There are three elements that go into setting up a good pasture for a horse: food, fencing and water.
Let’s begin with food.
A great place to start is your local Ag office. In most parts of North America, there are local, government run, county based, agricultural offices that are resident experts on local plants, crops and weeds. Check with them first to see if you have any toxic weeds in your field.
When the Ag office folks come by to check out your field, be sure to ask them about the overall quality of the grazing material that is already in your field.
After that, call your local large animal vet and get his input. These folks work in your area on large animals every day and would be up to speed on what is toxic and what isn’t.
Another place to check is your local gardening center/landscaper. These professionals are also very knowledgeable on local plants and can prove to be a store of helpful information.
It is not enough to just remove all the bad stuff from the field, although, that is a good and essential start, but while you are at it, check to see if what is left has any nutritional value. After all, if you have a field filled with non-toxic weeds, they may not do your horse any physical harm, but they are also not going to provide much nutrition.
On the other hand, if your field was previously used as an alfalfa hay field, you need to know that because it would be just as easy to get your horse sick on a too healthy, too rich diet.
In other words, you are looking for a well-balanced pasture. Too rich or too toxic are both recipes for disaster.
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.
Filed under:
Horse Care
Trackback:
Uri