Florida Horse Pasture Management - Horses graze differently that cattle and the way horses graze is the reason that you have poor pastures. Cattle graze uniformly over a pasture and they will graze right up to their droppings, cattle do not have upper teeth in the front so they can only snip off grass that is two inches tall (they cannot bight off grass). In most cases cattle pastures have plenty of grass if managed properly. Horses on the other hand, do have upper teeth and are able to bite grass off at the ground. Horses will not graze near their droppings therefore they will not graze uniformly. This means that horses tend to graze the same areas until the grass is gone. We refer to this style of grazing as "island grazing"

First lets try to understand why horses island graze. Horses prefer tender lush grass which has been kept very short and will ignore taller growing grass nearby. Horses deposit their droppings almost without exception in the taller grass which then compounds the problem because horses will not graze close to their droppings regardless how attractive or lush the grass may appear. Therefore, horses restrict their grazing to these same areas day after day. Island grazing will lead to dead areas in your pasture because grass, like all plants, must manufacture chlorophyll from the sunlight absorbed through their leaves in order to grow roots and survive. When horses continue to bite off the grass (leaves) continuously day after day, soon the grass plant cannot absorb sunlight, manufacture chlorophyll, and will simply starve to death. With this island grazing, throw in all the potential environmental problems such as drought, heat and hoof compaction. When this island dies the horses move on to another island and the process continues over and over until you have all these dead areas in your pasture.

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What can I do to have a beautiful horse pasture? Well, there are some management practices that can help. First you must repair the dead spots, (islands) or replant the pasture. To effectively repair or re-establish a pasture you must shut the horses off the area for two to three months, or until the grass is three or four inches in height. We have other pamphlets covering planting and establishing grass for pastures, so I will not discuss planting and establishment of grass in this pamphlet.

After you have successfully repaired your pasture you need to adopt a few management practices to help keep your pastures lush and green.

1. Adopt a good fertilization program of at least four applications of fertilizer per year. See your local county extension agent for fertilizer and liming recommendations, but remember to fertilize in March, June, August, and October.
2. Rotate your horses between pastures if possible allowing your grass to rest and recover. If you cant rotate your pastures then stable your horses during. the day and pasture them only at night. Depending on the size of your pasture, you may be able to erect temporary fences, such as electric fencing, to rest a area of you pasture.
3. Mow or drag your pastures or lots every month during the spring and summer. This will help spread the horse droppings and crop the grass to a more uniform height. This is very important in discouraging island grazing.
4. Avoid pasturing more than one horse per acre. If this is not possible then rotate pastures more often and stable horses more hours of the day.
5. Provide horses ample access to shaded areas. If shade is limited then expect grass to die in the limited shaded areas. If you cant provide sufficient shade, then stable the horses during the hot part of the day and turn them out to pasture only late afternoon and night. 6. Provide more than one source of water in your pastures. This will help prevent horses congregating in the same area several times a day for as drink of water and killing the surrounding grass.
6. If you do not have pasture irrigation then you must restrict your horses time on pastures during extended periods of dry weather.

These recommendations should help you maintain a good looking pasture for your horses and your mental health. Remember the key is fertilization, rotation, fertilization, rotation, fertilization.

Summer Grazing for Horses and Cattle
Hybrid Pearl Millet is a tremendous summer grazer for horses and cattle. This annual summer grazer supplements your permanent pasture grass with amazing amounts of forage. 16-18% digestible protein and is very tender and palatable to both horses or cattle.

Hybrid Pearl Millet may be used as a stand alone summer grazer or it can be used as a supplement grazer and nurse grass when trying to establish an permanent pasture.

Stand Alone Summer Grazer
Plant 25 pounds seed per acre with 300 pounds 16-4-8 fertilizer , cover lightly, animals may begin grazing when Millet is 6 to 8 inches tall - usually three weeks after planting.  Stand alone summer grazer should be planteed on a well prepared seed bed.

Over seeding existing pastures with Hybrid Millet for summer forage

• You must lightly harrow your pasture. Plant 20 pounds seed per acre with 300 pounds 16-4-8. Drag something over the pasture to help cover seed. Animals may begin grazing when Millet is 6 to 8 inches tall.
• During dry spells or if animals graze Millet very close to the ground, you will need to remove animals for a while to let the Millet recover. This is usually not a problem in June, July or August.
• Another application of 300 pounds of fertilizer in late July, will increase Millet's growing season until late September.
  
