Just Stallions

I like this short video on Horse dressage event. Watch and enjoy it.

In Part-I, II & III, we already talked about preparing pasture to provide good nutritious food and safe fencing.

This brings us to the final element in a good pasture – water.

Some vets would argue that water is more important than anything else to maintain a healthy horse. Be sure to set up a water trough in an area of your pasture that is not only sheltered from the sun, but is also close to your water supply. Shade is important for two reasons; hot water is not very tasty and hot, standing water is a great place to breed mosquitoes and algae.

So often, people set up old bathtubs or troughs in a field that is nowhere near a water source. The result is all too predictable. The water container never gets scrubbed out, and doesn’t stay filled with fresh water. The horse ends up with smelly, stagnant, dirty water which is a brilliant breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Rule of thumb I follow is simple: if I’m not willing to drink it, I don’t expect my horses to drink it.

While many horsemen use old bathtubs for their water troughs, I would really recommend that you invest in a sturdy, safe, metal or plastic trough designed for the job. They are surprisingly inexpensive when you consider that once purchased, they should last you for many, many years. Also, a proper trough is tall enough to discourage your horse from climbing in, while the bathtub is not. Between the sharp edges, short wall height, plumbing fixtures, drain and slippery surface, a bathtub is a vet bill waiting to happen and for a few more dollars, you can get a proper trough and minimize any accidents.

Another tip is to set up good drainage around your water trough. Horses are not known for being the tidiest drinkers and many horses enjoy dunking and splashing while getting a drink. The result is often a mud hole surrounding the trough. When that dries out, you will have what looks like a moonscape surrounding the trough that is both dangerous for you to walk through and for your horse. Also, when it is muddy, this is a perfect place to suck off your horse’s shoes and result in additional shoeing bills. By taking the time to position the trough on high ground that drains well, or adding gravel around the trough to improve the drainage, you can provide your horse with a healthy water supply that doesn’t require scuba gear to get to!

There are slick, time saving devices you can add to your water trough to help keep the water clean and the trough filled. There are commercially available float systems that will turn the water on automatically when the level gets low. Some horses learn to trip the float and end up turning your water trough into a swimming pool. There are also many people who invest in small, algae eating fish to stock the trough with so they have a natural cleaning system. While the fish concept sounds good on the surface and many horsemen swear by it, there is nothing worse than poached fish in a hot trough if the sun beats on it long enough. What you do, or don’t do to your trough depends on your climate and your horse.

Maintaining a healthy, productive pasture is a year round job for every horseman who wants to get the most out of their pasture. By starting now, you should have a wonderful pasture by the time your horse arrives.

You can find more information about horse health care here.

There are three elements that go into setting up a good pasture for a horse: food, fencing and water. In Part-I&II, we talked about preparing pasture to provide good nutritious food.

That brings us to the second element of good pasture – fencing.

While I have my personal preferences on what types of fence to use and which to avoid, the reality is that any sturdy fencing will work. Just make sure there are no sharp areas that your horse could cut himself on. Also ensure there are no areas where your horse could get hung if he wears a halter while in the field.

I would recommend that you check the condition of all the fences. A damaged or broken fence is not only ineffective when it comes to keeping your horse in the field, but it can result in large medical bills.

I have met many people over the years who use their pastures like a junkman uses his yard. They are filled with trailers, boats, old cars, which leads to loads of potential vet bills just waiting to happen, primarily because they don’t realize just how dangerous those hazards are.

The rule of thumb I would suggest you follow is simple: if your horse isn’t using it, it doesn’t belong in the pasture.

In other words, if your horse doesn’t drive, don’t leave cars parked in his pasture. If he doesn’t tow, don’t leave trailers in his pasture. I think you get my drift!

Maintaining a healthy, productive pasture is a year round job for every horseman who wants to get the most out of their pasture. By starting now, you should have a wonderful pasture by the time your horse arrives.

There are three elements that go into setting up a good pasture for a horse: food, fencing and water. In Part-I, we talked about preparing pasture to provide good nutrious food.

Let’s continue with food.

Good pasture management is not only good for your horse; it is also good for your pocketbook. If your pasture is healthy and nutritious, you can cut back, or eliminate the addition of hay to the diet, saving you money, time at each feeding and the clean up that always comes after feeding hay to a barn full of horses!

For anyone who owns a horse that spends more than a few minutes a day in a green field, I recommend that you should know exactly what is in that field. The plants, and the nutritional value of those plants. Otherwise, it is tricky at best, or impossible in the worst-case scenario to know how much nutrition your horse is, or isn’t getting on any given day. This lack of knowledge can cost you in feed bills, worming bills and in the health of your horse.

I recommend that each year you fertilize your pasture and do a general clean up that includes looking for debris and checking fence. Depending on what part of the country you live in, the fertilization time will change, but your local Ag office can help you with the scheduling. I am not suggesting that you purchase an expensive, synthetic fertilizer. What I am suggesting is that you check with your Ag office and vet to get their list of recommendations for local, organic fertilizers. This may include cow manure, horse manure, etc.

It is important that you check with your local professionals to ensure that you fertilize at the right time of the year. For example, if you are in a hot, high humidity climate, you don’t want to spread animal manure on your pasture in July because the neighbors are going to shoot you. Not only will manure give off a strong odor, it will also attract bugs, which can lead to worm infestations and result in your horse being exposed to parasites in your own field. The last thing you want to do is “fix one problem and cause three new ones.” Also, be sure to check about whether or not you should allow your horses back into the field after fertilizing and if not, how long should you wait? Again, if your horse is going to be eating the grass in that field and you coat it with fertilizer, you will need to check out the health risks beforehand and plan ahead.
If you are not going to have a horse in your field for another year, this is the perfect time to check out the nutritional value of the field and prepare it for your expected friend. If I fertilize a field in the fall, I can expect to see results the following summer, so planning well ahead is essential and now is the time to begin.

Maintaining a healthy, productive pasture is a year round job for every horseman who wants to get the most out of their pasture. By starting now, you should have a wonderful pasture by the time your horse arrives.