The drier the region and the lower the quality of soil, the worse the negative responses of uncontrolled grazing. Recovery periods are crucial to the success of a rotational grazing approach. Multipaddock arrangements are excellent for rotational grazing. In limited-control situations, recovery periods may have to be done while horses are lotted, stalled, or in special runs not associated with the main paddocks.

What is rotational grazing? It is the science and art of a planned sequence of grazings during which each paddock is both grazed and deferred several times by one congregated herd during the same production year. Rotational grazing is (1) using the forage in one paddock a short time, (2) deferring use and allowing regrowth and recovery, and (3) regrazing the area.

It is important to repeat some things from above. Horses are destructive to pasture by

1. grazing nature
2. spot grazing tendencies
3. spot excreting
4. trampling, trailing, and loitering in the same areas
5. bogging and hoof action on pastures

Rotational grazing can control or eliminate the harmful effects of these characteristics.
Using a pasture rotationally is vital to stand longevity and production, and neglecting to do so is possibly the worst horse pasture problem, closely followed by a lack of adequate production practices. Bermudagrass is tough, but horses can kill it in an intensive nonrotational situation. Anybody can use his pastures in a rotational approach, but effectiveness is a matter of degree. Two paddocks are better than one, and several are better than two.

Rotational grazing can be accomplished many ways in multiple paddocks or single pastures. Probably the best way is to have two to four paddocks for one group and graze one area at a time, but eight to twelve paddocks would be better. When the pasture being grazed is used, or spot grazed, rotate horses to another pasture and graze it. The pasture just grazed by horses may need to be clipped, mowed, shredded, or grazed off by other livestock. Many horse producers don't have facilities to do the best rotational grazing, so it becomes a matter of doing the best possible. Sometimes there is only a single pasture and herd. The management choices in this case are few. The approach that seems best is to graze the area, lot or stall the horses and feed them until the pasture has regrown, and then regraze it. In this case, we are talking about maintaining pasture in a bad situation, not destroying it by continual overuse. Sometimes horses are congregated heavily on an area and then moved out after breeding, foaling, or something similar. This use, in effect, constitutes a form of rotational grazing because it allows regrowth during the fallow period.

In all cases of rotational grazing with horses, the dominant horse influence, or pecking-order effect, must be considered. Although horses can be congregated into high-density herds more than under wide-open continual grazing circumstances, they cannot be placed into an extremely high stock density like cattle, sheep, and goats. When forced into such a situation, territorial behavior increases, as do fighting and other aggressive behavior, and horse injury can result. The behavior can damage fence and other facilities. There is not a definite rule of how many horses can be in one herd: it depends on the herd involved, their temperament, and conditioning to the circumstance, so it is somewhat a trial and error method to find the acceptable number for a given herd under rotational grazing. Small horse operations may successfully congregate at least a dozen horses. Large operations may be able to congregate thirty to fifty head in paddocks. Regardless of the operation, the more constant the case, the less the trouble. Extreme troublemakers need to be removed and isolated

Figure 1. An example of a good, visible, interior, high-powered electric fence and good rotational grazing on an alfalfa and grass mixture

The alfalfa and grass forage mixture in the paddock to the right in figure 1 is well grazed with adequately uniform residue (stubble) for horses. The residue in the paddock should be trimmed when the horses are rotated. The forage on the left is regrown (recovered) to 6 to 12 inches and in an excellent stage for regrazing. This example of rotational grazing management could represent grazing of bermudagrass, winter pastures, crabgrass, Old World bluestems, and many other forages used for horse pasture.

In this case, the horse producer has a small operation with six paddocks in the pasture system and eight horses on one 0.9-acre paddock. This stock density is about eight horses per acre, an illustration of many things done right.

Sometimes rotational grazing may not be practical, in which case the pasture should be occasionally trimmed, hayed, or grazed with cattle. Recovery and regrowth should still be allowed. Rotational grazing has secondary reasons. Good rotational use tends to aid internal parasite control. Treatment with dewormers is still necessary, but infestations can be reduced.