  

Pastures and Forage Crops for Horses
Florida has an estimated 500,000 horses, third only to Texas and California as one of the leading horse states in the U.S. The predominant breed of horse in the Florida is the American Quarter horse, which is closely tied to the state's agricultural industry. Horses have traditionally been used for herding cattle, but recent increases in horse population in Florida is mostly attributable to increasing popularity of pleasure horses, including miniature-type breeds, that are used for showing and recreation. Horse operations vary in terms of number of horses, from 1-3 horses to large commercial operations that breed, train or stable horses. Large-scale horse operations are presently concentrated in the central (with Marion County as the nucleus) and the southeastern regions (Palm Beach/Broward/Dade Counties) of Florida.

Florida, pastures and forage crops provide a major part of the nutritional needs of horses almost year-round. Planning for pastures or forage crops utilized as horse pasture should consider peculiarities of the digestive system of the horse. Being herbivores, horses can utilize roughages, and are therefore able to utilize that same pastures as cattle. However, the horse is not a ruminant. It has a simpler, less robust stomach that is more sensitive to what it grazes than in the case of cattle. Horses lack the rumen, the large vat where cattle and other ruminants ferment and degrade poor quality, high fiber, cellulosic materials through the action of microorganisms. Horses instead have an adapted and enlarged colon where the fermentative process occurs. Thus, horses, because of the location of the colon, are hindgut digesters. Horses, therefore, require higher quality, less fibrous forages that are free of mold and dust than cattle.

A pasture serves several purposes for the horse; it is both an area for exercise and a source of high quality forage. A high quality pasture and/or hay can provide a balanced ration of energy, protein, minerals, and vitamins that a horse needs. However, even on a good quality pasture or hay, free-choice vitamin/mineral mix and water are needed to adequately meet the horses daily nutrient requirements. Horses consume about 1-2 percent of their body weight per day. Thus, an average quarter horse weighing 1000 lbs would require a minimum of 10 to 20 lbs of dry forage or hay per day. Even on fine-stemmed, leafy, high quality pastures that are the target for horse pastures, care should be taken to ensure that the horses consume adequate amounts of fiber, which they require for normal gastrointestinal function. The fiber content of a good horse hay should contain 30-40% acid detergent fiber (ADF) and 50-65% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in order to provide for normal gastrointestinal function. On lush pasture, supplementary hay may be required to ensure adequate intake of fiber.

Pastures can be grown in nearly all locations in Florida. Variations in soil and climatic conditions make some locations and sites better suited to forage production than others. Also, a particular forage species may be better adapted to a given site than other species. Typically, perennial warm-season forage grasses are more productive in the summer and early fall (June-October), and forage may be in excess of the needs of the horses. Excess forage may be harvested as silage or hay as weather permits. role of improved pastures in supplying forage varies from farm to farm, depending on the type of livestock operation, available facilities, quality of these facilities, and personal preference of the operator. It is possible for animals to receive a large portion of their feed from pastures; however, if this is to be achieved, careful consideration must be given to planning and carrying out a forage production and utilization program. factors that must be considered in improved pasture production are: site to be used, forage varieties, liming and fertilization, and grazing management.

SITE

Soil nutrient levels should be checked when starting a new pasture program. Soil samples can be tested and subsequent fertilization recommendations can be provided by the Extension Soil Testing Lab of the University of Florida. If the soil is deficient in certain nutrients required for plant growth, these can be supplied by the addition of fertilizer that contains the needed nutrients. But nothing practical can be done about the "natural" moisture-holding capability of the soil or its "fertilizer retention capacity." In Florida, the predominant soil types in areas where horse pastures are concentrated are flatwoods and upland sands.

In general, the flatwoods sites have a higher water table, higher organic matter content, and thus better soil moisture holding capacity than the upland sands; therefore, they are generally more productive. Soils on upland sites that contain some clay or silt are generally more productive than those that are nearly pure sand. To make the best use of a site, specific areas of the site should be used for growing forage crops that are best adapted to the conditions in those sites. Forage plants that are productive on well-drained soils such as bermudagrass and rhizoma peanut will be grown on such sites. Poorly drained areas or low-lying areas that are flooded for extended periods during the summer may be used for forage crops that are suited or adapted to such conditions such as bahiagrass or limpograss.

