Horse Forage & Pasture

One of the best ways to save costs on feed is to provide high quality forage for your horse. It is recommended that 2-4 acres of pasture for each animal are recommended, but smaller areas can be used. Good sound fencing should be provided to divide up the land into paddocks or set up temporary fencing. A good established pasture with grasses 8-10 tall is ideal.

Always plant a highly disease resistant variety, one adapted to your climate and soil types. For information about soil types, contact your Agricultural Cooperative Agency in your area. Cool season orchard grass, rye grass and tall fescue seeded in late summer to early fall are good choices. Mixing 10%-15% of legumes, such as white clover and alfalfa, will enhance the protein value and reduce the amount of nitrogen fertilizer needed for the growth of the other grasses. Fall pastures can be inter-seeded or no till seeded with winter oats rye and wheat. **Remember, too high legume levels are not recommended (25%-30%) and could cause colic problems. **

For extra forage needed in summer months, a hybrid pearl millet yields high quality, drought resistant forage. This grass is an annual so will have to be seeded each season though some will re-seed self in the warmer climates. **Never allow horses to graze on sorghum sudangrasses, sudan-sudangrasses, or johnsongrass because of the potential for causing cystitis, a serious urinary disease.

Soil pH level is the most important and essential to optimum uptake of nutrients of the growing grasses. A pH of 6.0 – 6.5 or slightly higher for alfalfa mixed seed is the best. The soil fertility and pH are important in eliminating weeds. Weeds sometimes are the only things that will grow in poor soils. A weed infested pasture can be sprayed with herbicide in August and no till seed into the existing dead sod in September. This not only helps with weed grasses but also broadleaf weeds as well.

Some links to companies for seed sources and other related information are:

SouthernStates.com

Mossyoakbiologic.com