Good pasture management is an essential task for horse owners. Well-cared-for pastures improve the horse’s health in many ways, including playing a key role in nutrition and helping prevent other health problems such as worm burdens.
However, as with any task, a variety of must-have tools will be essential in maintaining management practices. The tools you use for the field may differ from those on the yard. In this article, we’ve rounded up a selection of must-have tools to help ease managing your horse’s pasture this summer and beyond.
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Pasture Management: Essential tools
X-COTEC Wheelbarrow
SHOP NOW – find the X-COTEC Wheelbarrow on Amazon
A multi-tasking wonder, every horse owner has one of these! The X-COTEC carries more weight than an average wheelbarrow (220kg), which is not only a pasture-management essential but a yard essential. Perfect for everything from mucking out to poo picking or just transporting multiple items in one trip.
Take feed bowls, water bags, new field items, tools or rugs to the field with ease. The two wheels help with weight distribution, and you’ll get more grip with the none slip handle. The double wheel makes it easier to push when leading a horse (although we don’t recommend doing both).
Tubtrug Tidee
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A firm favourite with many horse owners and especially useful when a shavings fork will not do when you’re tackling the field environment. With patches of long grass to tackle, a scoop and rake is just what you need. The Tubtrug Tidee makes poo picking easy, quick and means you don’t remove half your field’s grass instead of the manure! Plus you can get it in the colours pink, pistachio, purple, or sky blue.
Stubbs Jumbo Water Bucket
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For those without the luxury of automatic water troughs, make sure your horse has an adequate water supply with the Stubbs Jumbo Water Bucket.
Water provision should be enough to supply your horse for at least 24 hours. This is due to sunlight exposure causing quicker evaporation of liquids and reduce water availability. Sturdy and without sharp edges, we love the Stubbs Jumbo Water Bucket design, for peace of mind!
Planit Products H20 (aka bag to transport fresh water to the field …)
BUY NOW – find the Planit Products H20 water bag on Amazon.
No direct water supply to the field? No problem! The Planit (correct spelling) bag will transport up to 80L of water in a wheelbarrow, making it the perfect item for topping up water buckets. Simply put the bag into the wheelbarrow, fill it up at the yard, transport it down to the field, and pour using the barrow. Not only will this save your back, but with the lid, you’ll get no spillage on the way to the field.
Fyna Lite Multi-Weeda
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Pull out weeds at the root to prevent them from reoccurring. Ensure ragwort and other types of weed are pulled before flowering, as this will reduce the spread of seeds and reduce the chance of horses being able to find them in abundance. The Fyna Lite Multi-Weeda comes in blue and pink, and is great for docks and prickly thistles too!
Mud Control Mats
SHOP NOW – find mud control mats on MUDCONTROL.
Mud control mats have proved invaluable for many horse owners, and the company that comes up top trumps in this area is MUDCONTROL. They have carefully fine-tuned their product to help make walkways safer and, of course, less muddy! Less mud = happy and healthier horses = happier horse owners.
On a more serious note, these innovative slabs can help reduce mud rash/fever and or other injuries due to boggy fields and gates.
WANT TO ROTATE YOUR GRAZING?
Rotating your grazing is a great way to ensure your grass lasts well into autumn. This prevents the grass from being nibbled to the ground, creating scorched patches with no grass at all.
It is also a great idea to sacrifice a small turnout area for those more wintery days. This area can be churned up to heart’s content, and may also prove beneficial for winter turnout!
Here are a few ideas of products you’ll need to help you strip graze sections of pasture.
Agrifence Megaline 2 Superior Polywire
SHOP NOW – find Agrifence Megaline 2 Superior Polywire on Viovet.
The Agrifence Megaline 2 Superior Polywire is high visibility and is over 30 x more conductive than standard polywire -perfect for securing any paddock! Large 0.5mm galvanised steel wires wound into a unique cross-over design make this design almost indestructible. Suitable for medium to long fence lines in most conditions.
Horse Electric Fence Starter Kit
SHOP NOW – find the Horse Electric Fence Starter Kit on Amazon.
This pack contains everything you need to get started on your strip grazing (like a pro). It contains all the essential items you need to section an area of grazing up to 100m. There’s even a current tester to help make sure you don’t get zapped while setting up and, of course, to make sure it’s on!
As with any materials, especially those that are outside and exposed to the elements for prolonged periods of time, components will need replacing for safety and effectiveness. Make sure you regularly check in on your fencing, whether it be electrical or wooden post and rail. You can find more electrical fence supplies on Amazon.
Journalist and News Reporter, Everything Horse
Reporting on equestrian news stories, Abby also produces a variety of engaging content for the magazine.