Best Management Practice Demonstration Horse Farm

Plan of Action for Pasture Management

The plan of action for pasture management is based on an integrated crop management (ICM) approach. ICM is a management approach that establishes a diverse and comprehensive system to manage pastures on a field by field basis. An ICM program designed to maintain productive pastures would include:

Site-specific soil tests to determine nutrient levels, allowing for customized fertilization plans.

• The use of fertilizer when needed and judicious use of herbicides.
• A rotational grazing plan, designed to enhance the growth of forage species (see below).
• A flexible pasture rotation program to accommodate fluctuating horse populations and herd composition.
• The use of stress lots or sacrifice areas to accommodate fluctuating environmental and forage conditions.
• Continual monitoring of forage species and plant density to determine the need for renovation.

A plan to overseed pastures to thicken existing stands and add new varieties when needed.

• Continual monitoring and identification of weeds.
• Adoption of a weed management program which includes mowing, increased forage productivity to compete with weeds, and proper chemical control when necessary.
• Development of a comprehensive nutrient management plan (CMNP) in order to determine site-specific recommendations for manure storage, composting, and spreading.

Rotational Grazing System

Each of the back fields (#2 & 3) are designed to hold five to seven horses on rotation utilizing a three-field rotation (Field 3) and a four-field rotation (Field 2) system. Stress lots were designed as heavy-use areas, where hay feeders, shelter, and water are located. In extreme weather conditions horses can be maintained in the stress lots to allow for pasture recovery. Fields are monitored and a rotation schedule varies depending on the weather conditions and pasture footing. Horse stocking density are adjusted as necessary; notes are made on a weekly basis as to the conditions of the pastures.

New Perimeter Fence

Construction of the diamond mesh fencing around the perimeter of the pastures has been completed. This particular fencing is our preferred perimeter fence because:

• The mesh in the fence is small enough to prevent horses’ hooves from getting through, thus preventing injury.
• The mesh can be purchased in different heights. At our facility both 4-foot and 5-foot heights are utilized. This gives the farm an option to extend the mesh about 2 inches above the top board to prevent wood chewing.
• The 5-foot height can also be placed just above the ground to prevent outside intruders (e.g. children, dogs, etc.) from entering the pasture.
• The top board on the fence allows for more visibility and durability. If necessary the farm can decide to place a strand of electrical wire in front of the top board to prevent wood chewing or fighting over fence lines.

Rotational Fencing

The rotational system fencing chosen uses a variety of types on the market to show horse farm owners the types available and the pros and cons of each:

four strands of narrow white electrical tape (A)

four strands of ‘hot coat’ horse friendly wire (B)

• two strands of inch and a half wide electrical tape with two strands of ‘hot coat’ (not pictured)
• narrow yellow electrical tape which was installed with five strands (not pictured)


the rotational lane way, used to help rotate horses through two of the rotational fields (C)

New Gates

New installed gates

• The mesh at the bottom of the gate prevents horses’ hooves from getting through, thus preventing injury.
• The mesh and bars of the gates allow for more stability and prevent horses from being able to stand on the lower bars, which would create a sag in gate alignment.
• Gates come in multiple sizes so you can tailor each gate to your farm’s needs.

Pasture Maintenance Equipment

In order to facilitate adherence to best management practices, including the overall nutrient management plan, a utility tractor was purchased. The new utility tractor is equipped with a front-end loader, a 60” rear-mounted finish mower, and a PTO-driven front-mounted snow blower.

The front-end loader is used routinely for manure management, moving gravel, loading the manure spreader, and general maintenance around the farm.

The new finishing mower is instrumental to pasture management. Previous pasture management plans involved mowing with a brush hog. The new mower has an adjustable height between 1 to 5 ½ inches and is equipped with wheels to help prevent pasture scalping.

Clearing even a minor snowfall from feed lanes is often a challenge. The addition of the front-mounted snow blower attachment will enable us to clear feed lanes quickly, so that horses can be fed in a timely manner.