How long would you graze two horses on an acre when using rotational grazing?
I have an assignment that asks us to tell them what we would do to graze a 5 acre paddock with 2 horses. I have decided to take the blocks into acre blocks and use rotational grazing and cross grazing by grazing the horses, then resting, then sheep, then resting for two intervals before the horses come around on the circuit again. I’m stuck on how long I should graze the horses, and on what pasture I should use. Any suggestions. When the horses are grazing I don’t want them to completly strip the acre in the interval the have
It all depends on soil and climate conditions. There are places where an acre per horse is enough to graze AND make hay during ideal weather. Other places have a minimum of 10 acres per horse, or are just inhospitable.
Talk to your local horse people and (if in the US) your County Extension Agent or local agricultural college. They will know the conditions and grazing density for your area.
Another consideration for keeping horses on small acreage – if they have a big square area, they are less likely to move around and get exercise, than if it’s a long narrow shape of the same square footage/acreage. Check out Jaime Jackson’s book Paddock Paradise. He advocates creating a track system rather than keeping horses in a simple open area. By putting hay at one end and water at the other, it encourages movement that keeps a horse muscles, cardiovascular system, joints, and hooves fit.
But none of that applies directly to this assignment – just putting it out there.
When the grass is reduced to 2" high. Then rest for a month. Obviously, this depends to a certain extent of weather and ground conditions.
I’ve always been told that while roatating horses and sheep is beneficial to pasture they should not be grazed together (ie in the field at the same time). No idea why so it could be an old wive’s tale or it may be based on sound pasture management.
As sheep’s teeth cut the grass very close to the ground the pasture will have to have time to recover before it is suitable for further grazing by horses
There is some disagreement as to whether cows and horses should be grazed together.
This site may help you:
http://www.extension.umn.edu/d.....40_05.html
It’s an american one so if you’re elsewhere there may be things that don’t apply (like whatever are pocket gophers?) but the pinciple is sound.
Incidentally if moving your horses onto very lush spring or summer grass be careful to ration their time initially as gorging on rich grass can spark off colic.
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Google and over half a century of experience with horses
Usually it is one horse per one acre for 1 month with out eating it down to bare. The pasture I’m not sure about but well drained non sandy with a good grass covering is always good. A mixture of grasses with little to no dock weed is perfect.
or
For example, say you have two horses and four acres of pasture with uniform soil type, topography, plant species, and yield throughout the entire area. You could divide the pasture into four one-acre paddocks and graze the horses for one week per paddock. This will give each paddock three weeks to regrow. If regrowth is slower, you’ll need to supplement the pasture with hay. If the growth is faster, you’ll need to rotate more often or make hay from the paddock.
Undergrazing (grazing too few horses on too large of a paddock for too short of a grazing period) can encourage horses to selectively graze and result in a lot of underutilized forage requiring clipping or hay making.
Lightweight electric fencing consisting of polywire strung on lightweight plastic or fiberglass posts work well for dividing a pasture into paddocks. These materials are easily connected to perimeter fences and allow you to modify the paddock size or shape depending on forage growth.
References :
It all depends on soil and climate conditions. There are places where an acre per horse is enough to graze AND make hay during ideal weather. Other places have a minimum of 10 acres per horse, or are just inhospitable.
Talk to your local horse people and (if in the US) your County Extension Agent or local agricultural college. They will know the conditions and grazing density for your area.
Another consideration for keeping horses on small acreage – if they have a big square area, they are less likely to move around and get exercise, than if it’s a long narrow shape of the same square footage/acreage. Check out Jaime Jackson’s book Paddock Paradise. He advocates creating a track system rather than keeping horses in a simple open area. By putting hay at one end and water at the other, it encourages movement that keeps a horse muscles, cardiovascular system, joints, and hooves fit.
But none of that applies directly to this assignment – just putting it out there.
References :
Well, I have ten acres and I rotate my 2 horses throughout the year.I have 6 pastures altogether and what I do is keep them in two big pastures for 3 or 4 months during the winter, then 3 months in my L-shape, then another 3 months in the small pasture, then 3 months large pasture. Also what I do during the spring is fertilize the grass so it grows well for summer.
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This question depends on a lot of variables and what area the paddock is in:
- If there’s a lot of rain and the grass grows well then the horses can graze for a longer interval than usual. However if there’s a dry season and the grass does poorly they should stay for a shorter interval.
- Grass density is also important. Horses can graze for longer on a paddock with denser grass, as there is more grass to the acreage.
- This also depends on the horse’s personal grazing habits. Some horses will graze a bit and rest before grazing again. Some graze all day without resting.
- Paddock management. Droppings should be picked up regularly. If not they can kill the grass and pretty much take over the field.
Your rough interval should be a month, but can be as little as 2 weeks, or as much as 6 weeks, depending on all the variables. Personally, I currently have 2 horses grazing on 2 1-acre paddocks. The one field recovers quicker than the other and the grass is denser. Therefore they are currently grazing for 6 weeks on the one and then 3 weeks on the other. The grass is improving in the other field due to the short grazing interval and long recovery and the grass in the first one is coping very well. You could also put in your assignment that horses will be moved out of field quicker necessary, depending on height of grass etc.
As for type of pasture, kikuyu is the best type of grass for rotational grazing, as it has a high density and high recovery rate. It is also one of the most palatable types of grass and is highly nutritional.
I hope this helps.
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Experience
move them every week that way each acre has 5 weeks to re grow grass.
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Basically you keep the horses on the pasture until the grass is all about two or three inches long, mow it, and then put them back on when the grass is about eight inches long. The amount of time this all takes depends on how large the pasture is and the horses placed out, whether you water the grass, what type of pasture it is, and if you feed hay also, etc. For example, my horse used to be turned out in a half acre field by himself every other day, and the pasture never needed rest because he was brought in at night and fed hay, and it all caught up on the days he wasn’t out.
Also keep in mind that if you have sheep too, that they are much harder on grass than horses are (they eat a lot for their size and their feet rip up the turf way worse).
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