Below is information on how you can change your paddocks from unsafe grass to safer horse pasture for long term health and wellbeing of your horse. If you cannot change the pasture, then a track system may be a more suitable option.
Click here for information about good, safe horse grasses and which one’s to avoid.
Spraying Out Your Paddocks
If your pasture is full of rye-grass & clover you will need to spray out twice, over two consecutive Autumns.
Spray with a Round Up/Broadleaf combination in the autumn. When it has completely browned off, re-sow the area with an annual grass suitable for horses.
Let this establish and in the spring cut for it hay before it drops seeds as there will be some rye-grass grow up amongst it and you won’t want it to drop more seeds. For this same reason you will be careful about what is in the hay you throw out to your horses.
The following autumn spray out again and re-sow with your permanent mix of horse-friendly grasses. The proportions of the various grasses in your mix will depend on your soil type and how free-draining it is. For instance Prairie grass does not like clay soils whilst Yorkshire Fog grows well in wetter areas so check which safe horse grasses grow best in your area and with your soil type. (We are not able to help with this, but your local seed merchant should be able to assist.)
You will need somewhere to keep your livestock while your new pasture establishes. For this reason a lot of people renovate just one paddock at a time, or keep the horses on a track around the perimeter while they spray out the middle section.
If your pasture is a mixture of ‘good’ grasses but there is a high proportion of clover or plantain then you can just use a good broadleaf spray which will not hurt your grasses. You will still need to observe the with-holding time.
Longer grass tends to shade out clover so managing your pasture so that the grass doesn’t get grazed down short all the time will help prevent clover from taking over again.
For direct drilling, oversowing into an existing old pasture:
Once you have decided which paddock you are going to renovate, it is important to have it sprayed out for grass and broadleaf leaf plants as soon as possible. Even if you have some good grasses already there you need to knock them back in order to give the new grasses a chance to establish.
Allow 3-4 weeks for the paddock to brown off.
Sow the paddock. Arrange for your contractor to apply the appropriate pasture seed-mix. Some examples of good grasses to sow are found at a very shallow depth (10mm) but well covered. Otherwise, the birds will have a feast! Sow at the per hectare rate on your bag. Give your seed all the help it can get by using biological and/or insecticide treated seed.
When establishing pasture, weeds competing with the new grass are the enemy.
When will the New Grass be Ready to Graze?
Leave it until it is at least 6 inches long then mow it or, if possible, allow sheep to graze it. This will boost root growth otherwise it will be easily torn out by the roots.
Brand new grass, especially in the spring will be very prone to causing metabolic problems, even grass tetany. Let it mature as long as possible before letting your horses graze it and only allow access for short periods at first. (like 10-20 minutes at a time).
You may want to cut it for hay before the horses graze it. Whatever you do don’t overgraze it. Over-grazing damages the grass structure and stunts growth.
Be careful that you don’t re-infect your paddocks with rye-grass by buying in and feeding out rye-grass hay. The converse of this is that if you want to re-seed any bare areas then feed out ‘good grass’ hay there.
Over-Grazing
The shorter the grass is grazed, the longer it takes to recover and grow again. In fact, over-grazing actually ruins the grass. It is a very common scenario on horse properties because there isn’t sufficient land available to rest paddocks for long enough. When grass gets too short there isn’t enough leaf area to produce the nutrients to sustain the plant and they become stunted and more susceptible to damage by hooves. Bare patches also appear especially where horses ‘hang out’ and erosion starts.
Rented Grazing/Agistment
This can prove to be a difficult situation if your horse develops problems because you cannot control grass intake…
Things you can do to help:
Make sure your horse gets some hay every day even if you have to leave him in a taped off pen to make sure he gets it. This is particularly important when they are moved onto a fresh paddock. Keep a close eye on his manure.
