Recommendations to Manage Grazing in Horses

The scope of this article is confined more to grazing considerations than forage management practices such a forage specie selection, fertilization, weed control, and mowing.  Several recommendations for managing grazing of horses are provided below.

• The goal of forage management is to maintain the desired supply of digestible forage to grazing horses. Mature forage and weedy forage types are not efficiently digested.
• Establishing forage depends largely on what plant species are best adapted to the soil type and geographical area, and the types and levels of agronomic inputs owners are willing to employ.
• The length of forage grazing season will depend on use of warm and cool season forages, rainfall, grazing management, and agronomic practices employed.
• Don’t overestimate the available forage for stocking rate determination. Trees, sacrifice areas, overgrazed areas, and brush must be considered.
• If pastures are of adequate size, decrease sacrifice areas by practices such as frequently relocating feed troughs in pastures.
• Consider time limit grazing and rotational grazing programs, especially when housing horses on small acreages.
Rotational grazing, companion grazing with other types of livestock, spreading of manure piles, and other management practices will reduce spot grazing.
• Pasture forage should be maintained at minimum optimal heights. Although complete removal of horses from pastures is not possible on many farms, rotational grazing or limited turnout time will help establish initial growth, and allow for regrowth during the active season of forage growth.
• Horses should be gradually introduced to forage types that are high in nutrients such as winter annuals. For example, start turn outs for 30 minutes once or twice per day for a couple of days, followed by a couple of days with access of 4 to 6 hours before continual turnout. Watch the horse’s health and behavior to determine how quickly to advance this introductory period. Allowing horses free choice hay while not on pastures during the introductory period will help decrease their appetite when they are turned out.
• Selection of forages to establish needs to be based on desired forage production times and amounts, forage compatibility to the geographical area, the expected grazing and trampling pressure, and the expected grazing and agronomic practices to be followed.

Click the link for the complete factsheet from Oklahoma State University regarding Managing Grazing for Horses

Horses and Water in the Winter

We mostly worry about horses getting enough water during the warmer months or when they are working and need lots of water and electrolytes.  However, even in the cold months when we aren’t riding nearly as much, a horse will need up to 10 gallons of fresh clean water per day.  This amount is generally agreed to be needed to prevent colic, dehydration, or worse. 

Cold weather provides some unique challenges to making sure that horses drink enough water.  If the water is too cold, many horses will refuse to drink it.  Warming the water a bit may encourage a horse to go ahead and take a drink.  This can also help to warm the horse in cold weather.

Most horses are fed dried forages in cold months after having grazed on succulent forage that contained quite a bit of moisture.  This change can lead to a higher water requirement per day than was needed during warmer months. Be sure that the water supply is palatable and that there is plenty offered.

Folks taking horses to shows to trail rides may have experienced a horse refusing to drink because the water tastes different than what they are used to.  A way to alleviate this would be to add flavor to the home water to get the horses accustomed to it before travelling.  Keep adding the electrolytes or apple juice while away from home so the taste is nearer to what the horse is used to.

Dehydration can happen at any time of year and is extremely serious.  Strenuous exercise, stress, and diarrhea are considered the most common triggers for dehydration, but even simpler causes like different taste can cause refusal and lead to dehydration.  The moral of the story is to make sure that water is available in sufficient quantities and to make sure that the horse is actually drinking that 5 to 10 gallons each day.

Signs of dehydration include:  sunken eyes, dullness, drawn up flanks, depression, and excessively thick saliva.  A simple way to check for dehydration is to use the pinch test – pinch up a fold of skin and then release it.  The skin should immediately resume its natural position.  If the skin remains in a ridge for 2 to 5 seconds, the horse could be experiencing dehydration.  If the skin remains in a ridge for 10 to 15 seconds, call a veterinarian.

The article “How much Drinking Water Does Your Horse Need” by Penn State Extension Horse Specialist Ann M. Swinker has more information on water for horses, preventing dehydration, and recognizing the signs of dehydration in horses.  Click on the title of the article to see the publication.

Preventing Fall and Winter Colic

Although I’m sure most of you are looking forward to fall; cooler weather, football and pumpkin spice everything, this time of year can be risky for the gastrointestinal health of our pasture pals.  Cool weather often signals an increased occurrence of colic, but we can decrease the incidence by paying close attention to our management practices.

