Pastures and Forage Crops for Horses

Florida has an estimated 500,000 horses, third only to Texas and California as one of the leading horse states in the U.S. The predominant breed of horse in the Florida is the American Quarter horse, which is closely tied to the state's agricultural industry. Horses have traditionally been used for herding cattle, but recent increases in horse population in Florida is mostly attributable to increasing popularity of pleasure horses, including miniature-type breeds, that are used for showing and recreation. Horse operations vary in terms of number of horses, from 1-3 horses to large commercial operations that breed, train or stable horses. Large-scale horse operations are presently concentrated in the central (with Marion County as the nucleus) and the southeastern regions (Palm Beach/Broward/Dade Counties) of Florida.

Florida, pastures and forage crops provide a major part of the nutritional needs of horses almost year-round. Planning for pastures or forage crops utilized as horse pasture should consider peculiarities of the digestive system of the horse. Being herbivores, horses can utilize roughages, and are therefore able to utilize that same pastures as cattle. However, the horse is not a ruminant. It has a simpler, less robust stomach that is more sensitive to what it grazes than in the case of cattle. Horses lack the rumen, the large vat where cattle and other ruminants ferment and degrade poor quality, high fiber, cellulosic materials through the action of microorganisms. Horses instead have an adapted and enlarged colon where the fermentative process occurs. Thus, horses, because of the location of the colon, are hindgut digesters. Horses, therefore, require higher quality, less fibrous forages that are free of mold and dust than cattle.

A pasture serves several purposes for the horse; it is both an area for exercise and a source of high quality forage. A high quality pasture and/or hay can provide a balanced ration of energy, protein, minerals, and vitamins that a horse needs. However, even on a good quality pasture or hay, free-choice vitamin/mineral mix and water are needed to adequately meet the horses daily nutrient requirements. Horses consume about 1-2 percent of their body weight per day. Thus, an average quarter horse weighing 1000 lbs would require a minimum of 10 to 20 lbs of dry forage or hay per day. Even on fine-stemmed, leafy, high quality pastures that are the target for horse pastures, care should be taken to ensure that the horses consume adequate amounts of fiber, which they require for normal gastrointestinal function. The fiber content of a good horse hay should contain 30-40% acid detergent fiber (ADF) and 50-65% neutral detergent fiber (NDF) in order to provide for normal gastrointestinal function. On lush pasture, supplementary hay may be required to ensure adequate intake of fiber.

Pastures can be grown in nearly all locations in Florida. Variations in soil and climatic conditions make some locations and sites better suited to forage production than others. Also, a particular forage species may be better adapted to a given site than other species. Typically, perennial warm-season forage grasses are more productive in the summer and early fall (June-October), and forage may be in excess of the needs of the horses. Excess forage may be harvested as silage or hay as weather permits. role of improved pastures in supplying forage varies from farm to farm, depending on the type of livestock operation, available facilities, quality of these facilities, and personal preference of the operator. It is possible for animals to receive a large portion of their feed from pastures; however, if this is to be achieved, careful consideration must be given to planning and carrying out a forage production and utilization program. factors that must be considered in improved pasture production are: site to be used, forage varieties, liming and fertilization, and grazing management.

When choosing a site for a horse pasture, due consideration should be given to the functions that the site provides: space for exercise, feed source, and a source of water, nutrients, and other requirements that the pasture plants require to grow. Successful establishment of a horse pasture, its subsequent management and productivity, will depend on the suitability of the site for the forage plant that is grown on the site. There may be more than one soil type on a given site and the characteristics of specific locations on the site may be determined by previous cropping history, topography, and other factors. The soils on any given site can vary in their ability to support improved productive pastures. Therefore, soil characteristics on a given site should be considered. In general, soils with a high organic matter content or clay content will have a higher fertilizer retention capacity and require fewer applications of fertilizer. Soil moisture holding capacity can vary depending on organic matter content, texture, depth to subsoil, and depth to water table. Deep sandy soils (e.g. sandhills) that are excessively well drained and low in organic matter will tend to be more droughty and forage productivity will be less than other soils. Soil pH is a measure of soil acidity. The native soil fertility and need for soil amendment vary from one soil to the next. Soils with a low pH (less than 5.0) may need to be limed in order to support the growth of improved forages.

