Pasture access is a fundamental welfare provision for horses, but pasture management affects not just forage availability but also safety, social dynamics, parasite burden, and metabolic health with direct welfare implications.
Pasture access is the single most welfare-positive management change for most stabled horses. The physiological and psychological benefits of grazing, movement, and social interaction in natural settings are well-documented. However, poorly managed pasture can create welfare harms: laminitis from high-sugar ryegrass, lameness from deep mud, injury from inappropriate group composition, and endoparasite burden from contaminated grazing. The challenge is balancing the welfare benefits of pasture access against specific risks that can be managed through rotational grazing, track system design, careful group management, and monitoring of individual horse responses to grass access. The default management position should be maximum appropriate pasture access rather than stabling as the baseline, with limitations applied where specific welfare risks require them.