A good pasture will meet the nutritional needs of most horses including brood and lactating mares and growing foals, although working horses may require some supplementation.
However, the grazing habits of horses require that special consideration is given to the selection and management of the pasture.
Because of New South Wales’ range of soils and rainfall, no single pasture species suits all horse properties. Select pastures suited to your area and then select from these the most suitable for horses.
Feed requirements of horses:
Recent research has shown that high quality pastures can meet the feed requirements of horses. However, most horse establishments supplementary feed their horses because they are held in confined areas where they can be checked on a regular basis.
These areas are usually set stocked with the result that the pasture is damaged and only the toughest plants or weeds survive. Supplementary feeding also guarantees feed quality and quantity and counters seasonal fluctuations in pasture supply.
Species or varieties do not define a high duality pasture. They are important, but the management of the pasture is just as important. Grazing in the early vegetative stages, having a mix of legumes and grasses, applying adequate fertiliser, weed control and maintaining sufficient moisture will affect the quality and feed value of the pasture.
A critical time of the year is July/August when mares heavily in foal have to eat pastures that are frost affected. Frost-affected kikuyu, paspalum and couch are adequate if clovers are in the pasture mix.
High quality pasture is essential when a mare foals to ensure that the mare produces enough milk to support her rapidly growing foal. Also, it is important that the mare does not lose condition at this time because she will be mated for next year’s foal.
Why are horses and the management of their pastures special?
• Horses have a different digestive system to cows and sheep. Cows and sheep have four stomachs, horses have one stomach and a well developed large intestine. This limits the digestion of low quality feed and increases grazing time for horses. As a general rule, a 500 kg horse will eat less than a 500 kg cow but a horse wastes more pasture. The stocking rate for horses is similar to that of cattle.
• Horses are very selective in their grazing habits. They prefer certain pastures and crops and leave species that are unpalatable. These `weeds’ can soon dominate more desirable species.
• Horses prefer short pastures to tall pastures. A paddock stocked with horses will have a short cropped `lawn area’ where the horses graze and long rank areas where they defecate. Horses do not like to graze where there is horse manure. Thus, the `lawn area’ becomes depleted of nutrients that are moved to areas where the horses prefer not to graze. Only in drought conditions or in overstocked paddocks will horses graze up to manure pats.
• Management of pastures, especially the management of manure and application of fertiliser, requires special consideration. Rotation of paddocks is critical with horses. Always have spare paddocks to allow rotation.
• Select pastures and crops suited to the area, then select from that list the pastures and crops that horses prefer.
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