LAND AREA REQUIRED (STOCKING RATE)

In the summer, forage yield and quality of warm-season perennial grasses may be adequate to meet the requirements of a mature horse. In the winter, forage yield and quality on the pasture will be inadequate and supplemental feeds will be needed to adequately meet the horses nutrient needs. Where it is possible to vary the number of animals on a pasture, more horses may be stocked on a unit area of pasture in the summer and less in the winter. Typically on less productive sites one mature horse weighing 1,100 pounds may require 2 to 2 ½ acres of pasture whereas on productive sites and well-managed pasture, 1 to 1 ½ acres will be adequate. The number of horses in a pasture may be increased if more supplementary feed is provided or horses are rotationally grazed. In rotational grazing, animals are moved around pastures or stabled every 14 to 21 days to allow grazed pastures to regrow or recover before further grazing. The aim of grazing management is to efficiently utilize the pasture and avoid overgrazing which may lead to development of bare spots in the pasture as forage plants are weakened and unable to recover from grazing. In general, when there is more than one horse per acre, use as an exercise area becomes the primary role of the pasture and source of feed becomes secondary. Avoid placing too many horses on too few acres for prolonged periods of time - this practice results in destruction of the pasture and encroachment of weeds.

VARIETIES

1.) Adaptation to soils and climate. 
2.) Growth cycle.
3.) How the forage will be used (grazed or hay)
4.) The class of horse (breeding stallion, mare, growing horse)
5.) Season when forage is needed (wet or dry season; warm or cool season)
6.) Level of management required for optimum pasture production versus the skill of the manager.

Detailed discussion of production and management of forage crops mentioned below are available in the Florida Forage Handbook (Table of contents: http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AG170 ).

Warm-season Perennial Grasses

Recommended cultivars include Pensacola, Argentine, Tifton-9 Pensacola, and Paraguay 22. Pensacola is the most widely grown cultivar of bahiagrass. It is persistent under close grazing and low input management. Tifton-9 Pensacola produces more top growth than other cultivars but may be less tolerant of overgrazing. Both Tifton-9 Pensacola and Pensacola are more frost resistant than Argentine or Paraguay 22. Argentine and Paraguay 22 have wider leaves than the two Pensacola cultivars. 

Bermuda Grasses are well adapted to horsepasturein the south.  Many new and improved hydrid seeded bermuda grass varieties are now available.  Bermuda grass provides excellent protien and summer forage for horses.  Bermuda grass must be rotationaly grazed more often than bahia grass varieties.  Many bermuda grass varieties produce a dual purpose pasture.  Grazability and hay production is the ultimate goal for horse owners in the South.  Bermuda varieties allow late season hay production and year round grazing if properly fertilized and prevented from over graze.  Bahia grass is better adapted to heavy or hard grazingfrom horses than bermuda grass.  Bahia grass may be combined with bermuda grass providing a multiuse horse pasture.

Hancock's Horse Pasture Grass Seed Mix - Warm Climate Mix - Our warm climate horse pasture grass seed mixture is designed for extreme drought resistance, close grazing tolerance, and wide regional adaptability. Many horse pasture owners face the seemingly never ending battle of maintaining a productive horse pasture in the warm climate zones. 

Our warm climate horse pasture seed mixture provides wide range of warm season perennial grass varieties that have shown extreme survivability.  There are many sceptics who believe that a horse pasture should only have one grass variety to allow for proper management practices. Our horse pasture seed mixture will provide equestrian owners with the most durable horse pasture available for the southern climates.  We feel that the most important aspect of a pasture is not always how perfect it look as much as how perfect it performs during extremely dry conditions, extremely wet conditions and how it recovers from frost damage.  Our warm climate horse pasture seed mixture is designed to provide a low maintenance pasture that will survive most any weather conditions.  This mixture does need fertilizer and proper rotational grazing to maintain.

25% Common Bermuda
25% Pensacola Bahiagrass
25% Argentine Bahiagrass
10% Alyce Clover
15% Hybrid Millet

Seed Rates:
This mixture should be planted at 100 lbs. per acre along with 300 lbs. of 16-04-08 fertilizer.

Adaptation:
Our Horse pasture seed mixture is also used in pastures for alpacas, goats, donkeys and cattle.  This mixture should be planted in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, south Carolina, Mississippi and Arkansas.

The stargrasses are related to the bermudagrasses and are adapted only to south-central Florida. Three cultivars - Ona, Florona, and Florico are recommended. These grasses are very productive when grown under high fertility. It should be noted that the potential for prussic acid poisoning does exist with stargrasses. The stargrasses make excellent hay but many horse owners would prefer the finer-stemmed bermudagrass hays.

Summer Annual Grasses

Sorghum and sorghum-sudangrass hybrids CANNOT be recommended for horse pastures because of prussic acid poisoning, which may cause abortion in mares in early pregnancy and problems with the urinary tract.

Winter Annual Grasses

Summer Legumes

Alyce Clover is a high-quality annual legume that is readily accepted by both grazing cattle and horses. Seedlings can be made from March through June at a rate of 15 lbs. per acre. Alyce clover types currently available are susceptible to attack by root knot nematodes. It should not be planted on soils subject to long periods of flooding. Alyce Clover is an excellent hay crop and is frequently planted following watermelons to take advantage of the residual fertility.

