Milford Animal Hospital
123 Chippy Cole Road
Milford, PA 18337
(570) 296-8448
Horse Management
Introduction
A practical approach to feeding the therapy/pleasure horse, managing the pasture,
manure storage and disposal. Management solutions for these three common problems
encountered at a horse stable will be presented.
Feeding the Horse
I.
Rule 1: Main purpose is to provide energy.
a. Energy comes from protein, fat, and carbohydrates. Energy is measured in
Mcal/day of digestible energy which is the difference between gross
energy minus fecal energy.
b. Protein, fat, and carbohydrate requirements are measured in grams/day.
Minerals are measured in grams and mcgs and vitamins in IU.
c. Feed intake is measured on a dry matter basis with the moisture content of
the feed removed. For example: 20lbs of feed that is 50% moisture equals
10lbs of dry matter intake.
Rule 2: Hay is the foundation of all successful feeding programs.
II.
Types of Hay
a. Hay can be grass, legume or mixed
b. Common grass hay: blue grass, rye grass, orchard grass, or timothy
c. Legume hays: clover – red or white and alfalfa
d. Mixed hays: grass and legume
e. All of these can provide excellent nutrition for the horse.
f. Horses prefer to eat blue grass/alfalfa hay.
III.
Evaluating Hay
a. Hay is the critical feed component. You must analyze the hay to determine
its quality. This is done thru observation and lab assessment.
i. Observation
1. Type: Grass, legume or mixed
2. Seed head maturity
a. The stage of maturity of the seed head is directly
related to the quality.
3. Leafiness
a. Most of the energy and protein are in the leaves.
Good hay has plenty of leaves attached to the stem.
4. Color
a. Well cured, early cut hay should be green on the
inside. Brown or discolored hay is usually poor
quality due to weather damage, late cutting, or heat.
5. Dust/Mold
a. Good hay smells nice. Too strong or musty an odor
indicates poor quality. Shake the hay; how much
dust falls?
6. Texture
a. Coarseness of the hay. Generally the finer the stem
of the hay, the better the quality.
ii. Lab Analysis
Rule 3 Test the hay. Easy and inexpensive. It will determine
the true value of the hay.
1. Collecting the hay sample
a. Use a bale corer (available from Nasco) and a good
drill (Dewalt)
b. Insert the corer to its full depth into the end of the
hay bale to be sampled. Sample 15 bales.
c. Mix the samples in a clean, dry pail
d. Fill the sample bag
e. Mail the sample to Dairy One (www.dairyone.com).
They will provide the bags and do the analysis.
iii. Interpreting the Results
1. The lab report appears overwhelming but it is quite simple
if you focus on the major component values.
2. There are four indexes to focus on: ADF, NDF, RFV, and
Protein
a. Protein
i. Rule 4: The protein level in the diet is not a
major concern for the vast majority of adult
horses. Remember that our primary concern
in feeding the horse is to provide sufficient
energy. If we provide the correct amount of
energy, the protein requirement will be met.
ii. Horses require grams/day of protein. They
do not need a certain percent of protein.
iii. Remember the energy that the horse requires
comes from the protein, fat and
carbohydrate in the feed.
iv. Rule 5: Carbohydrate is the primary energy
source for the horse. Hay is the primary
source of carbohydrate. We evaluate the
carbohydrate in the hay by using ADF,
NDF, and RFV.
b. ADF (Acid Detergent Fiber)
i. Measures cellulose and lignin content.
1. Cellulose and lignin content are
inversely proportional to
digestibility. In other words as the
ADF becomes too high, the quality
of the hay goes down.
c. NDF (Neutral Detergent Fiber)
i. Measures ADF plus hemicellulose
1. Hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin
make up the cell wall of plants. They
provide the structure or rigidity.
Hemicelluloses and cellulose are
broken down by microbes in the
horse’s cecum and large intestine.
Lignin is totally indigestible. Like
ADF, as NDF becomes too high,
quality suffers
d. RFV (Relative Feed Value)
i. This value is derived from the ADF and
NDF.
ii. The RFV is a measure of the digestibility of
the hay. The higher the number the better
the hay.
3. This table provides you with standards to evaluate the hay.
Quality Standards for Hay
Analysis
Quality
Standard
Prime
1
2
3
4
5
IV.
CP
% of DM
>19
17-19
14-16
11-13
8-10
<8
ADF
% of DM
<31
31-35
36-40
41-42
43-45
>45
NDF
% of DM
<40
40-46
47-53
54-60
61-65
>65
RFV
>151
151-125
124-103
102-87
86-75
<75
Summary
a. Hay is the cornerstone of any successful feeding program
b. Evaluate the hay, both quantitatively and qualitatively
c. Use ADF, NDF, and RFV to determine the quality of the hay
d. To decrease the risk of colic in your horse, remember the following rules:
i. Good quality hay available at ALL times
ii. Minimize concentrate. More than 5lbs grain/day has been shown to
significantly increase the risk of colic
iii. Exercise
iv. Parasite control
v. Water at ALL times
Pasture Management
I.
