Lovable Friends » Horse Care Tutorial: Feeds and Pasture

Horse Care Tutorial: Feeds and Pasture

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Horse Care Tutorial: Feeds and Pasture

Photo – © kyslynskyy – Fotolia.com

A pasture is of course a piece of land, typically fenced off, that animals use for grazing. Horses in pasture graze on fresh grass and other types of plants to keep them strong and healthy. If you’re planning to take your pets to a new pasture, make sure that you inspect the area carefully first. This will help you avoid any problems or accidents that might occur.

Our friends at It’s My Pony have kindly provided a very detailed guide to feeds and pasture. There are a surprising number of things that you need to take into consideration before allowing your horse to graze.

Take note of the vegetation that is present in the pasture. Some training in identification of plants will be valuable! There are some plants and trees that produce substances that can be poisonous. Aside from that, you should also watch out for dangerous materials such as broken pieces of glass, torn sheets of metal, damaged fencing, loose wire and even simple holes in the ground, just to name a few.

Create a simple map of the area and mark any “danger zones”. Also, keep them away from your compost pit because they might ingest certain decayed substances that could make them seriously ill.

Once you’ve made your inspection, prepare your pasture. If you find any holes that are big enough for your feet to go through, fill them in properly with dirt. If a hole is deep, it could be the home of a mole or a snake, so you have to take extra caution. Mark these areas so that you will be able to avoid them in the future.

Remove any weeds that you might have seen in your pasture. Some of these plants can make your pet sick so it’s worth getting rid of them by whatever means you are comfortable with (personally, I would do my very best not to use any sprays in a pasture that is going to be used for animals – but if you have a 2-acre pasture full of a certain type of bad plant, you are probably not going to want to dig up every single one! Please just do your best to make a conscious and informed choice, and ‘don’t believe the hype’… that’s all I will say on that.)

Also, keep in mind that there should be an abundant supply of edible, nutritious plants. Most importantly, a plentiful supply of cool, clean water should also be available.

Make sure that your fence is intact. Repair any areas that might be broken. This is very important because it will keep your animals safe.