Pasture management for horse paddocks

What is pasture management? 

Pasture (or grassland) management is the practice of growing healthy grass and related plants to sustain year-round forage availability, whilst also encouraging ecological health. This can conserve or enhance native grasses in your pasture as well as improving the soil health. 

As stewards of the land either as horse owners or yard managers, we all have a responsibility to ensure our land management practices not only promote healthy horses but maximise biodiversity and minimise the unnecessary use of chemicals, including herbicides and the drugs found in de-wormers.  

Why do we need to manage our pasture? 

• Engaging in good pasture management means you can provide a safe turnout area in which your horse(s) can exercise and exhibit natural behaviours. 
• Managing your pasture actively will also allow you to grow the type of grass you want.  
• The grass already growing in your paddock may not be the best kind for horses.  
• Overseeding can encourage growth of more horse-friendly grass varieties. 
• Good pasture management may reduce your feed costs as well as improve biodiversity and reduce the environmental impact, as the soil below our grassland is a large carbon store. 
• Healthy grassland is also more resistant to poaching (becoming waterlogged) and desiccation (drying out). 

How should we maintain our pasture? 

Despite best efforts, owners are often faced with a poached, sad-looking field by the time spring comes around. This is the time to do some general maintenance to help your pasture recover, including harrowing and rolling. 

How does poo-picking help with pasture management? 

• Poo-picking your paddock helps to keep the pasture palatable as well as reducing weeds and the worm burden of any horses grazing the field.  
• Try and poo-pick at least twice a week, ideally more often than that. 
• If you don’t poo-pick regularly you’ll find that your horses will create latrine areas which will result in patches of rough grass and weeds. 
• Don’t undo all your efforts by creating a muck heap in your field – Tipping poo in the corner of the field will cause the grass round the pile to grow faster than the rest of the field, making it very appealing for your horses – but grazing right next to a muck heap will significantly increase your horse’s worm burden. Worm larvae can also travel one meter from the heap, another reason to keep it out of the field.  
• For large fields there are attachments for machinery, such as ‘paddock cleaners’, that collect droppings rather than spreading them as with harrowing.  

Stocking rates 

• A standard stocking rate for horses is one acre per horse, plus one extra acre – so four horses would need four acres plus one extra, making a total of five acres.  
• Ideal stocking density for your field could vary significantly depending on the type of land as well as the breed, size and age of the equids being kept there including calorie requirements, as how much shelter is available and whether you have access to a stable. 

Over-stocking can lead to poor soil and grass quality which in turn can impact on your horses’ health, so it’s worth making sure you have a stocking rate appropriate to your paddock. Grass which has been grazed down very tightly will be stressed and the soil will be less resistant to erosion or poaching (depending on your soil type and weather conditions). 

How do gateways impact on pasture management? 

As high-traffic areas, gateways can very quickly become poached, as can footing around water troughs.  

• It is worth scraping out a semi-circle approximately three horse-lengths from the gate or trough and putting down crushed stone. 
• Though it may seem costly at the time, there can be huge benefits to the health of both your horses and pasture. 
• Cheaper options, such as putting woodchip down in the gateway, may seem less expensive at the time but can end up adding to the problem when the material starts to break down. 
• In sloping fields, it may be worth positioning gates at the highest point to maximise drainage around gateways.  
• Rotating between which gate you use can be helpful, as it allows one area to dry out a bit before it gets used again.  

Why does pasture management matter? 

Pasture management might seem costly and/or time-consuming but it really is worthwhile – even small changes can make a big difference to your horses’ health, and if you view it as an investment, it’s worth every penny! 

Healthy grass is an excellent source of forage for horses, very short “stubble” from over grazing and areas with lots of weeds can be high in water soluble carbohydrates (WSC) which is problematic for horses that suffer from metabolic conditions. Whereas well maintained grass pastures containing a mixture of equid friendly grasses provide a better diet for our horses and the ecosystem around them.