Pasture and Environment Management

To successfully raise horses you have to balance the needs of the horse with various environmental concerns. There are federal and state regulations to contend with, together with considerations of animal welfare and proper farm management. On this site, you can find all the information you need with regard to the efficient management of equine pastures and meeting the nutritional needs of your grazing horses.

Horse Pasture Management

For successful pasture management, you need to know about different grazing systems and which one will work best for you. For example, is rotational grazing best suited for your horses or should you choose continuous grazing? There’s also the impact the seasons can have on your pasture to take into account.

Successful pasture management takes a lot of work, but breaking it down into the seasons and making the appropriate plans for fall, spring, etc., makes maintaining your pastures much easier throughout the year.

Horse Pasture Evaluation

Choosing the best pasture grass for horses can be a challenge. Pasture grass seed for horses comes in many variations and it can be difficult to know the right one to choose. The best place to start is by evaluating your current pasture to determine whether it needs any improvement.

Watch our Horse Pasture Evaluation video series if you want to learn more. You’ll be introduced to evaluation methods, such as the Step Point method and the importance of good management practices will be explained.

To ensure your horse pastures are healthy and productive, it’s recommended you regularly survey them for signs of weeds and identify desirable plants in your pasture. Tools such as the Penn State Equine Pasture Evaluation Disc can help in your evaluation. Another important part of good horse pasture maintenance is having your soil tested to understand soil fertility.

Toxic Plants in Horse Pastures

It’s not just the beneficial plants that can have an impact on the quality of your pastures, but toxic pasture plants are also something to consider.

In Pennsylvania, for example, there are increasing concerns about Japanese stiltgrass, which is a very invasive weed. Poison hemlock is another invasive weed that’s spreading across the state. Horses are also very susceptible to the toxins contained in a weed commonly known as Milkweed.

Another popular pasture grass throughout Pennsylvania, tall fescue can also be a big problem for horse farmers with broodmares, so learn how you can tell whether it is infected with the fungus Neotyphodium coenophialum. Learning how to tell your Foxtail from Timothy, can reduce the risk of your horses getting mouth blisters.

Problems with most toxic weeds can, however, be overcome. When correctly managed, your pasture and animals are able to adapt and the possibility of poisoning is reduced. One more issue to learn more about is how to dispose of fallen leaves, as they can cause compaction colic when eaten.

Horse farmers, owners, and enthusiasts have less to worry about and find raising horses less of a challenge when armed with the best information. Penn State Extension has a range of lectures, webinars, articles, and courses designed to provide you with a solid foundation on which to build your business.