Horse Pasture Management for Welfare: Grass, Grazing and Metabolic Health

How pasture management decisions affect horse welfare through nutritional balance, laminitis prevention and behavioral opportunity.

Key Facts

Pasture provides horses with the most natural grazing behavior expression but unmanaged grass poses significant laminitis risk for susceptible individuals
Non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in grass peak in early morning after cold nights and in spring and autumn creating highest risk periods for laminitic horses
Strip grazing using temporary electric fencing enables controlled grass access maintaining the behavioral benefits while managing intake
Horses graze for 14-16 hours per day when pasture is available with this extended low-level activity important for digestive and psychological health
Bare or overgrazed paddocks force horses to stand for extended periods without access to grazing behavior causing significant welfare compromise
Mixed species grazing with cattle or sheep maintains pasture quality by controlling weed species and reducing parasite larval burden
Track systems creating a continuous narrow grazing track encourage movement while limiting grass intake and supporting metabolic health

Welfare Considerations

Pasture management for horses requires balancing the behavioral and physiological benefits of natural grazing against the real metabolic risks that modern horse management creates. Domesticated horses are frequently kept in conditions that either deny them grazing behavior entirely, causing significant welfare compromise, or provide unlimited access to improved grass strains with high sugar content that cause laminitis in susceptible individuals. Neither extreme serves horse welfare. The welfare-optimal approach maintains continuous access to some form of grazing or foraging behavior while managing the nutritional composition of what horses consume through grazing restriction, track systems or hay provision as supplements during high-risk periods.

What You Can Do

Provide ad lib hay or forage if pasture access is restricted to ensure continuous access to grazing behavior
Test pasture NSC content during spring and autumn to identify periods of elevated laminitis risk
Use strip grazing or track systems to manage grass intake for metabolic horses without eliminating grazing behavior
Consider mixed species grazing to maintain pasture quality and reduce parasite burden
Avoid keeping horses on bare paddocks without access to any forage for extended periods
Work with an equine nutritionist to design feeding programs that balance behavioral needs with metabolic health