Grass Guide for Horses & Ponies

http://www.cotswoldseeds.com/seedmix/horse-pony

Horse Hay, Gallops and Grazing Leys

Whether you want to create a new paddock, grow some hay or improve your existing grass, we can provide the right seed mixture.

Providing the right balance in your horse's grazing is important. As well as for nutrition, grass is of course used for equine exercise areas. The mixtures listed here, designed following many years of experience, provide the correct sward for specific purposes.

Grazing
In most instances our Permanent Horse Pasture seed mixture provides the right balance for horses. The mixture contains grasses that will provide grazing throughout the year combined with others that bind the bottom together to help withstand the demands of equine use. The grasses selected are not the high production grasses used for milk and meat farming and are therefore more suitable for the horse. Additions such as herbs and clover can be made to this mixture. The herbs are a valuable addition providing variety and micro-nutrients in the grazing. Wild white clover can also be added to provide 'free' nitrogen for the sward. Clover is often avoided due to links with laminitis, this though seems to be unfounded.

What can a Laminitic Graze?
The Natural Pony Paddock mixture is specifically designed for the laminitic. This mixture contains a wide range of the less productive grasses, many of which are native species. This mixture provides excellent grazing that will last for many years. Laminitics will always need to be monitored, as even a frosty sunny morning can be enough to trigger this condition. However, grazing a mixture such as the Natural Pony Paddock will help to minimise the risks from grass.

Making Hay
Professional hay growers tend to grow a mixture of Italian Ryegrasses which provides a bold sample. The Hard Horse Hay mixture provides 30-40% higher yields than perennial ryegrass but will only produce a cut for two years. The Permanent Horse pasture mixture can also be cut for hay, usually in July.

Improving your Fields
Over-seeding grass seed is very successful and can quickly improve the quality of your paddocks. The Paddock and Gateway Repair mixture is fast to establish in those areas which get damaged from a lot of wear i.e. around gateways and troughs. This mixture can also be over-seeded on to the whole field to improve its grazing and diversity of the field. The Pasture Over-Seeding mixture is a good choice when wanting to increase the forage produced from your grass.

Cotswold Seeds has been supplying Grass Seed to farmers and the public since 1974 and specialise in creating bespoke mixtures, using the finest quality grass and legume seed. We pride ourselves on our excellent customer service, friendly impartial advice, and next day delivery service throughout the UK.

http://www.cotswoldseeds.com

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