutrients to maintain one or more horses. In these cases, exercise pastures can be developed and horses fed drylot.
Exercise pastures do not require large acreages since they supply only a small portion of the feed that horses consume. These pastures should be level to slightly rolling and free from rocks, wire or discarded equipment.
Horses in excerise pastures are simply fed drylot style. They should be fed in corrals in order to keep the pasture more productive and attractive. Horses will utilize the hay and grain more efficiently when fed from bunks. This will also reduce the contamination of feed with parasites from manure.
Unless a large area is available, native range is not well suited for exercise pastures. Close grazing and trampling will soon reduce the desirable plant cover to weeds and unpalatable plants. Erosion is sure to follow, leaving an undesirable and unattractive pasture.
Grasses that make good exercise pastures include Kentucky bluegrass, crested wheatgrass and tall wheatgrass. Kentucky bluegrass forms a sod that is quite resistant to close grazing and trampling. It will provide a good horse exercise pasture in central and eastern North Dakota under normal climatic conditions.
Irrigation will be needed to maintain a productive stand in western North Dakota. Crested wheatgrass is more suited for western North Dakota due to higher drought tolerance. Since crested wheatgrass is not a sod-former but a bunchgrass, severe grazing can promote weedy species invasion, but proper grazing will promote more tillering, reducing the clumpy look and developing a sod-looking pasture. Monitor pasture use and control weeds through a mowing or chemical application program.
Seeding with tall wheatgrass may be desirable for those exercise pastures receiving very heavy traffic. Tall wheatgrass is more resistant to trampling and is unpalatable as it matures, leaving a dense grass pasture.
Exercise pastures need maintenance to remain productive and attractive. Horse droppings should be scattered across the pasture periodically with a drag chain or physically removed. This helps minimize parasite populations. Also, pastures should be mowed periodically to remove weeds and rank vegetation, leaving a greener, more productive pasture.
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