Like most horse lovers I look out of the window when driving along and notice every field that has a horse in it. You cannot help but do a rough head count and grumble about the number of horses grazing in a small field with little grass, wondering what that horse must look like without its rug on!

You look at the fencing and gates hoping nothing will spook the horse and cause him to run into that rusty barbed wire mess, supposedly a fence. You feel sorry for the poor horse standing up to his knees in the mud looking cold and miserable as there is inadequate shelter from the weather. It can at times be distressing to see these things and I often wonder what state the fields and horses that we cannot see from the roads must be in. The responsible horse owners among us know that this type of management is bordering on being cruel and is not necessary.

This time of year can be particularly frustrating when it comes to pasture and field management. The heavy rains March and April bring, on top of the usual English winter dampness and snow, can leave our fields in a dreadful state. This year in particular is hard for us with the storm damage across the country that has not only left us with fields resembling lakes, but also with trees that have come down, crushing and demolishing fence lines and buildings.

Horses need to have fencing that is strong and safe. Barbed wire will not do. I know it is cheap compared to wooden post and rails, quicker to erect than waiting for a planted hedgerow to grow and easier than building a stone wall, but it can be lethal to horses. If caught up in it, barbed wire does not snap, it entraps and tears at the flesh. We often pay thousands for our horses then protect them with cheap barbed wire! I can make no sense of that at all.

Field shelters are a necessity not only for the bad weather but to also protect the horse from the sun - an over hanging branch will not do.

There is no doubt that horses are bad for fields and pasture. They can cause immense hoof damage to the land, which in turn can reduce the spring grazing by some 50pc.

For those of us who are lucky enough to have larger fields, good pasture maintenance can be relatively easy, as there is plenty of space or fields to rotate horses, divide off part of the pasture for resting purposes or cross-graze with cattle and sheep, which help to reduce rough grazing, worm and weed burdens.

A majority of us do not have that luxury, so pasture maintenance is nothing short of pure hard work and sound management mixed with commonsense.

Remember that just one acre can be enough to maintain your horse for the year, if it is properly managed.

You need to look at your type of soil to get an idea of how your land is going to react to certain weather conditions. If it is a heavy clay you know that in the wet winter months the field is going to be heavy and get poached up very quickly, and in the summer it is going to bake rock hard. With a light sandy soil you will find that it is good draining in the winter, but it could leave you with poor grazing in the summer as it does not retain water, result - the extra expense of having to feed hay in the summer months.

No matter what size pasture you have it is worth separating the field using electric fencing, so that part can be rested and treated while the horse grazes the other side of the tape. It is vital, particularly with small acreage, that all horse droppings are collected at least twice a week. This will help to reduce the heavy worm burden that can manifest and encourage horses to graze the entire field, as they never eat close to their droppings.

Weeds are a problem to us all, and they do not care what size paddock they live in. Probably the one most commonly known to us, due to the threat that it holds on our horses' lives, is ragwort. Sometimes owners think just because the horse has grazed around the ragwort and left it untouched, they are safe. How wrong they are, as when ragwort begins to dry off it becomes much more palatable to the horse and once he starts to nibble it he develops a taste for it - and this can result in his death. The most effective method of getting rid of this dangerous weed is manually, so it is out with the rag-fork and start digging it up from the root. It is slow, back-breaking, but essential, work.

Docks, nettles and thistles, while not poisonous to the horse, spread over the paddock, choking out any new grass growth and reducing the grazing area each year for your horse. In a small field they can be effectively controlled, again manually with a spade or, for the larger pasture, by spraying when the field is in rest being treated.

As a rule of thumb horse owners should stay away from all chemicals, but if you do chose to spray you MUST make sure that no spray comes into contact with livestock, and that includes accidentally spreading over a hedge into a neighbouring pasture if caught in a breeze. The field must not be grazed before the withdrawal period stated by the product manufacturers, it is safer to leave grazing for an extra period of time, perhaps by as much as a month.

Mowing or topping and chain harrowing your field to remove long grasses, weeds and to aerate the soil is sound management, but remember that mowing the weeds can encourage young weedlings to grow and cause a greater problem in the long term.

Pasture management is a fundamental area of worm control as horses are primarily infected through the ingestion of larvae on the pasture that they graze.

If a pasture is very worm infested, resting or harrowing the land will do little to improve the situation, unless the pasture is left horse-free for at least six months. By following a few simple rules, it is possible to help to reduce pasture contamination and your horses' exposure to infection: Worm your horses regularly and at the same time; do not over stock a field - there should be only one or two horses per acre; collect droppings regularly; and, if possible, graze horses along side sheep and cattle since parasites that effect horses are host-specific and cannot survive in other species.

Cattle and sheep are good pasture improvers when alternated or running with horses. Sheep will nibble close to the ground, cattle will take the longer rank grasses that horses do not eat and the horse will eat midway. This grazing regime reduces weeds and encourages fresh grass growth. Do not run young or horned cattle with horses as you might well find your horse gored and tail-less!

Ploughing and re-seeding paddocks is a very expensive, time consuming process that very few horse and land owners can afford to do, but when a field has been left to ruin with little or no land management there maybe little choice.

Before your land gets to that point, take the time to look after what you have. You need to work with what Mother Nature gives you and nurture it; that takes time. There is no quick-fix system to having the perfect pasture, just sensible land management, a true love of your horse, hard work and above all else - commonsense.

Published: 25/02/2005