are grass paddocks best for your horse

 

Green grass paddocks – pros and cons for horses.

 

  • In some cases, the grass is better. Depending on where you live, and how much land you have, you may be able to have grass pastures year-round. They can be ideal for 24/7 turnout, this most mimics the “wild horse” tendencies to forage and move all the time.

 

  • In smaller situations, where only small paddocks or turnouts are available for grass, and the entire barn shares them, it’s only a little bit like a “wild horse” scenario. The paddock photo below is sparse and allows horses to roam and nibble.

 

horse taking a nap in sparse pasture

Comet’s sparse pasture has exhausted him with all of the walking.

 

  • Two grass paddocks are better, so you can rotate horses around and let them rest.

 

  • Horses will usually eat in pasture, instead of bombing around and slamming into gates and giving their owners small heart attacks. And, they typically eat all the time, so there is something in their digestive system more often, a bonus for so many reasons!

 

  • It’s a great distraction for the horse on stall rest, too. Hand walks can be boring and dangerous for the horse on stall rest, hand grazing is a great big horse salad distraction.

 

  • Small paddocks of grass usually drain much better than dirt lots and can handle much more rain. Bonus for bad weather! Beware the “runners”, as wet pastures are easily chewed up and you may find yourself pretending you are at a polo match stomping divots.

 

  • It’s easy to set up sprinkler systems to keep grass all year long in smaller grass paddocks if your climate requires that. For windy areas, keep sprinkler heads near the ground as the wind can carry that water away!

 

 

many rolling fields with lush green pasture

Sometimes there’s too much of a good thing.

 

On the other hand, grass paddocks for horses are not always good.

 

  • They can be slippery if they need constant water because you live in the desert. Or, if you live in a location that gets a lot of rain, or if the “soil” is more clay-like which is slicker than snot even without rain.

 

 

  • Grass paddocks that are lush are not always ideal. These allow your horse to gorge on grass, instead of mimicking the foraging nature of horses. A grass smorgasbord that’s likely too much for many horses.

 

 

very long and lush pasture grass

Looks like a giant horse salad – not ideal for some horses, though!

 

 

 

 

 

gray horse using black grazing muzzle from greenguard equine

Muzzles are super for the horse that needs a little (or a lot) less grass. This is the Greenguard Equine muzzle and it’s awesome, you can find it here.

 

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premium-halter-raspberry-left-02_360x.jpg

Safety break-away halter for grazing muzzles.

 

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The best muzzle in the land – order one here! Also in raspberry and black colors.

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