Thinking ahead...spring/summer pasture management

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wingnut

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In early November, I started giving my 4 horses more and unmuzzled on the pasture. They currently have nearly 24/7 access to the 1 acre pasture. Obviously there's not much of nutritional value out there so I'm giving them the standard hay amount each day, more when the temps are lower (either real temps or wind chill). The 3 younger horses are given a ration balancer once a day and they have free choice salt and mineral blocks. All the horses are *so* much happier right now, so much more relaxed.

When we put in this pasture in the fall of '09, my husband was concerned about it being "right" and what we ended up is a VERY lush pasture that gets over knee high on a 6ft person in the blink of an eye. Even with muzzles it can be too much for my horses. My husband has always fought me on the winter grazing because he's afraid it will damage the pasture grass.

Here's where I need some help:

1. Is his concern regarding the winter grazing doing damage to the pasture? My thinking that if its true, it actually would be a good thing because it needs to be about 1/2 as lush as it has been the last couple of years...at least!

2. The pasture is one acre and roughly square in shape. What kind of dividing and rotating would you do in this situation? I'm thinking that we limit them to a smaller area of the pasture every day and keep it mowed short thereby keeping it "chewed down a bit" so they can graze without getting too much of a good thing.

My goal is to have happy and healthy horses and maybe use less hay in the summer!
 
I don't know if the winter grazing is going to wreck the pasture or not but it doesn't hurt it one bit around here. My pastures have a bad habit of growing back lush every year even though all my horses are on them during winter months. In the spring and summer we keep it mowed down to the nubs as I don't ever want to go the muzzle route. Keeping it mowed down like that helps keep the bugs and insects down also and its easier to see if a snake is lurking about. Its worked well for me.

As for your fields, I would totally divide them in equal sections so you end up with three. Unless you don't have a good dry lot, then you can make one for that purpose.
 
I have mine divided up and they move fields as and when needed in the summer but in the winter all the gates are open and they have free access to all the fields ( I have almost 20 acres and around 20 - 25 minis at any one time , even though it looks a mess now I know it will grow back perfectly well in the spring , Ive done this for years and it has worked for me , I dont use muzzles either , Im sure the ones that have little or no access to grass seem to be the ones that get the problems on the rare occassions they do get grass
 
We have a big dry lot, it was the first thing we created when we got the horses. They just get *so* bored and unhappy having to spend all day in there and they tear through their hay allotment each day like starving wolves. Even my slow feeder bags only slow them a bit. The three girls I use muzzles on have adjusted well to them. They're not thrilled about it but they've learned to eat with them just fine (they are the kind with small whole in the bottom). It also keeps them moving. Its just that even with the muzzles, they can eat too much on the pasture.

Thanks for the information. Seems like the idea I'm considering (cutting the pasture as short as possible and then dividing it) is on the right track.
 
I do not limit grazing in any way except by using fences, I have never been able to see the point. I do not mow, either, although I do take hay once a year. I strip graze the whole acreage (12 acres- 14 minis) over the winter, and then tend to make bigger fields for the summer as I have mares and foals and they need to run. Never have and never will have a dry lot- the idea of a horse standing on dirt looking at the green grass just fills me with despair, as I am absolutely certain it does the horses, too.

Grazing through the iwnter will not harm your pasture- even if you were to let them stir it all into mud, with very little attention it would spring back in spring- that is what grass has adapted and evolved to do.
 
rabbitsfizz: your example is what always comes to mind when I start considering this issue. You've never wavered in this approach in the entire 4 years I've been on these boards. Its very obvious to me how much happier my girls are right now. That's why I want to do what I can to give them that unlimited access as you have been able to do.
 
You might look into making a Paddock Paradise track around the exterior. Google paddock paradise- there's also a FB group with pictures of different ones people have set up all over the world. Basically, it's a track around the perimeter of your pasture that you can use like a sacrifice lot. They move more and using it protects the other other parts of the pasture so they can grow back, and you can rotate back to the main pasture. We have a track around about an acre that I've used for a couple of years. They get a lot more exercise since we built it. I just used step in posts and hot wire.
 
We don’t feed any hay in the summer. We leave our 3 out all year on about 3 or so acres divvied up into 5 sections. We mow unused sections in the summer to knock back the weeds before they set seed; with the mower bed set high (5 or 6 inches or so) to cut weed flower heads but not mow the usable forage below.

We don’t have dry lots, but I was talking to our trainer last fall about possible ways to set some up here since 1 horse at the time was too fat. (I’ve been weighing their hay and following vet instructions, but by now all 3 look too fat.) I’m not real keen on the idea of cooping them up in dry lots, so I checked out muzzles but couldn’t find any that fit in the local stores. I saw some black rubbery looking things with holes for large horses, but they didn’t look like they would stay on real well, and quite frankly I wasn’t sure how they could eat/drink through those holes. So far, I haven’t followed up on that anymore.

Anyway, our decision to allow the horses out wasn’t based on what happens to the pasture but more on allowing them out of the stalls. The husband won this one. My husband’s argument was something to the effect of: How about I lock you (meaning me) up in the dark in one of the bathrooms; you don’t get to use the toilet but have to do your business on the floor and once or twice a day when I get time I’ll come scoop out the mess; and oh, by the way, a few times a day I’ll come pitch your salad on the floor so you can eat.

They’re pretty rough on the grass in the winter. They do a lot of pawing/digging like they’re after roots or something. We’ve over seeded twice now, with limited success. I kept telling husband that you can’t just throw some seed out there and expect it to magically grow. Next spring I get to be in charge of over seeding. I’ve been checking out seed sources other than our local co-op; they’re kind of hard to find. I’m going to try out mail-order from a place in CA; in addition to pasture mixes, they sell individual varieties so I can formulate my own mix. We’ll see what happens. I wonder where other people get their pasture seed.
 
I have easy keepers also, and I do have to limit time on pasture in the spring when it's lush. I do let them out on pasture with grazing muzzles in the summer/fall for as long as possible while keeping their weight reasonable (try to work them up to 6-8 hrs a day). As of the last week of December they are all out 8 hours without grazing muzzles, and they won't ruin the pasture it always comes back! I will do all I can to prevent laminitis, these little ones don't have it in their genes to eat rich grass, in my experience the only time I can let them graze with no worries is when they are bred/lactating or working because they use up the extra calories. I am still feeding limited hay, there is enough grass out there on 1/4 acre of pasture to feed my 4 Miniature mares, they get a little hay when they come in to the dry lot for the last 2-3 hours before coming in for the night, and of course they get hay in their stalls at night. Over the spring/summer they are out 24/7 in the dry lot and get as much pasture time as I consider safe. When I had more horses on the pasture I could let them out pretty much all the time. After experiencing laminitis in a Welsh Pony I will do everything I can to prevent it, even if it seems less than ideal. My horses are healthy, and sure seem happy to me!

I would continue to use the grazing muzzles, even if you divide up the pasture, when you move them to the new area that is going to be rich/lush and could be an issue. If you are not concerned about laminitis (easy keepers are at risk), but just with weight gain then dividing up the pasture could work and I would probably do 3 sections, or however it would be easiest or most convenient to get them to each section.
 
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my2minis: The Paddock Paradise looks interesting! The horses already tend to stick to the outside edges of the pasture. We were "gifted" a ton of electric fence tape so all we'd need is some step-in posts. I'm also thinking some form of "strip grazing" is what we'll try.

kim: yep, I'm terrifed of laminitis. None of my girls has shown any signs of it but my 5 yr old did get almost "cresty" last summer. At the same time, they are in really good shape right now, even with the winter woolies. Their behavior is also so much happier and relaxed...that's something I want to continue.
 
I don't let my horses pasture all day but what I do to keep them happy seems to work pretty well. I take about 2 lbs of hay and while they are out on pasture (in summer of course, no pasture here in winter, they don't graze well on 3 ft of snow ;) ) I walk around their very large dry lot and spread the hay a few pieces at a time. They must hunt all the area to find a strand of 2 here and another farther over . They walk around for hours discovering little bits and 'grazing' on that tiny bit of hay. Its a bit more work for me but it seems to satisfy their need to graze and encourages them to do more than just stand in a corner bored until the next scheduled feeding time. Doing this means they are able to nibble off and on most of the day and even when I think its gone I will see a horse get a happy surprise when they come upon a bit that they missed earlier.
 

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