Types of Horse Pasture and What to Avoid
As a responsible and caring British insurer, Animal Friends Insurance suggests that before you put your horse in a pasture ensure that it has been properly inspected to avoid injury or harm to your horses. If the pasture has poor soil a horse can get hoof rot or can injury themselves by stumbling into a concealed hole. Horses can also get malnutrition from bad grass.
A high quality properly fenced pasture is one of the best and least expensive sources of feed for a horse. In addition, a well kept pasture can provide a natural and healthy environment for your horse to get both exercise and rest. On the other hand, poorly managed pastures will supply little or no feed.
The best pastures for horses are a mixture of Rye grasses. It is important to minimise the risk of weeds and clover in the pastures. You should try to keep the grass at around 3 inches because overlong grass results in weedy paddocks. It is also better to improve existing pastures rather than do a complete re-seeding. Improved pastures will be able to withstand hoof damage better.
The management and maintenance of a pasture is an important part of the care of your horse. You want to make sure that there is high quality grazing and no poisonous plants. You also want to be careful in the spring time when the grass is lush. It is not a problem for most horses, but in some it can cause obesity and some horses may also suffer from laminitis. To avoid this problem you may want to give restricted access to the pasture. This can be done by fencing off a smaller portion of the field to make sure the horse does not over indulge. You can also use a grazing muzzle on the horse.
You want to also make sure that all fencing is adequate and safe. Walls, post and railing fencing are all effective and undamaged. Electric fencing can also be used alone or in combination with other fencing to provide a secure pasture. Barbed wire is not recommended because it can cause minor injuries and scratches and occasionally more serious injuries.
It is best to manage grazing areas by rotating the use of fields or partitioning off parts of a field to allow the area to recover. It is also recommended you do daily removal of droppings or periodical harrowing of the field to limit the damage to the grass.
Just remember that pasture grass should only be part of your horse's diet. You want to make sure that when your horse is in the pasture that they have access to fresh water. Water should be always available and checked regularly. You also want to make sure there is adequate shade to protect them from the elements. Horses will be healthy and active if they have both access to pastures to graze in and also comfortable stables to rest in.
As the UK's fastest growing independant ethical insurance company, AFI have been dedicating all net profits to the welfare of animals around the world for many years now. We are proud to have added horse insurance to our product list. For an insurance quote on your horse, pony or donkey call our dedicated horse insurance team on 0844 57 32 100.
Do you own horses? Do you have land used for pasture? Do you have advice for horse owners that could help? Perhaps you have a bad pasture incident with your horse that you would like to share? Please comment here and share your experiences with other horse insurance customers - If you would like to buy horse insurance or just find out more about how to match the right policy to your needs we here at Animal Friends Equine Insurance would love to speak to you. Thank you and enjoy the blogs.