One of the most common causes of fall and winter colic is an abrupt change in diet.  Even horse pastures that are fortunate enough to be able to grow a good stand of cool season grasses, such as Fescue or Ryegrass, typically have to feed hay at some point in the cool months.  This change in diet, increase in dry matter and natural decrease in water consumption during the cooler months can create issues in a horse’s naturally sensitive digestive tract.

Some tips for preventing hay/water related colic:

• Make the transition from grass to hay gradually-try giving at least a two week period of adjustment to new forage before making a complete switch.

• Have fresh, thawed water available at all times-this can be difficult during the coldest months when water is prone to freeze overnight, but using a heated water bucket can help.

• Regularly check pastures for poisonous plants-when grass becomes scarce horses can begin to nibble on things that wouldn’t normally appeal to them.  Keep an eye out for pokeweed, horse nettle, black nightshade and bracken ferns, all of which can cause physiological distress in livestock.

          Cherry and maple trees are also at their most toxic (and most palatable) when the leaves begin to change color.  

          

                Pictured (From top to bottom):  Pokeweed, horse nettle, bracken fern

• Monitor hydration-all animals, humans included, drink less in the cooler months when water is not being lost to perspiration.  When animals decrease drinking enough for dehydration to ensue, however, it can cause major issues, specifically impaction colic in horses.  Using the skin tent test on your horse’s shoulder is a great way to assess hydration status.  If tented skin is slow to go back to flat, this is an indicator of dehydration and extra water should be added to ration and/or hay should be soaked prior to feeding.

            Pictured: Skin tenting to help determine hydration status

Another way to prevent fall and winter colic is to make sure your horse’s gut is in top notch condition at the beginning of the season by following a good parasite prevention program.  A fecal egg count will give you the best indication of whether your horse needs to be dewormed and what to use.  A veterinarian or your local livestock extension agent can help you with this.  Although dewormers are important and have their place, using good sanitation practices is one of the best ways to keep the intestinal parasite population to a minimum on your farm.  Removing manure piles and keeping the proper stocking rate in your pastures are two of the main practices that will help you with this.

With good management practices, a watchful eye and a little luck you and your hooved companion hopefully can make it through the upcoming fall and winter seasons with little complications!

Water Requirements for Your Horse

A stable owner was in the office last week, and in the course of conversation, he said that he was almost to the point of not liking horses.  After more discussion, this was more related to the effort needed to keep clean, fresh water in front of them than anything else.  As most folks already know in North Carolina, it has been unseasonably cold.  This has caused watering systems that normally make it through the winter with no problems to freeze up.  Thawing our drinking cups, water troughs, or chopping holes in ice are not usually needed around here, but that has become chore number one on the daily jobs list for a lot of horse owners.

Let’s review the water requirements for horses.  According to the Vet College at UC-Davis, a 1,000-pound gestating horse needs at least 8 gallons of water per day.  The chart below shows the minimum requirements for different size horses and different levels of activity:

Minimum Daily Water Requirement for Horses of Various Weights	Resting/Normal Environmental Temperature	Heavy Workload (double to triple resting requirement)	Gestation/Lactation (add 30% to resting requirement)	High  Heat and Humidity (double to triple resting requirement)
500-lb horse	3 gal per day	6 to 9 gal per day	4 gal per day	6 to 9 gal per day
1,000-lb horse	6 gal per day	12 to 18 gal per day	8 gal per day	12 to 18 gal per day
1,500-lb horse	9 gal per day	18 to 27 gal per day	12 gal per day	18 to 27 gal per day
2,000-lb horse	12 gal per day	24 to 36 gal per day	16 gal per day	24 to 36 gal per day

Cold weather does not drop the amount of water needed by horses.  Please note that the figures presented are minimum requirements.

Also, please remember that the water should be clean.  Many times, horses will refuse dirty, stagnant water until they are in dire need – and then only drink a minimal amount.  Dirty, stagnant water/water troughs/fountains can also be a source of bacterial or viral infections, so there is some extra incentive to make sure that the water systems are in top shape.

Other writers for this blog have mentioned the danger of impaction colic, so I’ll just say that avoiding this problem makes the chore of keeping fresh, clean water even more important.  A bit of heat for the water makes it easier to drink, so horses will consume a bit more than if left cold.

It is recommended that horses be watered at least twice a day; preferable, horses should have continuous access to fresh, clean water.  If the water lines in the barn are frozen, the buckets of water taken to the horses twice a day will be greatly appreciated by your equine friends.