Recent News for Pastures
Article
The Grass is Not Always Greener
March 01, 2004
The word "horse" conjures up images of graceful, powerful animals roaming across miles of rolling hills, periodically stopping to graze on lush, green grass. In reality, such scenes are rare; these days, many horses live without... Read More
Article
Safe and Healthy Fencing: A Place Apart
February 01, 2004
In the end, remember that a pastured horse's safety isn't just determined by the materials and construction of the enclosing fence. Other factors to consider include his temperament and age, the number and choice of pasture mates and neighbors... Read More
Article
Kentucky Pasture Monitoring Programs
January 22, 2004
Comparing pasture samples from 2002 and 2003 didn't associate mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS) with anything other than the Eastern tent caterpillar. However, Wayne Long, MS, of the University of Kentucky's (UK) Department of Agronomy,... Read More
Article
The Grass Can Be Greener
October 01, 2003
Now is the time to make improvements to your pastures in order to have the best and most nutritious grazing for your horses next spring. A well-maintained pasture also offers a practical and economic break for you, as well. Through pasturing,... Read More
Article
Purchase, Design, and Management of the Farm
August 20, 2003
So you want to have your own horse farm. Should you build or buy? Hire a real estate agent or go out looking on your own? What about once you've acquired a facility--how do you manage the soil, fencing, employees, security, and manure? Four... Read More
Article
Interview from a MRLS Test Farm
May 08, 2003
Some horse and agriculture farms were asked to be test farms during and after the mare reproductive loss (MRLS) crisis in 2001. One of those farms is Glennwood Farm in Versailles, Ky., owned by John D.... Read More
Article
Pasture Management and MRLS
April 07, 2003
In the spring of 2001, hundreds of mares in Central Kentucky lost their pregnancies in peculiar abortions attributed to mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS). Since then, horse farm managers have gone back to square one in reviewing their... Read More
Article
Traveling With Your Horse: Home Away From Home
April 01, 2003
You've decided to hit the road with your horse for a competition, overnight trail ride, or a pack ... Read More
Article
Camping With Your Horse
April 01, 2003
Whether it is the increased stress of daily life or the baby-boomer generation wanting to experience the roots of their pioneer forefathers, more and more people are setting out to see the country from horseback. As a result, equestrian... Read More
Article
Fescue Allergy?
March 01, 2003
I have a 6-year-old Arabian gelding who used to spend up to about 12 hours a day on our fescue pasture. As a 4-year-old, he developed lesions on his three white legs on the cannon bone area that were crusty, raw underneath, very sore, and... Read More
Article
Managers Doing Good Job with Pastures
December 30, 2002
A week following the Dec. 23 release of information about the University of Kentucky’s pasture monitoring related to mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), Jimmy Henning, PhD, extension forage specialist at the University of Kentucky (UK)... Read More
Article
Last Year's Drought on This Year's Pasture?
October 11, 2002
Throughout Kentucky, the summer of 1999 will be remembered for hot days and a lack of rain. While the drought and its effects were readily noted this past summer and fall, horse owners need to consider what the drought may have done to their... Read More
Article
UK Announces New Forage-Animal Program to Solve Farm Problems & Enhance Profitability
August 14, 2002
Through a unique collaboration with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the University of Kentucky is launching an innovative new forage-animal research initiative. The program will discover new technologies to enhance the health and... Read More
Article
Poison Control: Spraying Insecticides on Pastures
August 01, 2002
During the optimal Eastern tent caterpillar (ETC) eradication period (when larvae are still in trees), Lee Townsend, PhD, extension entomologist at the University of Kentucky (UK), recommended a list of insecticides for horse owners and farm... Read More
Article
Advisory Issued Following Weather Forecast
April 22, 2002
Weather forecasts for the evening of April 24 in Central Kentucky have prompted University of Kentucky scientists to advise farm owners to temporarily restrict horses from eating pasture grass. The advisory is because of mare reproductive loss... Read More
Article
Putting Up Boundaries (Fencing)
April 01, 2002
Horses are nomads by nature, with an inclination to travel far and wide searching for forage and water. Along with their wanderlust, horses possess a strong sense of curiosity, and they are constantly investigating their surroundings. Turn a... Read More
Article
Fescue Field Management
March 01, 2002
It is estimated that 35 million acres of United States pasture are planted with tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea), and roughly 700,000 horses graze these fescue pastures. This plant is a cool-season plant, so it grows in cooler climates,... Read More
Article
What Can Your Veterinarian Do for Parasite Control?
October 15, 2001
In-feed wormer? Pastes? Stomach tube? Field rotation? With a myriad of choices, designing a worming program for your horse can prove quite cumbersome. Unfortunately, the increased availability of commercial... Read More
Article
Mysterious Eye Inflammation Traced to Plant Burrs
October 15, 2001
Fall and winter sometimes bring unexplained eye problems in horses and cattle, with irritation and inflammation, or corneal ulcers. Some of the horses examined at these college clinics over the past several years had microscopic barbed "slivers"... Read More
Article
Waging War on Equine Parasites
October 15, 2001
Internal parasites are silent killers. They can cause extensive internal damage, and you may not even realize your animals are heavily infected. At the very least, parasites can cause gastrointestinal irritation and unthriftiness. At its worst,... Read More
Article
Fescue Toxicosis
October 09, 2001
Mares grazing on tall fescue pastures infected with a toxin have increased gestation lengths, mare and foal deaths, agalactia (absent milk secretion after birth), retained placentas, premature separation of the placenta at birth, and... Read More
Article
Housing Your Horse
October 05, 2001
In the back of your mind somewhere there lurks a Dream Barn. Go on, admit it. You've planned it down to the last luxurious detail--from the Olympic-sized riding arena (with the climate-impervious perfect footing) right down to the automatic fly... Read More
Article
Risk Management for MRLS in 2002 Detailed; Cause Still Unconfirmed
October 05, 2001
Researchers have not pinpointed the cause of mare reproductive loss syndrome (MRLS), but on Tuesday night they gave Central Kentucky farm managers some proactive steps in hopes of preventing its effects next year. Dr. Scott Smith, the dean of th... Read More
Article
Soil and Water Testing
October 02, 2001
As you push your shopping cart down the aisle at the supermarket, it's likely become routine for you to do a quick scan of the nutritional analysis printed on the side of every cereal box and container of yogurt you select. Instantly, you know how... Read More
Article
Safe And Secure Fencing
October 01, 2001
Sandra had installed her fencing in good faith, on the advice of "experts" - yet in only weeks, one of her horses had been seriously injured. Would another kind of barrier have been any safer? It seems everyone's got at least one fencing horror story... Read More