Soil nutrient levels should be checked when starting a new pasture program. Soil samples can be tested and subsequent fertilization recommendations can be provided by the Extension Soil Testing Lab of the University of Florida. If the soil is deficient in certain nutrients required for plant growth, these can be supplied by the addition of fertilizer that contains the needed nutrients. But nothing practical can be done about the "natural" moisture-holding capability of the soil or its "fertilizer retention capacity." In Florida, the predominant soil types in areas where horse pastures are concentrated are flatwoods and upland sands.

In general, the flatwoods sites have a higher water table, higher organic matter content, and thus better soil moisture holding capacity than the upland sands; therefore, they are generally more productive. Soils on upland sites that contain some clay or silt are generally more productive than those that are nearly pure sand. To make the best use of a site, specific areas of the site should be used for growing forage crops that are best adapted to the conditions in those sites. Forage plants that are productive on well-drained soils such as bermudagrass and rhizoma peanut will be grown on such sites. Poorly drained areas or low-lying areas that are flooded for extended periods during the summer may be used for forage crops that are suited or adapted to such conditions such as bahiagrass or limpograss.

Related to site for a horse pasture is the amount of land or acreage that will be required for each horse. The stocking rate or number of horses on each unit or acre of pasture will vary with pasture species grown and its productivity, size and age of the horse, and amount of grain and other supplements fed, and grazing management. On productive sites, pasture productivity is higher and thus, less acreage is needed for each horse. The capacity of a pasture to supply ample forage varies throughout the year. Warm-season perennial grasses (bahiagrass, bermudagrass, etc) are more productive during the summer. Amount of forage produced during the spring and fall vary among the warm-season grasses. In general, the more supplementary feed is provided to the horse, the less the amount of forage the horse consumes, and the more the number of horses that can be supported by the pasture.

In the summer, forage yield and quality of warm-season perennial grasses may be adequate to meet the requirements of a mature horse. In the winter, forage yield and quality on the pasture will be inadequate and supplemental feeds will be needed to adequately meet the horses nutrient needs. Where it is possible to vary the number of animals on a pasture, more horses may be stocked on a unit area of pasture in the summer and less in the winter. Typically on less productive sites one mature horse weighing 1,100 pounds may require 2 to 2 ½ acres of pasture whereas on productive sites and well-managed pasture, 1 to 1 ½ acres will be adequate. The number of horses in a pasture may be increased if more supplementary feed is provided or horses are rotationally grazed. In rotational grazing, animals are moved around pastures or stabled every 14 to 21 days to allow grazed pastures to regrow or recover before further grazing. The aim of grazing management is to efficiently utilize the pasture and avoid overgrazing which may lead to development of bare spots in the pasture as forage plants are weakened and unable to recover from grazing. In general, when there is more than one horse per acre, use as an exercise area becomes the primary role of the pasture and source of feed becomes secondary. Avoid placing too many horses on too few acres for prolonged periods of time - this practice results in destruction of the pasture and encroachment of weeds.

Characteristics that should be considered when choosing species and varieties (cultivars):

Bahiagrass is an ideal general-use pasture grass. Once established it can stand heavier grazing pressure than the other pasture grasses in common use. Therefore, horses are less able to destroy a stand of bahiagrass when pastures are overstocked and grass production is inadequate to meet their needs. Bahiagrass produces more forage in the summer than winter, and its quality is often low during July, August, and September. When mature, all of the bahiagrasses are extremely fibrous and low in feeding value, but the quality of the pastures can be improved by overseeding some of the pastures with summer legumes such as alyceclover.

Recommended cultivars include Pensacola, Argentine, Tifton-9 Pensacola, and Paraguay 22. Pensacola is the most widely grown cultivar of bahiagrass. It is persistent under close grazing and low input management. Tifton-9 Pensacola produces more top growth than other cultivars but may be less tolerant of overgrazing. Both Tifton-9 Pensacola and Pensacola are more frost resistant than Argentine or Paraguay 22. Argentine and Paraguay 22 have wider leaves than the two Pensacola cultivars. Argentine can develop the ergot disease on the seed, which can cause ergot alkaloid toxicity that can lead to abortion in horses.

