Pasture is a fundamental welfare resource for horses that provides nutrition, exercise, social interaction, and behavioral expression. Good pasture management supports all these needs.
Pasture access is not optional for horses — it is a welfare necessity that addresses multiple behavioral, physical, and psychological needs simultaneously. Horses at pasture move more, graze continuously, interact socially, and show fewer stereotypies than stabled horses on restricted feeding schedules. The welfare challenge is that not all pasture is equally beneficial: lush spring grass is a laminitis risk for susceptible horses, and poor pasture may not provide adequate nutrition. The solution is not to restrict pasture access but to manage it intelligently — using grazing muzzles for laminitis-prone individuals, implementing rotational grazing, and providing track systems that allow movement while controlling intake. The cultural norm of keeping competition horses predominantly stabled needs to be challenged as a welfare default rather than a management necessity.