Welcome And Topic Setup

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Welcome to the Animal Naturopathic Medicine Educatum podcast, specializing in canine, feline, and equine animal health from a biological perspective. Hello everyone, today's talk is about the very start of an introduction to pasture.

Why Pasture Fits The Horse Gut

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Pasture is essential for horses because it provides a natural, nutritious diet that supports cecum health, improves overall welfare, and is most cost effective than store-bought feeds. Grazing allows horses to trickle feed, exercise, reduce digestive stress, and increases the nutrient density of muscles and bones for equine activities. Fermentation is very important to all herbivores. Plant material is coated with cellulose and is impossible to digest via the method of just digestive juices breaking it down. Animals that eat plants have to host large numbers of bacteria that break cellulose down for the horse to gain energy. Ruminants do this breakdown process in the foregut, and our non ruminant horses do this breakdown process in the hind gut. Horses have a very large seagum and large intestine. This is where a great number of these bacteria friendly bugs live. Without the correct food types to feed the good bacteria, a horse cannot digest or absorb the nutrients of its food correctly, and can indeed be in ill health, even though it is being fed the correct amount of food for energy expenditure. Taking care of the good bacteria within the horse's gut is therefore very important, and the number one food that these good bacteria love the most is fresh pasture. The horse's digestive tract is designed to digest food in a slow, continuous, wave like pulsating action, and it's known as peristolysis. This is the one common factor among all herbivores. They are designed to constantly forage as trickle feeders. The walls of the digestive tract are smooth muscles, and like all muscles they work best when the body's function of walking and foraging is being stimulated. When a horse has the choice to eat and move around grazing and browsing in its environment, it does so instinctively to aid in the natural digestive processes. As non ruminants, horses require fibre rich forage, i. e. grass is fiber, and horses are designed to eat grass. Fresh pasture acts as a natural, highly digestible nutrient source that reduces risks of metabolic diseases like acidosis, which is common in grain fed confined horses. When this pasture grazing aspect of their existence is suppressed, and that means like minimal daily movement achieved in a twenty four hour period, then digestive upsets can be presented in a variety of habits and mannerisms to try and mimic something of what their natural and normal bodily functions require.

Managing Pasture For Health And Value

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Pastures play an important role in the life and management of horses. A well managed pasture is a highly valuable source of nutrition as well as a safe place for low impact exercise. Unfortunately, many horse pastures are not managed efficiently, either being overstocked and infested with weeds and internal parasites, or are not being utilized correctly and economically for these simple herbivores. Pasture is often a cheaper alternative along with the option to harvest hay in the abundant times that can be utilized in the very cold or the very summery dry months, acting as a great natural fibre source. So rather than constantly feeding costly concentrated meals with the potential of doubling up on bag feeds that are simply not required and not going to be meeting the nutritional requirements. A pasture is defined as a plant community which is grazed by livestock. Plants involved need to compete for light water and nutrients and also need to withstand varying degrees of defoliation and trampling if they are to survive. Paddocks used for grazing should contain mainly pasture plants with few or no weeds. The concept of an ideal pasture will vary between regions. Seasonal variations, soil type and the purpose for which it is being used will determine what is suitable. However, equine pastures should be productive and meet the nutritional needs of a horse. They are able to withstand the grazing and persist as a plant. Overall, grasses can provide the bulk of herbivore feed in pasture systems, offering energy, protein, fibre, and other vital nutrients. Grass-fed horses always have higher immunity levels than their confined counterparts due to fresh pasture being higher in beneficial nutrients, such as vitamins and antioxidants. Pasture-grazing horses typically have fewer respiratory issues due to fresh air and lower pathogen loads in the open spaces. Particular

Grass Species Moisture And Legumes

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pasture species are grown in particular localities, of course, and this is because they are relatively well adapted to their environmental conditions or the environment is able to be changed sufficiently in order to account for the growth requirements of particular grass species. The most limiting factor to plant production is the availability of moisture. The rainfall in a given area is the major detriment in the distribution of pasture and, of course, crop species. Usually for equine pastures, some sort of pasture legume base is included with the grass species in order to provide nitrogen for the pasture system as well as a feed source and diversity. Plants of pastures vary greatly in size, colour, shape, and in the type of the environment in which they live. Understanding plant function is key to enhancing production, preserving plant biodiversity, and producing nutritional feeds for all horses.

Pasture As Welfare And Natural Behaviour

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For horses though, pasture grazing is more than just nutrients. It is also about equine welfare. Access to pasture allows a horse to engage in natural behaviours such as the foraging, walking and socializing, which lowers stress and reduces illness. Even controlled strip grazing is better in comparison to confinement. And this includes horses housed in dirt, sand or sawdust type yards, or small to medium dirt only based paddocks. A horse should be allowed to be a horse regardless of the demands required from its human companions, as after all, the quality of life is the biological right of all living animals to flourish as evolution has equipped them, without the aid or the interference of humans. In this modern age, we humans should be better educated of how we can help the horse to coexist within the parameters of what our human activity demands of the horse, and how we can still allow the horse then to sustainably achieve their ultimate health. Oh, that was a good one, wasn't it?

Closing Thoughts And Next Steps

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Anyway, a good intro to pasture, but boy, there'll be a lot more for you to intake and enjoy the journey. Thanks again, and uh, I'll catch you next time. Bye for now.