Improved hybrid bermudagrass covers rapidly from vegetative plantings and is vigorous and highly productive. Like digitgrass it is both more responsive to fertilization and has higher requirements for its growth than bahiagrass. It makes an excellent hay crop when harvested frequently (every 4 to 5 weeks). Bermudagrasses require careful management and can be severely damaged by continuous overgrazing. They should not be planted on sites that flood or have very poor drainage.

Recommended cultivars include Coastal, Suwannee, Coastcross-1, Callie, Tifton-44, Florakirk, and Tifton 85. Tifton 85 is a new variety that is vigorous, high yielding, and has improved digestibility. Florakirk is recommended for hay production. Current data indicate that Alicia, an older but popular variety, is less digestible and less productive than Tifton 85. All of the improved hybrid bermudagrasses must be established from vegetative planting material. Common bermudagrass can be established by planting seed, but the common types are usually of low quality, more susceptible to leaf diseases and are not particularly well suited for use in Florida.

The stargrasses are related to the bermudagrasses and are adapted only to south-central Florida. Three cultivars - Ona, Florona, and Florico are recommended. These grasses are very productive when grown under high fertility. It should be noted that the potential for prussic acid poisoning does exist with stargrasses. The stargrasses make excellent hay but many horse owners would prefer the finer-stemmed bermudagrass hays.

Other warm-season perennial grasses include the following:

Warm-season perennial grasses that are not recommended (because of their low production or low quality) but may invade a horse pasture are common bermudagrass, centipedegrass, carpetgrass, and torpedograss. Common bermudagrass, if highly fertilized, can be quite productive. It will often provide ground cover in high traffic areas where other grasses will not. Centipedegrass is adapted to areas with good drainage, and carpetgrass and torpedograss that are adapted to moist flatwoods sites have low productivity. These grasses tolerate close grazing and may invade more productive grasses when pastures are overstocked.

Pearl millet is useful as a supplement to perennial summer grasses. Pearl millet may be overseeded in perennial pasture. It is highly productive under adequate fertility. It will not tolerate flooding.

Sorghum and sorghum-sudangrass hybrids CANNOT be recommended for horse pastures because of prussic acid poisoning, which may cause abortion in mares in early pregnancy and problems with the urinary tract.

Cool season annual grasses are an excellent choice for extending grazing from the late fall through the early summer. Small grains including oats, rye, and wheat all furnish good grazing during December, January, February, and March if planted in October.-November. They will not tolerate flooding and cost of land preparation, planting, and fertilization is high. Ryegrass has less seedling vigor than the small grains but can be a valuable winter forage crop. It has a high moisture requirement and responds to liberal fertilization. It can be planted alone or in mixture with small grains and/or various cool season legumes. Cool-season annual grasses can be used to overseed perennial grasses or sown on dedicated land. They produce palatable and nutritious horse pastures.

Rhizoma peanut is an excellent forage for horses, and because the feed value is similar to that of alfalfa, it is sometimes used as a substitute for alfalfa. Rhizoma peanut is a persistent perennial rhizomatous legume adapted to well-drained soils over the entire state. Rhizoma peanut may be grazed or cut for silage. Florigraze is the recommended cultivar, and it is propagated from rhizome sections. This crop is slow to establish and often requires two seasons to develop complete ground cover. The perennial peanut is best established in a clean seed bed and any perennial grass to be mixed with it should be planted later. Forage quality of summer pasture is increased by the addition of Florigraze.

Alyceclover is a high-quality annual legume that is readily accepted by both grazing cattle and horses. Seedlings can be made from March through June at a rate of 15 lb/A. Alyceclover types currently available are susceptible to attack by root knot nematodes. It should not be planted on soils subject to long periods of flooding. It is an excellent hay crop and is frequently planted following watermelons to take advantage of the residual fertility.

Clovers make excellent winter pastures for horses especially when mixed with the small grains or ryegrass for overseeding bermudagrass and bahiagrass sods. A mixture of clover is usually recommended. White and red are better adapted to the wetter sites, while crimson and arrowleaf are better adapted to the well-drained locations.

