By Sarah Szachnieski
This article received first place in the 2025 GMO Newsletter Awards for general interest articles for GMOs with less than 75 members. It appeared in the Columbia Dressage and Combined Training Association newsletter, Direct Rein, April 2025.
Are your pastures sad and struggling from the drought last fall and now the mid-winter warm up that created “mud season”?
A few thoughts to get you ahead of the game for spring to have either envious friends that your pastures are green and lush or happy clients that their horses have grass to graze.
Above all else – take a soil test. At $15 a sample (see resources for more info), this is like a blood test for your field, or an annual health exam so to speak. If you have a leaky bucket, low phosphorus or low pH for example, no amount of the wrong nutrients are going to fix this. When you run your sample ask to have it run for grass pasture, this will be more accurate than tons of hay production. Assess where you are lacking and plan your budget accordingly to fix those missing pieces first!
Overseeding is often necessary in horse pastures. Let’s face it, they are hard on fields. They gallop with shoes (think metal skates on ice) sheering forage off at the base and stressing or killing growth points. Again, assess your situation, top dressing forages and allowing pastures to grow can be a great benefit. The best method to establish new forages in existing pastures is no-till. This cuts a small slot for the seed and presses the slot closed. This allows for adequate seed/soil contact and gives seed its best chance. If that is not an option, your next best bet is to broadcast and harrow the seed to increase the contact with bare soil.
There are many opinions on seeding mixtures. Some companies carry horse pasture mix. Many times, the purity and germ on these products is lower. Often the suitability of the species included in these mixes is not conducive to longevity for grazing. In my opinion I do not recommend using these mixtures! Many contain timothy, which has a high growth point and is grazed out quickly. Orchard grass is another that is a great grass, but if not given a high level of management and rest it doesn’t have a long life. A good basic DIY rescue mixture would be 20#/ac of fescue seed, 5#/ac of annual rye grass seed and 5#ac of perennial rye. There are many resources available with seeding mixtures, see resources for more information.
Lastly, maintenance is key. Some areas are always harder to keep cover than others, but a few tricks do help.
- Keep fields mowed to 8-10” in height. Not allowing the forages to go to seed increases the forage quality and quantity.
- If you are on small acreage and/or you have unevenly grazed areas, a harrow is your friend. Dragging fields breaks up manure and distributes it more evenly across the field. This does two things: breaks the cycle of parasites whose bodies are safely stored in manure piles but now are baking and drying in the sun, and decreases selected grazing of only manure free areas.
- Take a walk in your fields. If you make impressions in the field (wet soil), think what a 1200 lb animal would do. Wait a day or two and let the grass absorb that moisture before you turn out.
- Creating dry lots or sacrifice areas for play during wet weather pays huge dividends later for having those lush green pastures. Solid footing using geotextile fabric and/or screenings makes a big difference especially if these areas are cleaned and maintained.
Resources:
Soil Samples: https://extension.missouri.edu/programs/soil-and-plant-testing-laboratory/spl-submit-samples/spl-tests-fees#soil
Seeding Rates and Dates: https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/g4652
