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The GREEN HORSE - sustainable horsekeeping

DECEMBER JANUARY 2010/11
Vol 32 No 4

Information Exchange
Reader’s Tips, Views and Questions
Weed Watch - Hemlock by Nicola Field  Green Art             
Manuka Honey by Amanda White;  Understanding Bushfires
Introduction to Permaculture for Horse Property Owners  Pt1
by Mariette van den Berg and Nick Huggins
Understanding Herbicides Pt2: Getting It Right by Andrea Carmody
Growing Equine Herbs - Hawthorn
by Jackie Rive
Harvest Season Safety
by Farmsafe Alliance WA
Soil-Fertiliser Retention
by Dr. Jennifer Stewart

Managing pastures for horses presents a number of challenges different from those observed in conventional agriculture. The main objectives are to provide sufficient amounts of good quality grass to meet the dietary needs of horses, and grow adequate quantity of grass for conserved forage. However, it may be ideal to avoid over lush grass, high in non-structural carbohydrates (NSC), which lead to ineffective use of pasture and the risks of developing digestive and metabolic disorders such as acidosis and laminitis. In addition, maintaining grass cover provides cushioning to prevent problems with concussion, particularly for young horses. These objectives may not all be achieved and depend on the nature of the horse establishment, management goals and acreage.

When horses graze, they are very selective. They can eat down some areas until they are almost bare, whilst leaving other areas, in which they dung and urinate, untouched. If these paddocks and pastures are not managed properly, the result is over-grazing and ‘horse-sick’ pastures with poor quality grasses, accumulation of weeds, compacted and eroded soils, and populations of parasites. Horse-sick pastures may be more evident when there is insufficient land, but larger horse properties can also have these problems. In most cases, this is due to the lack of knowledge or resources and consequential poor management. These horse-sick pastures not only affect the health of the horse, but negatively influence the shape of the land and can reduces the value of the property.

Managing various aspects of the horse property, including farm and paddock design, hydration, building healthy soils, effective pasture and general horse management, will all assist with maintaining healthy horses and keeping the aesthetics of the property.

What is Permaculture?
The word ‘Permaculture’ derives from PERMAnent agriCULTURE. Permaculture can be defined as the conscious design and maintenance of agriculturally productive ecosystems that have the diversity, stability, and resilience of natural ecosystems. Permaculture is a philosophy and an approach to land use that weaves together microclimate, annual and perennial plants, animals, soils, water management, and human needs, into intensely connected and productive communities. It is about working with, rather than against, nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation; of looking at systems in all their functions, rather than only considering the yield; and allowing systems to establish their own evolutions.

Priority of restoring soils
Permaculture is concerned with the restoration of soil as a priority, as healthy soil produces healthy plants or grass, which can help produce healthy horses!

Many species have a role in the recycling of nutrients. On horse properties, it is the manager’s responsibility to return wastes (via compost or mulch) to the soil and plants.  Actively creating soil in pastures becomes the property owner’s role, whereas in nature many other species carry out that function.

Around properties, water is caught and stored for pasture hydration and use. On a much larger scale, natural forested landscapes are relied on to provide the condenser leaves and clouds to keep rivers running with clean water, to maintain the global atmosphere, and to filter gaseous pollutants. Permaculture should use all the species needed or can be found, in individual settlement designs, providing they are not locally rampant and invasive.

Permaculture for horse properties
Permaculture for equine systems can be developed in such a way that it can provide niches for a variety of other livestock, including goats, cattle, and pigs.

Effective Permaculture systems for horses typically include contour fencing and electric tape to minimise damage to pastures, the planting of various forage tree species along field boundaries and divisions, the growing of early and late season green crops as cut and carry fodder, research into native fodder species and traditional practices, and the development of composting techniques to make full use of animal manures and biological fertilisers.  Ultimately, this creates a highly biologically active mix that helps maintain long-term pasture health.

Horse paddocks subject to heavy erosion and compaction,
not uncommon along fencelines where horses tend to pace.

By applying the ethics and principles of Permaculture design to the management of horses, there is much to be gained. For those interested, there’s a pool of knowledge now available on Permaculture for horse properties, the ethics and principles of Permaculture, the environment and behaviour of wild and feral horses in comparison to those of domestic horses, equine behavior, design strategies, pasture management for diversity, nutrition, shelter, drought-proofing and integrating horses into sustainable systems. The results of a balanced combination of these factors, as well recognised in the holistic field, are healthier landscapes, horses and people.

As Albert Einstein once wrote, “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” If horse owners continue in their usual approach, and pass off the soil and the natural design systems as something resolved by buying a product off the shelf, they may become ignorant to the effects for not only their horse but themselves and their family’s health.

Permaculture as a design system is a call to action and only ever produces positive outcomes whether ‘successful’ or not. The aim is to produce sustainable systems that are ecologically sound and economically viable, which provide for their own needs, does not exploit or pollute, and are there for sustainability in the long term. Permaculture is a system by which horses can thrive and can exist by using energy that is naturally in continuous fluctuation and relatively harmless, and by which growing food and using natural resources that are abundant can be achieved in such a way as to not destroy the vital micro-organisms existing in soils.

This is just a short introduction of how permaculture can work for horse properties; next issue will discuss biological pasture management and the role of weeds.