Alfalfa is forage of choice for many horse owners. Alfalfa is typically fed to horses as hay or in mixture with a grass such as timothy; most of Florida's alfalfa hays are shipped in from the Midwest or West. Alfalfa has met with good success by some growers in recent years on moderate- to well-drained sites. It requires intensive management, including high levels of fertility and favorable moisture conditions. Excellent hay can be made from this plant, but high humidity in Florida makes drying difficult.

A good level of pasture management can ensure that the pasture is main source of feed for horses and less supplementary feed is required during most of the year. This would require adequate planning and making the right decisions in terms of matching forage plants to suitable areas of the site, use of complementary forage species to supply forages at different times of the year, and proper management of the pastures. A combination of forage plants will more adequately meet the forage needs of horses on pastures than reliance on one forage plant. Typically, a perennial forage species such as bahiagrass, bermudagrass or stargrass (south Florida) may serve as the base pasture to supply most of the forage needs on pasture during the summer. Some warm-season perennial grasses such as stargrasses may be productive, especially when adequately fertilized, in the spring when the grass starts to grow. Depending on the need of the operation during the summer - for more yield or higher quality - summer annual grasses (e.g. millet) and legumes (e.g. Alyceclover) may be grown to meet the needs. During the cool seasons of late fall, winter and early spring, cool season forages such as ryegrass and clovers may be used to meet forage needs. When overseeded, base pastures will require fertilization in the fall and spring.

Before land preparation begins, soil samples should be taken from the site and tested. Soil testing should be conducted to determine the fertilization and liming program. Most native Florida soils will require lime for optimum production. Land preparation determines the overall success of pasture establishment. A clean, tilled, weed-free seedbed is essential for all perennial crops. Start land clearing and preparation in early spring or during the dry period. By frequent tillage the vegetation is exposed to the scorching heat of the sun and killed by desiccation. It may be necessary to kill existing vegetation with herbicide before land preparation begins.

Forage crops may be established by seed or vegetative materials. Type of planting material needed, recommended planting rate, planting dates and time-to-graze information for each forage crop is given in Table 1. Winter and summer annual forage grasses and legumes can be overseeded on sods by either broadcast or sod drilling, or they can be seeded into prepared seedbeds. When overseeding, the sod should be grazed very heavily, mowed, or burned to remove the top growth. The small grains (rye, wheat, oats, and triticale) may perform poorly when overseeded on a bahiagrass sod unless the sod has been disturbed by disking or chopping. Bahiagrass should be cultivated (disked) to obtain 30 to 50% disturbance in order to provide good seed-to-soil contact and reduce the competition from the bahiagrass.

Routine soil testing will aid the development of an efficient liming and fertilization program, which in turn is necessary for maintaining productive pastures. Soil pH will change over time depending on soil type and type of nitrogen fertilizer used in supplying annual nitrogen needs of the pasture. Lime or dolomitic lime (supplying calcium and calcium and magnesium, respectively) may be required to increase soil pH to within 5.5 and 6.5 where nutrients are most available. Nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium are the three major nutrients required for the growing grass. Where there is a good stand of a legume in the pasture, inorganic nitrogen application may not be required because legumes are able to utilize nitrogen from the air (nitrogen fixation) and make it available to the companion grass (nitrogen transfer). Besides, inorganic nitrogen fertilizers may adversely affect legume stand persistence. Under grazing, nutrients are recycled back to the pasture through manure and urine, and thus additional nutrient application with fertilizer may be less than what is needed for a hay crop or where the pasture is harvested and removed from the land. Proper land preparation during pasture establishment will go a long way in minimizing weed infestation in the pastures. Adequate weed control can be accomplished through a combination of grazing management, herbicide applications, and mowing.

As indicated above, significant amounts of nutrients are recycled through the manure of grazing animals. However, since the manure is not well distributed on the pasture, manure should be spread with a light drag. Do this during hot, dry weather. Internal parasites will be killed by the hot sun. Mowing areas where horses do not graze and dragging pastures to spread manure piles will improve the quality and the utilization of the pasture.pests of pastures are not usually severe enough to justify insecticide application, but occasional outbreaks can be controlled with chemicals. Judicious use of chemicals involves carefully reading the labels and following directions for use. Some chemicals may be injurious to the horse, and some may require that the horse does not graze the pasture for specified periods after applications. Please read and follow instructions provided on insecticide labels.

