Brown-top, Sweet Vernal, ‘Goose’ grass (Poa Annua), Crested Dog’s Tail...
These are all ‘non-production' grasses which have NOT been selected for traits that promote rapid weight gain and milk production. Not favourites with farmers!
They grow on unimproved, less fertile land where the soils are slightly acidic (around 5.8 – 6.2).
With the exception of browntop, these aren't grown for seed, generally they just 'appear' on such land from seeds in the ground.
They tend to grow more slowly than ‘high production’ rye-grasses/tall fescues for example. Land which has been fertilised or limed to where the pH is higher than 6.2 will tend not to suit these grasses.
These grasses make IDEAL hay for many horses – perfect for minis, ponies and those horses who are obese, EMS, prone to laminitis or head-shaking.
(Remembering it still needs grazing access managed because ANY grass species when it is vegetative (short, green and growing) is not suitable for equines with these issues).
Ideal when made into hay because they are comparatively low nutrient density - allowing ponies to consume hay for more hours of a day.
Of course they will also need a supplementary feed to supply protein and daily essential nutrients.
The sort of pasture least likely to cause issues for equines are…
• Grasses growing on slightly acidic soils
• Pasture on dry stony ground
• Unimproved pasture
• Tussock country
• Grasses grown with a long rotation IE: regenerative agriculture
• Large variety of GRASSES
• Dry grasslands
A lot of the advice people are given is to promote the health of the pasture and to increase yield.
Whilst this can be a good thing if you are going to harvest the grass as hay, if it is intended for grazing then access needs to be carefully managed according to individual requirements because horses grazing such ‘healthy pasture’ are still just as prone to laminitis, EMS, Head shaking, tight muscles, behavioural issues etc.
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