If you are one of those lucky horse owners who has pasture for your equine charges, make sure you take good care of it. You can do this by carefully managing the pasture in a way that will provide your horse with the nutrition they need while also preserving the land.
To help maintain a healthy pasture, keep the following in mind:
- Rotation – Repeated grazing is tough on a pasture. Divide your pasture into separate areas and rotate your horses so each pasture gets a break for an entire growing season. This will help the “resting” pasture regenerate.
- Soil samples – In the spring or fall, take a soil sample from your pasture to your local agricultural university or agricultural authority. The office will analyze the soil’s general health and will let you know if you need to add any particular nutrients.
- Weed control – It’s difficult to go around a
pasture and pull out weeds, but you can do a lot to keep them at bay by mowing
aggressively before weeds bud and go to seed.
If you do this repeatedly, the good grasses will take over and push out
the weeds. NEVER use chemical weed
killers in your horse’s pasture as doing so will poison your horses.
Michael