Safe Grazing
Equine pasture has changed over the last 50 years and is often still being managed under the same regime as livestock, the aim of raising livestock is weight gain, exactly the opposite of what is required of an equine pasture. The health and well being of a horse is the most important goal for an owner, but many horse owners are afraid or unable to turn their horses out, the horse loses his ability for self medicating foraging. Restoring a diverse habitat should be the goal of all horse owners and livery yard managers, you will not only be benefiting your horse but the environment as well...
Balancing Minerals to NRC Figures
If you are planning to reseed your horse pasture to increase nutritional value and lower the carbohydrate/WSC intake, then a grass seed mix needs to contain old grass species, legumes and herbs.
Good mixes to put together are-
Grasses 59% of total mix- Fescues, cocksfoot, meadow grass, timothy in equal amounts.
Legumes 26%- clovers red and white, lucerne, sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil. Clover content should be 5% for white and 1% for red. Lucerne should be 15, birdsfoot trefoil 3% (tastes bitter fresh but very palatable dried in hay) sainfoin 2%. Sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil will struggle to grow in low pH soils, needs to be 6 and above.
Herbs-15% - Chicory 3%, chervil 3%, plantain 3%, salad burnet 3%, caraway 3%.
Though clover is often not considered as a benefit to pasture, a legume of some sort is essential, both to maintain the nitrogen/minerals within the soil and to prevent the grasses taking over from the herbs. Clover will tend to take over a pasture if the grass mix balance is too weak ie. low species diversity and if the paddock has compacted or heavy soil, improve the soil quality first by aeration and applying organic matter.
The NRC levels in white clover are about half of that for perennial rye, though some thought should be given to the variety of clover used regarding bacteria, virus and mould infections which cause photosensitivity in some horses, choose a disease resistant variety to reduce the chance of a bad reaction.
Legumes are high in tannins which are important components of the diet for reducing worm burdens.
Grasses behave differently when in a pasture mix and it is important to grow grasses/plants which thrive and support each other, the above mix is tried and tested to increase macro and mineral levels to NRC levels for horses, horses grazing on this type of pasture are unlikely to require supplemented food. Do not apply a nitrogen fertiliser to this seed mix as the balance of plants will change, with a reduction of the herbs and legumes, for horse owners that poo pick a mineral fertiliser is a must, we are still trying to get through the legislation to launch our own, it’s a long process!
Good mixes to put together are-
Grasses 59% of total mix- Fescues, cocksfoot, meadow grass, timothy in equal amounts.
Legumes 26%- clovers red and white, lucerne, sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil. Clover content should be 5% for white and 1% for red. Lucerne should be 15, birdsfoot trefoil 3% (tastes bitter fresh but very palatable dried in hay) sainfoin 2%. Sainfoin and birdsfoot trefoil will struggle to grow in low pH soils, needs to be 6 and above.
Herbs-15% - Chicory 3%, chervil 3%, plantain 3%, salad burnet 3%, caraway 3%.
Though clover is often not considered as a benefit to pasture, a legume of some sort is essential, both to maintain the nitrogen/minerals within the soil and to prevent the grasses taking over from the herbs. Clover will tend to take over a pasture if the grass mix balance is too weak ie. low species diversity and if the paddock has compacted or heavy soil, improve the soil quality first by aeration and applying organic matter.
The NRC levels in white clover are about half of that for perennial rye, though some thought should be given to the variety of clover used regarding bacteria, virus and mould infections which cause photosensitivity in some horses, choose a disease resistant variety to reduce the chance of a bad reaction.
Legumes are high in tannins which are important components of the diet for reducing worm burdens.
Grasses behave differently when in a pasture mix and it is important to grow grasses/plants which thrive and support each other, the above mix is tried and tested to increase macro and mineral levels to NRC levels for horses, horses grazing on this type of pasture are unlikely to require supplemented food. Do not apply a nitrogen fertiliser to this seed mix as the balance of plants will change, with a reduction of the herbs and legumes, for horse owners that poo pick a mineral fertiliser is a must, we are still trying to get through the legislation to launch our own, it’s a long process!