Grazing management is a valuable tool for maintaining pastures. Pasture may be continuously stocked or grazed or rotationally stocked or grazed. In continuous grazing, horses graze the same pasture for the entire grazing season or year. In rotational grazing, the pasture is divided into paddocks that are rotationally grazed in sequential order. Rotational grazing is a valuable management practice for maintaining and efficiently utilizing productive pastures. Available pasture may be subdivided into 2 to 10 paddocks, which can be grazed in sequential order. Horses graze a paddock for 7 to 21 days and are moved to another paddock. This allows the forage plants to recover in a given pasture while another pasture is being grazed and helps prevent overgrazing and the resultant bare spots or "sand spots." The length of time between grazing depends type of pasture, site conditions, season of the year and how quickly the plants are growing. Dividing pastures also afford the manager some flexibility in pasture management. Subdivision of the pasture may be based on soil types or some other characteristics of the sites so that different paddocks may be managed in different ways to ensure uniformity of forage availability. Some paddocks may require supplemental fertilizer application, mowing to control weeds, or promote uniform regrowth. During periods of excessive forage growth in the summer, some paddocks may be closed and used for stockpiling forage for latter use during periods of limited forage availability, further reducing the need for supplemental feeds. Depending on type of forage plant, weather conditions, and management considerations, some paddocks may be cut for hay or silage during these times.fencing is essential for success in rotation grazing and pasture management.

Proper fencing also makes the pasture safer. To improve safety on the pasture, fill in holes in the pasture, remove sharp objects, stumps, loose wires, and other materials that may injure the horse.

Among supplementary feeds that may be required to augment forage from the pasture, hay is the most important. Being a herbivore, hays are a very important component of horse diets and are indeed a primary source of fiber that is needed for normal gastrointestinal function. Good quality horse hay should be mold- and dust-free, and should not contain extraneous materials such as weeds and poisonous plants. Good quality horse hay contains about 12 to 20% crude protein, with grass hays at the lower end of the range and legume and annual forage hays at the upper end. Poor quality grass hay may contain 6% crude protein or less. Many horse owners commonly use color of hay as the determinant of hay quality, but color should not be the only indicator of hay quality. A forage analysis report that indicates percent content of moisture, crude protein, acid detergent fiber (ADF) and/or neutral detergent fiber (NDF), calcium, and phosphorus provide objective criteria for judging hay quality. Forage analysis is also useful for ration formulation and supplementary feeding decision. Please consult your local extension office for assistance with hay sampling and analysis.

Production of good quality hay involves a combination of proper management practices, including fertilization and cutting frequency. In Florida, climatic conditions restrict hay making mostly to the spring and fall when there is adequate soil moisture to permit forage crop growth and the weather favors rapid drying of the cut herbage. Hay fields will be grazed during the summer months when it is not usually possible to make hays because of excessive rains. Some forage crops make better hays than others do. Therefore, production of hay from horse pastures may be a consideration in the planning, choice, and establishment of horse pastures, and subsequent subdivision of pasture and allocation of paddocks, if the pastures will be cut for hay. The bermudagrasses (Coastal, Florakirk, Tifton 85, and "Jiggs") and stargrasses (Florona) make better hay than bahiagrass.

Table 1. 

Planting guide for forages.

1.

This document is SS-AGR-65, one of a series of the Agronomy Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. First printed May 1997. Revised July 2006. This publication is also a part of the Florida Forage Handbook, an electronic publication of the Agronomy Department. For more information you may contact M. B. Adjei (mba@ufl.edu). Please visit the EDIS Website at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.

2.

C. G. Chambliss (deceased) associate professor, Agronomy Department; E. L. Johnson, associate professor, Animal Sciences Department; and I. V. Ezenwa, assistant professor, Agronomy Department; Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611.

The use of trade names in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information. UF/IFAS does not guarantee or warranty the products named, and references to them in this publication does not signify our approval to the exclusion of other products of suitable composition.