Water Quality

Does your horse have healthy water? We can test it for you.

Tall Fescue for horses?

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=16938

Iron

From Nillson - Iron is one of the most common elements in the earth's crust. Plants need iron for respiration, same as animals. Plants also need iron for photosynthesis. Iron deficiencies show as yellowing leaves. Pinoak is a plant that exhibits iron deficiency in a lot of cases because genetics of some pinoaks blocks iron uptake.

AgriNews - Livestock - Livestock

AgriNews - Livestock - Livestock

Pasture Management

This article pretty much sums up what we can do to help you with your pasture management. http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=16039

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=16039

Reasons to feed alfalfa

If your horse has ulcers, alfalfa may help reduce the severity. I suspect the high protien content helps. I would still feed an alfalfa-grass mix.

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=11596

Hay Fertilization

http://www.thehorse.com/viewarticle.aspx?ID=13655

This is an OK article on fertilization. The article does not say so, but proper fertilization should promote healthy plants. Healthy plants will be nutritious plants. The other thing that is critical to hay quality is timely harvest and hay that is dried without being rained on.

Mediteranian Fescue

This is not to be confused with Tall Fescue.

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=16569

How to buy hay

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14704

The Horse | Summer Pastures: Easy Steps to Proper Fertilization

The Horse | Summer Pastures: Easy Steps to Proper Fertilization

Good article on pasture management.

Good Article

This is the kind of stuff we can help with. This a very good article.

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=16300

Alfalfa Heaving

Be sure to check your alfalfa fields for heaving. If your alfalfa looks like the picture below, you may need to tear it up and replant. In order to keep producing some hay, you might be able to just tear up a portion of it. Consider putting corn on it and replanting next spring.

Alfalfa Weevil

Cut and past this into your browser if you have Alfalfa growing.

http://farmprogress.com/story.aspx/nl18_14nl/now/is/the/time/to/scout/for/alfalfa/weevils/9/37671

Chesterfield

I got some work done yesterday before it rained. There was not much field work going on except some spraying and Anhydrous wagons were on the road.

pastures

Pastures are flushing out today. Make sure your horses are not grazing too long and gradually increase the period each day.

Corn Toxins

Good article at horse.com on corn toxins. Getting high quality corn can be an issue especially this year. http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=15900

Late Winter Pasture

Are your horses outdoors? Does it look more like a dry lot than a pasture? It might be good to confine them in the barn and let them out only for exercise. Preserve your grass. Let it get a good start. We might see something of a spring flush this weekend. Maybe that is wishful thinking. Anyway, spring is around the corner.

Tips for buying hay

Hay testing is a good way to determine quality of forage. Te below article contains in formation on what to look for.

http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14704

How often will I change pastures

You want to try to graze pasture down to 3 inches to 6 inches in height. 5 paddocks will have you move your horses once a week, but in the spring on cool season grasses, you may end up with too much growth. to keep it all grazed down. Some of the pasture may need to be cut for hay. You want to try to keep the forage in a vegetative state as much as possible. Food quality goes down when plants have flowers and seed heads.

Pasture Species Selection

Select species that will produce lots of high quality feed. Orchard grass, Smooth Brome, and Alfalfa are good ones. Avoid Red Clover because it can cause a foaming mouth. Red clover is not really dangerous, just unsightly. Alsike Clover is dangerous and must not be used. A high quality cultivar of Ladino Clover (a white clover) is not a bad choice. to include in the mix. Timothy is a favorite of horse growers and is fine to include in the mix. Kentucky bluegrass is a good food and beautiful pasture, but keep in mind that it is not a high production forage so you will need more land to produce a high quantity of forage. Kentucky bluegrass is easily overgrazed. Tall Fescue is good in high traffic areas because of its toughness, but it is not really a high quality forage alone. It is not bad with alfalfa. If you have enough land, you can defer grazing of Fescue till winter and have some good winter pasture.

Pasture fertility

Fertility needs in pasture vary from species to species and relate to the amount of forage removed. Forages such as alfalfa are deep rooted and get some of their fertility from layers below the surface layer of the soil. Soil pH is always critical to growth of any plant. Forage crops remove large amounts of calcium and magnesium which will need to be replaced sooner or later. Potassium is also critical especially for alfalfa production. Your alfalfa hay and pastures containing alfalfa will play out much sooner if potassium levels are not maintained.

Cross fences.

What should you use for cross fences? Anything that will keep you animals in is fine. You don't really need expensive board fences. High tensile wire looks like a good choice to me. Use as many strands as you think you need on cross fences. You can always add more.

University of Wisconsin adjusting pasture fertility

http://www.uwex.edu/news/2009/12/soil-testing-update-for-pastures

CHeck out the above link

Intensive Grazing 2

What do I need to do to set up for intensive grazing. Cross fences will be needed in your pasture somehow. You made need alleyways to get the horses to the right pasture at the right time. You could start with 4 paddocks, but really 5 is the minimum. In the spring, you will still have too much forage, but you can make hay from one or 2 paddocks. No Baler? Loose hay is OK. Just make sure it is very dry when you put it in the barn. Try stacking loose hay in an old fashion hay stack. Minimize waste by covering with a tarp or some other cover.

Intensive Grazing One

One of the best ways to increase the productivity and the quality of pastures it through intensive grazing. There is a little work involved, but the payoff is getting double feed while letting the animals do the work. Water can be one thing that needs to be addressed in setting up and intensive grazing system.

Poisonous Plants

One concern that often rears its head in poor pastures with hungry animals is poisonous plants. I have over 20 poisonous plants on my checklist. How many can you identify?

7. Poisonous Plants
Yew (taxus sp.) ___________
Oleander (nerium oleander) _______Red Maple (Acer rubrum) _________
Cherry trees and relatives (prunus sp.) ____
Black Walnut (juglans nigra) ____
Black Locust (robinia pseudoacacia) _________
Horse Chestnut, Buckeyes (aesculus hippocastanum) ____
Oak trees, acorns (quercus sp.) ______
Russian olive, also known as oleaster (elaegnus angustifolia)
Buckwheat ________ St. Johnswort ___________ Alsike Clover _______
White snakeroot _________ Bracken fern (Pteridum aquilinum) ________
Tansy ragwort (Senecio spp.) _________ Water hemlock (Cicuta spp.) ___
Yellow star thistle/Russian knapweed (Centauria spp.) ______________
Jimson Weed (Datura stramonium)____________________________
Note: This inventory is intended to advise the producer of potential problems and does not constitute a guarantee that all potential dangerous plants have been identified. Identification of poisonous plants depends on the time of year and number present.

Does my horse need grain

The short answer is probably not. Does my horse need alfalfa? Alfalfa is a high protein food. Some alfalfa in the diet is good. Pure alfalfa is probably too high in protein for most horses unless they are working very hard.

Livestock Manager Training.

I went to livestock manager training today and took my test. The test was not too bad. Applicable to grazing we discussed using manure in pastures. There is some risk involved, but might be doable under the right circumstances.

What should horses eat.

Horses should eat a high quality forage or hay with around 12% protein. No grain is needed for most horses unless they work very hard or if you cannot get good hay. The ideal grain for horses is oats. Why do you think they call them oats burners.

Feeding Horses

One way to extend your resources is to make sure your pasture is to properly fertilized. Also make sure the land you have is enough to support the number of animals you are trying to keep.

Horse pastures and pasture management

Who has enough affordable horse feed for their animals? I am hoping to post information for people who are looking to save money on feed.