In my business, I help clients lay out a plan for their land. I design foundation plantings for the house, as well as orchards, gardens, woodlots and, quite often, a place for livestock. Advanced planning for bees, chickens, beef cattle and pastures will avoid problems in the future. Manure handling, rotational grazing, fencing, water management and feed storage are important to consider during the set up.
As the previous Montana State University Extension Agent and in my current line of work as a designer, I meet many people that envision horses running on their land. This is a decision that should be made with as much information as possible. Horses will impact the soil, vegetation and landscape in a variety of ways. This article may also assist you if someone wishes to lease your land to graze horses on it.
I am going to help you look at the space you will need, the basic food and water requirements and the impact on your property.
Feed
A horse should eat roughly 2% of their body weight in hay each day. An average horse is 1,000 pounds. That would be 20 pounds of hay per day. The average small bale of hay is 50-60 pounds. That would equal a bale every other day for one horse. You will require a storage space for roughly 200 bales of hay per horse. The storage must be dry and well ventilated. I advise all my clients to fill their storage in June when hay is cut in the valley. If you run out of hay in March or April, you will be sore pressed to find any to get you through until June. Sometimes, people will say, “horses live in the wild, don’t they?” They assume a horse can live on an overgrazed pasture filled with weeds and scrape through the snow. No, they can’t survive in that situation. Wild horses run thousands of acres without fences and with access to water. If you have a pasture, you can think of that as recreation for the horse but not as a reliable food source.
Water
As important as feed is the year-long availability of fresh water. Don’t rely on creeks and streams for your supply of water. Make sure you have an adequate trough or water dispenser hooked to your well.
How many horses?
At times, it seems that people collect horses. Have you seen the T-shirt, “Horse are like potato chips, you can’t have just one”? It’s almost funny. Horses are herd animals. Their survival in the wild is based on their ability to read cues from their buddies and follow direction from a lead/alpha horse. Some horses will adapt to being alone, but many won’t. If you have two and you want to ride away from the barn and leave one behind, the one left behind can get distraught. So, then you get a third to keep the second one company. On it goes.
Weeds
I often see horses out in pasture areas surrounded by weeds and no grass in sight. The owner feels that if they leave the horse out there long enough the horse will eat those. Not true. Many of our weeds are toxic to horses. They will avoid them until faced with starvation. At that point, the horse will become very sick, and you will face a hefty veterinarian bill or the animal will die.
Let’s have a very quick and simplified lesson on grasses. The cold hardy, perennial grasses we grow in the Flathead Valley store their carbohydrates in their apical meristem (the lower 3 inches of the grass plant). Grasses do not store their carbohydrates in the roots like a tree or shrub. If the bottom of the grass plant is allowed to be removed by overgrazing, the grass will die. It will not have the carbohydrates or energy to grow new leaves. In a healthy pasture there can be a few weeds, but the majority is grass. The horse will eat the grass first. As the grass is eliminated by overgrazing there is less competition for the weeds. The weeds begin to take over the pasture. The weeds can be toxic and unpalatable. In a very short period, the acreage is nothing but weeds.
Let’s talk about manure
No, you can’t just leave it there to “fertilize” the ground. An old professor told me, “The “N” is in the pee and the “P” is in the poop.” Translation: the nitrogen you want disappeared is in the urine and phosphorous is in the dry matter. Nitrogen moves through the soil through leaching, volatilization and plant use. Phosphorous is relatively immobile. You can end up with a phosphorus overload, leading to soil toxicity if you don’t remove the manure periodically. Horses will not eat grass that has been contaminated by urine or manure. I can’t blame them. And then there are the flies. Keeping the manure cleaned up daily will reduce the flies on your horse and on your property. Are you going to compost it and remove it from the farm twice a year or where is it going? Be especially careful near any type of stream, river, lake and, of course, your well. Do you have the equipment to haul it away?
You may be feeding 20-25 pounds of hay a day but it seems like 50 pounds comes out, per horse.
Fencing
I teach classes on strategies of rotational grazing. In summary, know that you need to have a way to move your horses around your land. Once an area has been grazed to 3 inches, remove the horses to another area and let this pasture grow to 8 inches before reintroduction. The creation of a “dry lot” is paramount on most farms. A paddock area where the horses can be kept for periods of heavy rain, overgrazing or when you need to work on the pasture. This area should be high and dry with a good water source. A covered shelter would be a real plus. If you don’t plan on developing a dry lot, the horses will create one themselves by standing in a certain area or overgrazing a favorite location. A dry lot can double as a place to separate a horse if they need veterinarian care.
I hope this brief article helped you consider some of the variables related to horse ownership and grazing leases. I have not covered riding, veterinarian care, shelter, the relationship with your horse, and so many other topics. If you are considering leasing your land, the most important takeaway is to have a date that these horses will be removed and a consequence if they are not. It should be based on the height of the grass. Once a pasture is grazed down to 3 inches the horses should be removed. I have seen many property owners in litigation because the horse owner has ruined the land. If the grass is finished in July and the horses are not removed until September or October, the landowner has the problem.
Feel free to contact me through my website https://legacylanddesign.com/.