II.
III.
The purpose of having a pasture:
a. Exercise and rest area
b. Place for the horse to socialize
c. Source of feed for the horse
d. An aesthetically pleasing site
Steps to improve or renovate a pasture
a. Know what grows in the pasture
b. Grasses, legumes and weeds
i. Common grasses
1. Bluegrass
2. Orchard grass
3. Timothy
4. Rye grass
ii. Common Legumes
1. White Clover
2. Red Clove
3. Alfalfa
iii. Common Weeds
1. Dandelion
2. Quack grass
3. Broadleaf plantain
c. Do a soil test
i. Measure the pH (acidity) of the soil and the nutrient levels of
Phosphorous, Potassium, Mg, etc.
ii. How to test
iii. Lab report
iv. Interpreting results
d. Apply recommended amount of lime
i. Usually done in fall
ii. It takes about 6 months for lime to work its way into the soil
e. Apply recommended fertilizer just prior to or at the same time as planting.
This is usually done in the spring.
f. Apply a quality seed
i. Use the same type of grasses and legumes that already exist if
possible
ii. Do not buy the bargain seed. It will not take!
iii. The seed needs to be worked into the ground with a drill, roller, or
packer. A york rake attached to a lawn tractor can be used. Ideally
the fertilizer and seed should be applied prior to a rain.
Overgrazing and Weeds: The two biggest problems
a. Overgrazing
i. Horses will eat the grass down to ground level. This kills the grass
and allows weeds to overgrow.
ii. Rotational grazing is necessary to prevent overgrazing. One acre of
pasture/horse is the minimum.
iii. Divide the pasture into paddocks. For one horse, divide 1 acre into
¼ acre paddocks. For two horses divide 2 acres into ½ acre
paddocks and so on.
iv. Allow the horse to graze the paddock for 1 week, and then rotate
the horse to the second paddock. The second week rotate to the
third paddock and so on. This allows each paddock 3 weeks to
regrow. In the spring, the grass grows faster so you can rotate
IV.
every 5 days. In the summer the grass grows slower so rotate every
10 days.
v. When a paddock is vacated, the pasture should be mowed to a
uniform height of 2-3 inches. This helps to control weeds and
prevent grassed from heading out.
vi. The vacated pasture should also be dragged for parasite control.
This breaks up the manure and exposes the worms to sunlight
which helps eradicate them.
b. Weed Control
i. Establish a good grass bed in the soil. This provides competition to
the weeds.
ii. Mow the pasture periodically to control weeds
iii. Apply an herbicide periodically to control weeds. An herbicide like
Crossbow© is usually applied in the spring after the weeds green
up and again during summer and/or the fall. An ATV with an
attached spray tank works well.
Summary
a. Soil test every 3 years
b. Apply fertilizer every year; in spring and fall
c. Employ rotational grazing
d. Mow and spray weeds
Manure Management
I.
II.
Reasons for a manure system
a. Environmental
i. Ground water
ii. Surface water
1. The system should be designed to prevent the leachate
(liquid draining from the manure solids) from
contaminating the water
b. Nuisance
i. The system should be designed to control odors, flies and rodents
c. Aesthetic
i. The system should make a positive statement to the community
about how the facility is managed. The “out of sight, out of mind.”
philosophy is not acceptable.
Parts of the manure system
a. Collection
i. Labor intensive, mucking stalls.
b. Storage
i. Storage of manure is a major problem for most horse stables.
ii. Manure mismanagement:
1. Field piles
2. Behind the barn trick
iii. None of these meet the criteria of aesthetics, environmental or
nuisance
iv. One alternative is the roll-off container
v. Manure storage pad.
c. Building a manure storage pad
i. Location
1. Ideally build the facility on land that is higher than ground
water
2. Accessible from the barn and for trucks and/or tractors for
removal
3. Site the pad away from property lines, residences, wells,
septic systems, etc.
ii. Size
1. Pad should be sized to hold 6 months of manure from each
horse. The amount of waste generated by the horse varies
with the amount of time the animal is stabled, quantity fed
and type of bedding.
2. A guideline I use is 0.5yds of waste/week/horse
iii. Construction
1. If land undisturbed, it will just need to be leveled. If land
disturbed, it is best to dig down 6” and fill with a ¾ stone
base. Then drive over the stone to pack it down.
2. Lay plastic
3. Set the outside perimeter forms with 2x6’s
4. Place concrete wire
5. Pour 4 ½ “ concrete
6. After concrete cures, place 4x4 pressure treated posts every
8’ around the pad
7. Build the side wall 4’ high using 1x6 rough cut pressure
treated wood
8. The back wall or push wall is built 4’ high using 2x6 rough
cut pressure treated wood
d. Disposal
i. Three options
1. Spreading
2. Composting
3. Hauling
III.
Summary
a. Address pollution, nuisance and aesthetic issues
b. A manure storage pad is a practical, affordable way to manage manure