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Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2019; 9(8); 500; doi: 10.3390/ani9080500

Impact of Year-Round Grazing by Horses on Pasture Nutrient Dynamics and the Correlation with Pasture Nutrient Content and Fecal Nutrient Composition.

Abstract: Horse grazing may benefit biodiversity, but the impact of year-round grazing on nutrient dynamics has not been evaluated previously. This study compared pasture quality in a forest-grassland landscape grazed year-round by horses with that in exclosed mown areas. Twelve Gotlandsruss stallions were kept without supplementary feeding in three enclosures (~0.35 horse/ha) outside Uppsala, Sweden, from May 2014 to September 2016. Each enclosure contained three mown exclosures, where grass sward samples were collected monthly and analyzed for chemical composition and vegetation density. Fecal grab samples were collected and analyzed for crude protein (CP) and organic matter (OM) content. There were no differences in exclosure pasture energy or CP content between enclosures ( > 0.05). In grazed areas, there were differences in grass energy and CP content ( > 0.05) between enclosures. During the three summers studied, energy and CP content increased in the enclosures, but decreased in the exclosures. By the end, biomass content/ha was greater in the enclosures than in the exclosures. Fecal OM and CP content showed moderate to strong correlations with pasture nutrient content ( = 0.3-0.8, < 0.05). Thus, in contrast to monthly mowing, horse grazing diversified pasture chemical composition and increased its nutritive value.
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Publication Date: 2019-07-29 PubMed ID: 31362460PubMed Central: PMC6720502DOI: 10.3390/ani9080500Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

The research article investigates the effect of year-round horse grazing on the nutrient dynamics of pasture fields in comparison to mown areas. The study reveals that horse grazing diversifies the chemical composition of pasture and enhances its nutritious value.

Overview of the Study

  • The researchers embarked on a study aiming to understand the impact of horses grazing throughout the entire year on nutrient dynamics within pastures, which hadn’t been fully examined before.
  • The study began in May 2014 and ended in September 2016, carried out in Uppsala, Sweden. Twelve Gotlandsruss stallions were involved in the study, kept in three separate enclosures without any supplementary feed. Each enclosure housed approximately 0.35 horses per hectare.

Methodology and Sampling

  • In each of the horse enclosures, three mown areas were situated that were excluded from grazing and were used as controls to compare the effects of grazing versus mowing. This allowed the researchers to closely monitor and compare the quality of the pastures in both scenarios.
  • Grass sward samples from these mown exclosures were collected every month and were then analyzed for their chemical composition and vegetation density.
  • In addition, fecal samples were also collected enabling the study of nutrient content, in terms of crude protein (CP) and organic matter (OM) within the animal wastes.

Findings of the Study

  • The study failed to find any difference in regards to pasture energy or crude protein (CP) content between the different enclosures (P > 0.05).
  • However, differences were found within the energy and CP content of grass present within the grazing areas between enclosures. The study observed that over the course of the three summers, both energy and CP content increased in the enclosures where horses were present. The opposite was observed in the exclusive areas, where these nutrients decreased with passing time.
  • By the end of the study, it was also observed that the total biomass content per hectare was much higher in the horse enclosures compared to the exclosures.
  • A moderate to strong correlation was seen between the fecal matter (organic matter and crude protein content) and the nutrient content of the pasture ranges (0.3-0.8 with a significance of P < 0.05).

Conclusion

  • Based on these findings, the study concluded that horse grazing when compared to monthly mowing of pastures diversifies the chemical composition of the pasture positively. More specifically, horse grazing enhances the nutritive value of the pasture. This has significant implications, highlighting the beneficial effects of horse grazing on pastureland sustainability and biodiversity.

Cite This Article

APA
Ringmark S, Skarin A, Jansson A. (2019). Impact of Year-Round Grazing by Horses on Pasture Nutrient Dynamics and the Correlation with Pasture Nutrient Content and Fecal Nutrient Composition. Animals (Basel), 9(8), 500. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9080500

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 9
Issue: 8
PII: 500

Researcher Affiliations

Ringmark, Sara
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden. sara.ringmark@slu.se.
Skarin, Anna
  • Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences,SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
Jansson, Anna
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SE-75007 Uppsala, Sweden.

Grant Funding

  • no grant number / Swedish World Wildlife Fund
  • no grant number / Helge Ax:on Johnsson Foundation
  • no grant number / the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
  • no grant number / crowd funding

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders played no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in writing the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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Citations

This article has been cited 6 times.
  1. Rzekęć A, Vial C, Bigot G. Green Assets of Equines in the European Context of the Ecological Transition of Agriculture. Animals (Basel) 2020 Jan 8;10(1).
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  2. Tydén E, Jansson A, Ringmark S. Parasites in Horses Kept in A 2.5 Year-Round Grazing System in Nordic Conditions without Supplementary Feeding. Animals (Basel) 2019 Dec 17;9(12).
    doi: 10.3390/ani9121156pubmed: 31861066google scholar: lookup
  3. Thulin CG, Chen Y, Garrido P. Semi-Feral Horse Grazing Benefits the Grassland Diversity of Flowering Plants Including a Pollinator-Promoting Indicator Species. Animals (Basel) 2025 Mar 17;15(6).
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  4. Blanco-Doval A, Barron LJR, Aldai N. Nutritional Quality and Socio-Ecological Benefits of Mare Milk Produced under Grazing Management. Foods 2024 May 4;13(9).
    doi: 10.3390/foods13091412pubmed: 38731783google scholar: lookup
  5. Viksten SM, Hartmann E, Schneller K, Steen M. Welfare of extensively managed Swedish Gotland ponies. Anim Welf 2023;32:e21.
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