Feed all the ‘goodies’ to help balance electrolytes: Salt to provide sodium and chloride, XtraCal to provide organic calcium and magnesium, GrazeEzy to help neutralise the potassium/nitrogen spikes in the grass with changes in the weather or season, and Supreme MVA for everything else including selenium. The idea is to cover all bases to help prevent problems at various times of the year rather than trying to fix them.
To Harrow or Pick Up Manure on your Small Block?
Never harrow manure on paddocks intended for grazing. Just leave the manure as it is supposed to break down very slowly. Stock will not eat the grass growing where they have dropped manure because it is loaded with potassium and nitrogen and will cause metabolic problems.
Spreading it increases microbial activity and will increase potassium levels in the plants significantly.
Pick up or leave the manure to slowly break down over the course of a year.
Rotating Paddocks
When horses are shifted onto a fresh paddock of re-growth their manure tends to soften or even get sloppy. This indicates not only inflammation of the gut-lining but also serious upset to the gut flora.
A corresponding horizontal ‘ring’ around the hooves which represents the damage to the laminae which happened at that time soon becomes evident.
Absolutely avoid putting horses on any ‘fresh grass’ or re-growth especially in spring and autumn.
Instead, save a paddock from autumn and allow it to grow slowly all winter. This will then be ideal for your horses to graze in spring.
What about “Jenny Craig” paddocks? These are an absolute ‘No-No’!
If you aren’t feeding any hay and your horse is confined to such a paddock, it means your horse’s diet is 100% tiny grass tips which as you have now learned are very unbalanced mineral-wise and therefore totally unsuitable horse feed.
These tiny grass tips, especially in spring and autumn are likely to actually cause a laminitic attack.
Jenny Craig paddocks are ‘starvation’ paddocks and if that is all your horse or pony has to eat then you are in effect starving them of essential nutrition.
They do nothing to help ‘metabolic’ or cresty, laminitis prone horses and ponies, in fact they make them worse.
Instead, you need an area with no grass (See Dry Lot Options ) and a good supply of hay. Then you will see the metabolic symptoms disappear, you won’t have any more episodes of laminitis or sore feet. You will be able to enjoy your horse and pony as you should.
Should You do a Soil Test?
If economics permit, it is a good idea to conduct a soil test to identify major mineral deficiencies and rectify them where possible. If economics do not permit as is the case for many horse owners especially those who do not own their own land, then it is not the end of the world. Just attend to your horse’s nutrition with top quality supplements, such as the Supreme MVA for Australia.
About Soil Tests
Herbage and soil test results can be quite different. For instance it is not uncommon for soils to be high in magnesium but the grass growing in that same soil may be low in magnesium. In other words the soil test result does not tell you what nutrient value the horse is getting from eating the grass. It only tells you about levels in the soil.
If you are going to conduct a soil test it is wise to do a comprehensive one rather than the standard one from the local farm store. You need to know whether your soil is deficient in any of the major minerals and what steps will be necessary to restore balance and biological activity for healthy grass growth. Attending to your soil in this way will also minimise the incidence of pathogenic (harmful) bacteria, fungi and weeds that thrive in sour soil environments.
The whole process of improving the health of the soil is ongoing and will take years, so it is important to re-test your soil every couple of years to monitor the progress.
Success depends upon the interpretation of these soil tests:
Because most agricultural advisors have a ‘farmer’s viewpoint’ they will likely recommend that you apply nutrients or chemicals for the purpose of maximising grass growth. Remember, this is not what you want. Applying nitrogen, phosphates, potash, urea, or combinations like NPK is likely to be counterproductive, if not disastrous for the health and reproductive success of the stock forced to consume the grass grown in it.
Such applications are likely to cause a variety of issues, ranging from the comparatively mild effects of hyper-sensitivity (which causes difficulty with handling) or low conception rates, to serious life threatening conditions like laminitis, head-flicking, digestive upsets, colic, abortion, limb deformities and so on.
You need to have the soil test interpreted by someone who understands that the needs of horses are completely different to the needs of commercial livestock.
For more advice, complete our complimentary Horse Questionnaire.
