D22-Lancastar Farming Saturday, March 8,1986
By Dr. John £. Baylor
Director of Market Development
Beachley-Hardy Seed Company
Forages for Horses
High quality forage in the form
of both pasture and hay represents
an important source of feed for'
your horse. For quality pasture it
can be one of the best and least
expensive feed sources. And good
quality hay, of course, can provide
most of the nutrients, except salt
and water, for many mature
horses - and is very important for
all classes of horses.
Pasture
When acreage is very limited,
less than one acre per mature
horse, exercise may be the main
use of pasture. Pasture for this
purpose, in addition to exercise
itself: (1) provides access to fresh
air and sunlight, and (2) provides
freedom from respiratory
problems frequently associated
with stabled animals. However,
this type of pasture cannot be
expected to supply more than a
miiiimum amount of feed.
But grass is the horse’s natural
food. And if you have an adequate
acreage of productive, well
managed pasture it can provide
most of the feed requirements for
horses during the growing season,
including protein, vitamins and
minerals, and usually at the least
cost to you. In fact, for many
classes of horses good pasture
(and I emphasize good) is suf
ficient to meet all of their nutrient
requirements.
Pasture Improvement
Well limed and fertilized Ken
tucky bluegrass is generally most
suitable when your o'- — ’
limited. Kentucky bluegrass c„n
withstand close and continuous
grazing better than most other
grasses, and, when well
established and properly fertilized,
it produces a reasonably dense and
attractive sod.
In heavy traffic areas, along
fences and around gates and water
troughs, tall fescue may be used.
Older varieties such as Kentucky
31 are generally considered less
palatable than bluegrass. But tall
fescue does produce one of the
toughest, heavy traffic sods.
However, horse authorities tell us
brood mares should be removed
from pastures containing tall
fescue at least eight weeks prior to
foaling.
But, whether it’s for exercise or
exercise and feed, if you already
have good stands of desirable
grass and legume species such as
bluegrass and white clover, lime
and fertilizer, together with good
management may be sufficient to
assure good horse pasture.
Otherwise you may need to start
from scratch and reestablish a new
pasture using improved species.
For well drained soils a mixture
of Kentucky bluegrass, timothy,
red clover and ladino clover is
considered standard for horse
pasture. But newer varieties of
tetraploid perennial ryegrass are
extremely high in quality and may
either be added to the above
mixture or replace bluegrass in the
mix. On soils with variable
drr ' Norcen orl Empire birds
toot trefoil may be used in place of
red and ladino clovers.
But whether you improve your
pastures by the use of lime and
fertilizer {done or by reseeding,
sound management is essential to
keep the desired species persistent
and productive. This imcludes
rotational grazing, clipping and
dragging pastures one or more
thimes per year and a good
maintenance fertilization
program.
Hay
For hay to be of the most value
as feed for horses it must be high in
quality. That means early cut,
leafy, free of must, mold and dust,
free of foreign material such as
weeds and stubble, and green. This
type of hay is usually rich in
energy, protein, minerals and
vitamins, and is readily consumed
by horses with little wastage.
Thus, whether you are buying,
selling, or just feeding hay to
horses these are the factors you
should consider.
In feeding trials at the
University of Delaware, horses
preferred legume hay over grass
hay and clover hay over alfalfa
hay. However, when quality was
high, horses were content with a
number of hay mixtures, including
a variety of legumes and grasses.
Respiratory or digestive distur
bances frequently associated with
feeding hay were found to be more
related to dust and mold than to
mixtures.
A number of Pennsylvania
horsemen have indicated that
early-cut, well-cured, dust-free
birdsfoot trefoil-grass mixtures
are relished by horses. But alfalfa
grass and clover-grass mixtures,
and even straight grass hays, are
highly acceptable when early-cut,
leafy and free of molds and other
dust.
In general, well managed
legume-grass hays are higher in
protein and minerals than straight
grasses with similar management.
However, protein, and to a lesser
extent mineral, levels are so
readily changed by fertilizer ap
plications, time of cutting and
other hay making practices,
especially for grasses, that with
good management any hay species
or mixture can be satisfactory in
these constituents for more classes
of horses. One caution: mainly
alfalfa-hay, while normally high in
protein, may contain an excessive
amount of calcium in relationship
to phosphorus (wide Ca; P ratio)
vhen fed as the sole source of
YP appointed'
BALTIMORE - Nelson 'L. Certificate m Agriculture” at the
McMillan, Jr., a resident of University of Maryland.
Lutherville, Maryland, has : A H . e u tau f ht Vocations
recently been promoted to Agnciilture for eight years at
Assistant Vice Pfesident/Credit Hereford High &hool m Baltimore
Review Manager, by the Farm County and joined toe Farm Credi
Credit Banks of Baltimore. Ba "J“ Credlt Department
A 1966 graduate of Bluefield m T „.i,. k.,,,-
State College Bluefield WV In his new capacity, he will have
Mc»mW coSnleted h£MastS responsibility for the total review
of credit in the Farm Credit
Degree at Marshall University, Associations located in Marvland
Huntington, West Virginia, and in Associations located in warymna,
1975 completed the requirements Virginia
for an “Advanced Professional *** >m ’
mon wealth of Puerto Rico.
Anchor offers beef certificates
SAN ANTONIO, TX. - Anchor
Animal Health will offer beef gift
certificates as a premium to its
customers and distribution net
work in 1986.
The company announced the
program to a meeting of the
American National Cattle Women
during the National Cattlemen’s
Association Convention in San
Antonio.
Beef gift certificates, originated
by the Cattle Women, are gift
certificates good only for the
purchase of beef in grocery stores
and meat markets. Anchor will
buy the certificates through state
Cattlewomen organizations.
Customers can earn beef gift
certificates by buying STEER-oid
Dr. George F. W. Haenlein and Susan Kyle, from West Chester,
a sophomore at the Unviersity of Delaware.
**** ANNOUNCING:****
1986 DELMAR
MILKER SCHOOL
March 17. 1986 (Monday)
Pencader Cringe Hall, Glasgow, Delaware
(South of intersection of Del. 896 & U.S. 40)
9:00 a.m. till 3:30 p.m.
'OiC X MM|r> PMX; Uni¥«ri% of
*’'' *jy
\ torn
* LUNCH WILL BE SERVED FROM 12:00 til 1:00 BY THE
LADIES OF THE PENCADER GRANGE *
REGISTRATION STARTS AT 9:00 A.M.
COST IS $5.00 (Includes Lunch)
INFORMATION:
Dr. George F.W. Haenlein
Extension Dairyman
University of Delaware
048 Townsend Hall
Newark, Delaware 19717-1303
Phone: 302-451-2523 or 302-451-1333
and HEIFER-oid implants with
other Anchor products from
January 1 through May 31,1986.
“We’re encouraging livestock
producers that earn the cer-
tificates to use them in further beef
promotions,” David Heinje, An
chor business unit manager, said.
“They can donate the certificates
to local charities or work with the
local Cattle Women chapter on
other promotions. One such op
portunity is the Cattle Drive for
Hunger sponsored by the
American National Cattle Women.
“It’s a low-cost way for
producers to fund local promotion,
earn local publicity and spread the
good word about beef,” Hemje
said.