Ideal "pasture" size

["guest@endurance.net" <guest@endurance.net>]

K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net


> I guess what I meant to ask was, what is a good general herd density for
> optimum self-exercise?  Suppose I bought a dozen horses, mixed ages, and a
> huge ranch.

When you first asked this question I didn't get around to answering it because 
the short answer was "it depends" (on where you are located, what you have 
planted, is it irrigated, are you planning to feed--since I thought you wanted 
to know the best way to manage your crop --pasture being one of the most 
difficult crops to manage).

> Could too much personal space for horses lead to horses getting out of shape
> even if they got ridden regularly but didn't have enough buddies to motivate
> them to move around a bit on their own in the pasture?
> 
> I would want to keep rotational grazing lots to 1) keep as much of the rest
> of my property in hay production as I can 2) let plants recover

These ARE crop management issues.

> 3) decrease
> parasites 4)encourage defecation over a larger percentage of area and not
> concentrate it,

These are horse health management issues.

> and especially 5) increase MOTIVATION to move more
> constantly (ie, PACK 'EM IN so they move each other around more.

But this is a whole different question. If I am reading this correctly, is the 
question you are asking, how many horses do I need to pack into what size 
space so that they will harass each other enough that they will be living in a 
constant state of agitation and therefore will "self-exercise?"

If this is truly your question, all I can say is that I don't think that it is 
a very kind way to keep horses.  But not only is it unkind, but you are asking 
for injuries, since "milling around" and "self exercise" isn't the only thing 
that harassed horses do to each other.  They also bite and kick at each other 
(with all the attendant risks).

> What do you guess would be the minimum #head in each herd/paddock to keep
> the milling about going on so there is a *little* less camping around in the
> shade all day getting out of shape?  Also what would be the minimum size
> rotational paddock for this ideal number?  Assume plenty land and the main
> objective is to increase self-exercise of the herd on their days off.
>
> Sorry that I don't know how else to ask this question.  My limited
> experience with putting small numbers of horses on huge good pastures is
> that they tend to get out of shape even if they are ridden pleasure-to-LSD
> speed every other day for 3-5 hours a day all year round, but I don't know
> how obesity affects recoveries.  They don't move around much when not
> ridden, even if they feel fresh.  I want to set it up for in case I won't be
> riding for several *weeks*, yet my pasture potatoes will get some exercise
> by not standing around excessively.

So, now I will give you my observations about how to successfully keep 
endurance (or other athletic performance) horses on acreage.  My horses are 
out on about 100 acres (my mares, that is--I have run in to problems with the 
"harassing each other" issue when I have put geldings and mares together which 
almost always leads to injuries and/or mental torture for many of the horses--
so I just don't do it any more--males, both entire and gelded, are put into 
paddocks varying in size from 1/3 to 1/2 acre, which is as big as I have the 
money to fence).  

The mares "self exercise" because they forage on that 100 acres, much of which 
during half the year is really poor quality forage, and there is one water 
source, which isn't anywhere near any of the forage, it is up by the barn.  I 
have "spied" on them, just to get an idea of just how much ground they cover 
when they are "doing nothing."  And I discovered that they cover between 15 
and 20 miles a day while they are doing nothing.  Very little of this exercise 
includes much of a sustained cardiovascular workout (short bursts of galloping 
when they decide--for their own private reasons that they do not always share 
with me--interspersed with wandering around grazing) so I don't count on this 
"self exercise" to do any cardiovascular conditioning.

What this self exercise is good for is a) maintaining general internal health 
(I have never had a horse out to pasture show any signs of colic), b) 
maintaining general mental health (horses are happier when they have the 
company of friends and are not faced with constant confinement), c) 
maintaining hoof health (they wear themselves into their "natural" foot and 
they maintain constant circulation to the feet), d) maintaining general 
musculoskeletal health by its "low impact workout"  and e) training the mind 
and the muscles for balance and coordination (the "flat" part of my 100 acres 
has a 13% grade on it).  They also (if I have anything to say about it) get 
"fat" since that is one of the things I WANT my horses to do :).

The cardiovascular conditioning that my horses get comes from when _I_ WORK 
them.  There is absolutely no way that a horse can get cardiovascularly fit 
through self exercise.  The management program that you, if I understand you 
correctly, are hoping will maintain cardiovascular fitness is to get the 
horses to work each other, by chasing each other around.  And, in my 
experience, horses are not very tolerant of being "worked" by other horses and 
they either become terrified of the horse that is making them "work" or they 
strike back (which is why, I contend, that if this is your goal, it is a 
recipe for disaster).

MY goal in herd management (as opposed to pasture management, which is the 
management of your crop) is to establish sufficient peace and harmony that 
they don't "work" each other.  My horses do have to do a certain amount of 
exercise in order to sustain themselves (but they do that together), and they 
do engage in a certain amount of "play" which leads to more exuberant exercise 
--especially the boys (and they do that together too).  But one of the 
requirements for this kind of "play" is that if one or more of the horses 
doesn't want to "play" it has space enough to go some place where it doesn't 
have to play.  

> OTOH, maybe it's ok, maybe it's better for distance horses to be fat.  I've
> seen only one I'd call obese, but even he was fit enough that he didn't puff
> as much as any other horses in his group and he was perkier.
>
> To start the discussion on this stupid question of mine, how about 4 horses
> on an acre as being one rotational paddock?  Seems like that number might
> keep moving more than two or three.

Indeed, one acre would be something that I would consider a paddock, not a 
pasture.  But your approach would seem to be exactly the opposite of mine, 
which is I would want to MINIMIZE the number of horses in such a small area 
so as to avoid them harassing each other (and thereby injuring each other).  
So if I were going to keep four horses in one acre (I cannot address the 
question as to whether this is good crop management for your "pasture" crop 
because I don't know what crop you are planning to use, but county extension 
agents can help you with this question), I would make sure that they are all 
"good friends" and that they don't harass each other, but rather that they 
CAN peacefully co-exist to the extent that they are NOT constantly running 
each other around in such a small area (of course, I consider this essential 
on my 100 acres too.)

The short answer to your question is, if I were you, four horses per acre 
would be just fine if the horses get along well enough that they don't harass 
each other, but that if you have a goal of hoping that you can keep your 
horses "fit" by having them work each other and want to know how many horses 
you have to put together to create enough tension to achieve this, it is 
wrong headed.  Keep your horses "fit" by working them yourself, and let them 
have some peace when they are "at home."  

Four horses on one acre is probably also good enough to do much of the 
"maintaining" that I outlined in my list above...as long as they get along 
well enough to not constantly be running each other around. 

kat
Orange County, Calif.

p.s.  There is also, from a herd management stand point, a way to "group" 
horses in such a way that they will "play" well together (and therefore will 
benefit the most from self-exercise without the attendant risks of injury).  
But this is not a function of the size of your pasture/paddocks but rather a 
function of the age, sex, and personalities of the individual horses 
involved--such groups will "play" well together no matter what size (assuming 
it is big enough) their accommodations.  

If I were you, I would make my pastures/paddocks the appropriate size for 
proper crop management (assuming you have the luxury that I don't have of 
actually being able to afford cross fencing :)), and I would then house the 
horses in such a way that they will be happy in their homes and will live and 
play together to THEIR hearts desires.