Horse pastures – these basics are important

For the horse as a running animal, daily turnout is part of its well-being and is even required by law in some countries. Extensive pastures are best suited for this purpose, where the horses can play, frolic and also eat. Due to their species-specific behaviour, high demands are placed on a good horse pasture, which can only be met by means of intensive care.

Even though it is one of the duties of a yard manager to maintain the quality of the grazing areas, there is nothing wrong with horse owners also knowing about basic paddock maintenance.

1. What is a horse pasture?	3. What types of horse pastures are there?
2. What makes a horse pasture so special?	4. The correct basic equipment for a horse pasture

What is a horse pasture?

Basically, a horse pasture is a green area that provides horses with fodder in the form of grasses and herbs. In our modern horse keeping, these green areas are fenced.

Often the term paddock is equated with horse pasture, although they are two different forms. A paddock is a fenced pasture area, which in turn can be divided into larger and smaller parties. Thus, horses can be spatially separated from each other or the protection of certain pasture areas can be achieved.

What makes a horse pasture so special?

A horse pasture has to meet several requirements that are different from keeping other grazing animals. A pasture for horses must provide fodder as well as withstand the horses‘ pronounced great urge to move and play.

Excrement behaviour of horses: Horses always defecate in the same places and do not eat in these places afterwards. This results in spots with bad tasting grass which, if not removed, spread and reduce the forage area. Therefore, horse pastures must be regularly poo-picked and mulched.
Horses eat selectively: Horses are very picky eaters and therefore leave unpalatable grasses and herbs, which spread if the pasture is poorly maintained.

Horse standing in a chewed-up paddock with a wooden fence

Horses have hierarchies: In a horse group structure, the lower-ranking horses have to give way to the higher-ranking horses. In addition, rank fights can also take place, which cause the horses to run around. Therefore, pastures should ideally be long and free of sharp angles so that no lower-ranking horse is driven into a corner.
Horses bite deeply: Horses bite grasses very close to the ground, which stresses the grass and leads to the formation of toxins that are harmful to health. Horse pastures must therefore be rotated at a minimum grass height of 5 cm.
Horse group size has an effect on grazing: Overgrazing (many horses, little fodder) leads to stress of the grasses due to too deep grazing and thus to toxins. This can be prevented with a number of horses matching to the space of the pasture. In the case of undergrazing (too much space with too few horses), unwelcome plants have the opportunity to spread too much. Behavioural scientists recommend a turnout area for 2 horses of at least 1,600 ft², for each additional horse at least an additional 430 ft².

What types of horse pastures are there?

Proper maintenance of the pastures and preservation of the sward and the forage supply requires a regulated rotation of the paddocks. This provides the areas with the necessary rest period to recover from grazing and trampling damage. There are different types of pasture management:

Permanent grazing: The horses are kept on one area during the whole grazing season and are not moved to another. For this, the grazing area must be large enough for the sward to regenerate.
Strip grazing: The fodder is allocated to the entire area in portions on a daily basis. In this way, the horses eat the area evenly and excessive selection is prevented.
Rotational grazing: The total area is divided into smaller plots and the horses are rotated according to forage availability. This has the advantage that the grazed areas can recover.
Turnout paddock: In turnout paddocks, movement/roaming comes before feed intake.
Winter pasture: Horses have the opportunity to go out to pasture in winter.
Mowing pasture: Mowing pastures are used for both grazing and hay production.

The correct basic equipment for a horse pasture

Horses must be fenced in firmly, securely and adapted to their size. The typical behaviour of the horse as a flight animal and the special features of its eyesight must be taken into account so that the fencing is escape-proof.

The British Horse Society recommends that fences should be 1.25m (4ft) high with the lower rail set 0.5m (1ft 6in) above the ground. More specifically they suggest fencing heights of:

Horses: 1.08m-1.38m (3.6ft-4.6ft)

Ponies: 1m-1.3m (3.3ft-4.3ft)

Stallions: 1.25m-2m (4.1ft-6.5ft).

The fence should be stable and easily identifiable for the horse. Wooden fences, metal tubes and electric fences with coloured wire or white tape are easily visible.

Plain wire, barbed wire or stock fencing should not be used for horse. They have the potential to cause severe and permanent injury.

The following materials are necessary to erect a fence:

Mobile fence systems for show horses and trail horses

Anyone who spends a large part of the grazing season at show grounds or takes their horse on extended day trips has to think about the horse’s accommodation. A stable is not always available and leaving the horse in a trailer does not contribute to its rest. Mobile fence sets or mobile paddocks seem to be the solution for this.

Minimum equipment includes:

Four fence posts; preferably plastic posts with stirrup tread, for example.
Highly visible electric wire
A light, small energiser of 3 V or more

When selecting the fence posts, adjust the height of the fence to the height of the horse at the withers. Use at least two poly-wires or wide electric fence tape to make the fencing as escape-proof as possible. Bear in mind that if you want to leave your horse in the paddock overnight, you should use more posts and poly-wires and secure the corner posts well.

To Electric Fencing Equipment

Guidelines for pasture fences – what to consider?

Simply putting up a fence and letting a few horses into the paddock – that is neither in the spirit of the law, nor does it make it safe for the horses to escape.In order to both protect your horses in the pasture from external influences and prevent them from escaping, there are a few guidelines to follow.

We have summarised the most important points for you here:

BSEN 60335 March 2011 stipulates that safety signs need to be erected at the beginning and end of electric fences and regular intervals thereafter if alongside a path or track used by the public. Regular intervals is defined as 10 m spacing for security fencing and at least every 50-100 m for stock fencing.
A pasture fence may only ever be supplied by one pasture fence unit.
The electric fence must be earthed by means of an earth stake, which must maintain a minimum distance of 10 m from other earthing systems.
A distance of at least 3 m must be maintained between two electric fences with different pasture fencing devices.
The electric fence must not pose an electrical hazard to either horses or people and animals in the vicinity, which is why barbed wire should not be used as electric fence.

How many volts should a pasture fence have?

For a fence to be herd-proof, a minimum voltage of 2,500 volts is required; for horses with thick coats, 4,000 volts are appropriate. The grass growth and the fence length have an influence on the voltage. In order for the pasture fence to perform at its best, the fence should be regularly trimmed and brittle sections replaced. A lot of patched poly-wire can also massively reduce the performance.

How high should a fence be?

The BHS recommends that fences should be 1.25m (4ft) high with the lower rail set 0.5m (1ft 6in) above the ground; more specifically they suggest fencing heights of: