Horse Pasture Management

Pasture: A major component of a horse's diet is hay or pasture. A horse weighing 1000 pounds will eat about 500 pounds each month. If dryland pasture is the only source of forage, your horse will need about 28 acres of non-irrigated pasture a year. An irrigated pasture will grow more forage than dryland pasture, so less acreage is needed. The amount of irrigated pasture land needed for one horse is roughly 1 to 2 acres.

Two acres of pasture are recommended per mature horse. One acre of pasture can provide adequate grazing but requires more land management. Manage your pasture as you would with any crop with soil testing, fertilizing, and managing manure. The horse will not eat trampled grass or grass with manure on it. Horses will quickly overgraze smaller areas. Therefore, a combination of pasture and small lot or barn is needed to minimize overgrazing.

Learn more about pasture management.