Pasture management profoundly affects equine welfare through grazing access, forage quality, and social interaction opportunities. Good pasture management supports multiple dimensions of horse wellbeing.
Pasture management sits at the intersection of multiple horse welfare domains simultaneously. Physical welfare depends on appropriate forage provision and avoiding mud-related foot problems. Behavioral welfare depends on allowing the locomotion and grazing behavior that represents the core of equine daily life. Social welfare depends on providing companionship opportunities. The challenge of laminitis risk in horses on rich pasture creates a welfare tension: restricting grazing to prevent metabolic disease denies behavioral needs that pasture access fulfills. Track systems — where horses walk long distances on a track around a central grazing area — represent an elegant solution that provides movement and social contact while limiting caloric intake for metabolically sensitive horses. Good pasture management is sophisticated, species-specific horse husbandry.