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' Manure and Pasture Management for Recreational Horse Owners Page 2 of�10 � <br /> purchased hay by improving the productivity of your pasture. An ideally <br /> managed, highly productive pasture can potentially provide a large portion <br /> of a horse's forage requirements from May through September. <br /> Distribute manure in the field and reduce time spent cleaning stalls. <br /> Horses grazing managed paddocks will drop their manure in different parts <br /> of the pasture instead of concentrating it in stalls, feedlots, exercise lots, <br /> and loafing areas. This reduces the volume of manure in stalls and lots as <br /> well as the time needed to clean these areas. <br /> Reduce the iabor anci equipment used to harvest forage. Think about <br /> your pasture as a crop that horses harvest by grazing. When grazing, <br /> horses eliminate the time needed to cut, rake, bale, store, and feed the <br /> ' forage and the cost of buying, operating, and maintaining machinery. <br /> Reduce the amount of purchased fertilizers. Manure recycles nutrients <br /> beneficial to pasture plants. The more nutrients manure provides, the fewer <br /> pounds of supplemental fertilizer are required. To ensure that pasture plants <br /> can more easily use the manure's nutrients, frequently drag or rake the <br /> manure deposited in the pasture. This will more evenly distribute the <br /> manure and promote its breakdown while also reducing the potential <br /> exposure of horses to internal parasites. <br /> Enhance community viewsheds. The term "viewsheds" refers to fields <br /> alongside roads in primarily residential areas that allow drivers and <br /> residents to enjoy open views of bordering landscapes.. Providing a bucolic <br /> scene like horses grazing on pasture can build goodwill with neighbors. <br /> Pasturing horses also has some disadvantages. It can increase time and <br /> expense of fencing, monitoring pasture growth, and moving horses; potential <br /> for neglecting horses; risk of danger to horses from toxic weeds, escape, or <br /> injury on fencing; potential for horse damage to trees; and potential exposure <br /> to internal parasites, disease-carrying insects, ticks, and mosquitoes. <br /> http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/components/7540_OS.html 1/15/2013 <br />