How to Make Rotational Grazing Work on Your Horse Farm

Every farm manager will figure out the right schedule for their rotation, but in general, horses should be in a paddock for no longer than seven days, because that is how long it takes for forage regrowth to begin after grazing.

To use this system, the manager starts by walking each paddock and identifying one that is ready to be grazed. It should have at least six to eight inches of forage before grazing. The manager opens the gate to Paddock #1 and closes the gates to all others. The horses graze until they have removed about 50 percent of the forage, leaving three to four inches of forage remaining. This is the take-half-leave-half rule. The grazing period should take no longer than seven days, and forage should not be grazed any lower than three inches. The manager then opens the gate to Paddock #2 (or whichever one is ready to be grazed) and closes the gate to Paddock #1. This continues until horses have grazed all the paddocks.

If the horses graze each paddock for seven days, each paddock will get three weeks of rest, which should be enough time for forage to regrow to six to eight inches in the springtime. However, in hot summers, cool-season grass growth slows and recovery might take as long as eight weeks. It is important to decide when to graze and move horses based on forage height, not by sticking to a strict timeline.

If no paddocks have recovered by the time all have been grazed, then the horses should be confined to the sacrifice lot and fed hay as needed until a paddock is ready to be grazed. Remember to gradually reacclimatize your horses to pasture when the paddock is ready to avoid colic or laminitis.

Having empty fields for a few weeks makes it easier to take care of some other routine pasture maintenance. For instance, if you need to apply fertilizer or herbicide, you can apply them right after you move horses and rest easy knowing the paddock will be empty for several weeks. A regular schedule also allows you to mow the pasture to a uniform height right after you move horses so that all forage begins its recovery at the same height