Summer and flies: Horses in the pasture
With the onset of summer, pastures start to fill up again and some horses get to spend either a short or a slightly longer holiday on pasture. It would be advisable for all horses to have access to pasture, but for practical reasons this is not always possible. Grazing is good for both the horse's physical and mental well-being. Grazing should start early enough, at the latest when the grass is 10 cm high.
Grazing is the most natural way for horses to feed. Pasture provides horses with numerous health benefits. First, it helps maintain a healthy digestive system. In addition, grazing provides horses with sufficient exercise as they walk after pasture grass. Constant movement and moist grass promote digestion and prevent drooling. It provides the necessary stress for the horse's musculoskeletal system. During the day, a horse may walk an average of 10 kilometers on pasture.
Beginning of the grazing season
Horses are herd animals. In the wild, horses graze together, groom each other, and spend most of their time together. Herding behavior is essential for a horse's well-being, as it helps reduce stress and promotes social interaction. In a herd, friends give the horse a sense of security and help them behave in a species-appropriate manner. Exercise and learning social skills are especially important for the development of young horses.
Transitioning horses from indoor feeding to pasture requires careful planning. It is important to introduce grazing gradually to avoid digestive upsets such as flatulence or laminitis. Grazing should be initiated over a period of a few weeks, starting with short periods of grazing and gradually increasing the time spent on pasture. It is also a good idea to monitor horses closely during the transition to ensure that they are adjusting to the new diet without any problems.
Although grazing offers numerous benefits for horse welfare, it can also bring risks. One of the biggest risks of grazing is foot and mouth disease. The most common cause of foot and mouth disease is when a horse is exposed to strong pasture. Eating fresh spring grass in particular increases the risk of foot and mouth disease after the indoor feeding season. The sugar content of pasture grass varies depending on the plant species, environmental conditions and even the time of day.
What is good pasture like?
The size and quality of the summer pasture is affected by the type of horses kept there. Lactating broodmares need the most pasture grass, so it should also be lush. Native breeds that tend to gain weight can survive on less pasture or on unfertilized natural pasture. In addition, grazing of horses susceptible to foot and mouth disease should be limited. Generally, about 0.25-0.5 hectares of pasture is needed per horse. In early summer, a smaller area is sufficient, but in late summer, as grass growth slows down, more pasture is needed.
Overgrazing of pastures can lead to poor pasture grass quality. Therefore, pastures should be divided into sections and horses should be rotated through the sections to allow the pasture to recover. You can often see areas left uneaten in pastures. These are so-called latrines, meaning that when horses defecate in certain areas, those areas are naturally left uneaten. Cleaning up manure will help at the latest for the coming summers.
In general, horse pasture plants must be able to withstand trampling.Basic pasture grass mixtures include timothy, English ryegrass and fescue. Pasture grass mixtures intended for horses favor various grasses, which are used to even out the growth of the pasture.
A safe pasture has fences that are in good condition and free of poisonous weeds or dangerous pits. Biohansa also offers fencing and pasture supplies. Among other things, fence posts made of sharpened, durable wood are available , which come with a whopping 15-year warranty.
The longer the period the horses spend on pasture, the more reason there should be shelter from bad weather and heat. Shelter can be a separate canopy or a sufficient number of trees or forest. Otherwise, the horses should be brought inside, for example during the hottest part of the day. In addition to shelter, it is equally important that the horses have constant access to clean drinking water.
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Sources:
Pasture keeping | Horse Information Center
The benefits of grazing for horses | Horse Information Center
General horse grazing | Horse Information Center
Spring grazing and foot and mouth disease | Horse Information Center
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