Winter Legumes

Alfalfa is forage of choice for many horse owners. Alfalfa is typically fed to horses as hay or in mixture with a grass such as timothy; most of Florida's alfalfa hays are shipped in from the Midwest or West. Alfalfa has met with good success by some growers in recent years on moderate- to well-drained sites. It requires intensive management, including high levels of fertility and favorable moisture conditions. Excellent hay can be made from this plant, but high humidity in Florida makes drying difficult.

Pasture Management

Establishing Pastures

Forage crops may be established by seed or vegetative materials. Type of planting material needed, recommended planting rate, planting dates and time-to-graze information for each forage crop is given in Table 1 . Winter and summer annual forage grasses and legumes can be overseeded on sods by either broadcast or sod drilling, or they can be seeded into prepared seedbeds. When overseeding, the sod should be grazed very heavily, mowed, or burned to remove the top growth. The small grains (rye, wheat, oats, and triticale) may perform poorly when overseeded on a bahiagrass sod unless the sod has been disturbed by disking or chopping. Bahiagrass should be cultivated (disked) to obtain 30 to 50% disturbance in order to provide good seed-to-soil contact and reduce the competition from the bahiagrass. More information on pasture establishment may be obtained from EDIS publication SS-AGR-161 Forage Planting and Establishment Methods (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AG107).

Maintaining Pastures

As indicated above, significant amounts of nutrients are recycled through the manure of grazing animals. However, since the manure is not well distributed on the pasture, manure should be spread with a light drag. Do this during hot, dry weather. Internal parasites will be killed by the hot sun. Mowing areas where horses do not graze and dragging pastures to spread manure piles will improve the quality and the utilization of the pasture.pests of pastures are not usually severe enough to justify insecticide application, but occasional outbreaks can be controlled with chemicals. Judicious use of chemicals involves carefully reading the labels and following directions for use. Some chemicals may be injurious to the horse, and some may require that the horse does not graze the pasture for specified periods after applications. Please read and follow instructions provided on insecticide labels.

Grazing management is a valuable tool for maintaining pastures. Pasture may be continuously stocked or grazed or rotationally stocked or grazed. In continuous grazing, horses graze the same pasture for the entire grazing season or year. In rotational grazing, the pasture is divided into paddocks that are rotationally grazed in sequential order. Rotational grazing is a valuable management practice for maintaining and efficiently utilizing productive pastures. Available pasture may be subdivided into 2 to 10 paddocks, which can be grazed in sequential order. Horses graze a paddock for 7 to 21 days and are moved to another paddock. This allows the forage plants to recover in a given pasture while another pasture is being grazed and helps prevent overgrazing and the resultant bare spots or "sand spots." The length of time between grazing depends type of pasture, site conditions, season of the year and how quickly the plants are growing. Dividing pastures also afford the manager some flexibility in pasture management. Subdivision of the pasture may be based on soil types or some other characteristics of the sites so that different paddocks may be managed in different ways to ensure uniformity of forage availability. Some paddocks may require supplemental fertilizer application, mowing to control weeds, or promote uniform regrowth. During periods of excessive forage growth in the summer, some paddocks may be closed and used for stockpiling forage for latter use during periods of limited forage availability, further reducing the need for supplemental feeds. Depending on type of forage plant, weather conditions, and management considerations, some paddocks may be cut for hay or silage during these times.fencing is essential for success in rotation grazing and pasture management.

Proper fencing also makes the pasture safer. To improve safety on the pasture, fill in holes in the pasture, remove sharp objects, stumps, loose wires, and other materials that may injure the horse.

Hays

Production of good quality hay involves a combination of proper management practices, including fertilization and cutting frequency. In Florida, climatic conditions restrict hay making mostly to the spring and fall when there is adequate soil moisture to permit forage crop growth and the weather favors rapid drying of the cut herbage. Hay fields will be grazed during the summer months when it is not usually possible to make hays because of excessive rains. Some forage crops make better hays than others do. Therefore, production of hay from horse pastures may be a consideration in the planning, choice, and establishment of horse pastures, and subsequent subdivision of pasture and allocation of paddocks, if the pastures will be cut for hay. The bermudagrasses (Coastal, Florakirk, Tifton 85, and "Jiggs") and stargrasses (Florona) make better hay than bahiagrass. For more information on hay making, see EDIS publication SS-AGR-70 Hay Production in Florida (http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AA251).

Tables

Courtesy of http://turf.ufl.edu/