Compensate for Failing Pastures

Maintenance Tips to Help Your Pastures Thrive

Reduce Grazing Pressure

The “how” aspect is more complex. We can only touch on a few basic principles in this article, but the simple answer is that you have to reduce the “grazing pressure” on your pastures. When thinking about grazing pressure, horses are said to have five sets of teeth. This means that each of his four hooves does as much damage to the land as his mouth does. So a horse standing around in a gateway, even if he’s not grazing, is still exerting four mouths’ worth of pressure on your land through his feet.

The Negative Effects of Overgrazing  

Letting horses overgraze is a big mistake. Overgrazing leads to less pasture, and also reduces its biodiversity. It destroys the plants’ root systems and leads to soil compaction, dust and/or mud. This leads to unhealthy degraded soils, which results in weeds and/or erosion. A general rule of thumb is that any bare soil marks an area under far too much pressure. Take the horse out of the pasture is a simple way to remove the pressure. Overgrazing is made worse by set stocking, a  common practice among horse owners. Set stocking means all the land is being used by the horses -- all the time. Pasture plants and grazing animals such as horses evolved alongside each other, to ensure they both thrive. In other words, pasture plants actually evolved to be grazed; but they did not evolve to be overgrazed. They thrive on just the right amount of grazing pressure but then need a period for rest and recovery. Pasture plants have a couple of defense mechanisms that they use in the wild to ensure they get the required rest. The trouble is, when horses are confined to the same pasture on a daily basis, their need for fiber overrides the plants’ defense systems. The plants become stressed and try to maximize their sugar and starch content to help them recover when the pressure is lifted; but if the pressure doesn’t lift, it becomes too much and the plants die. Eventually, if any pasture plants do survive, it is only the species capable of coping with high levels of grazing pressure, resulting in less diversity.

Implementing Rotational Grazing

In order to give your pasture time to rest and recover, you need to employ a rotational grazing system. Rotational grazing involves some of your land being rested while other parts are being grazed. You should aim to have about 30 percent of your land being grazed at any one time, with the other two-thirds being rested. If you can reduce this to 10 percent or 20 percent, that’s even better. Even if you think you lack enough space/grass now, once you implement rotational grazing your pasture will become more productive with increased biodiversity and healthier soils and will last longer throughout the year.

Repairing Damaged Pastures

Short overgrazed pasture plants have short unhealthy root systems. The root system does several jobs – it prevents soil compaction, exchanges minerals and nutrients, and provides a suitable environment for earthworms, beetles, fungi and other microflora and fauna.

When a pasture is overgrazed, the soil becomes compacted and often becomes deficient in minerals and nutrients You can reduce soil compaction using mechanical methods, or you can employ a more natural method that also improves your grass species called round bale mulching. Feed hay in large round bales on the bare patches of your land and allow the horses to “waste” a certain amount. This wastage covers and protects the soil the same way garden mulch does. It creates a cool, moist environment for microorganisms to begin repairing the soil; equally important, the leftover hay contains many “free” seeds that will hopefully germinate. The best way to compensate for failing pastures is to ensure they don’t become overgrazed in the first place; this is done by following good pasture management practices. If it’s already too late for that, you can begin to repair your pastures by taking a look at your soil and the state of the plants. With a little work and a lot of patience, you can bring your pastures back to a healthy state -- and keep them there!

Jane Myers, MSc (Equine) and Stuart Myers have been involved in the horse industry for over 30 years and are the authors of a number of books: Managing Horses on Small Properties, Horse Safe and a series  Sustainable Horse Keeping and more recently published three more books, The Equicentral System series. Jane is also co-author of Horse Sense. Their business, Equiculture, promotes responsible horse ownership through education and workshops.  Visit www.equiculture.net or follow us on Facebook @Equicentral Central.