University of Minnesota Extension's Hannah Lochner responds to a reader question about overseeding horse pastures.
Question: Last year's drought left my pastures sparse and some areas are even bare. Our pastures are mostly grass with a little clover here and there. What grasses do you recommend I overseed in my horse pastures?
Cool-season grasses are ideal for horse pastures in the Upper Midwest and tend to meet the nutritional needs of most horses. Having a mix of grasses can help your pasture maintain productivity with changes in weather. For example, some species tolerate warmer, drier conditions better than others.
When determining which species of grass do well in horse pastures, we evaluated persistence, yield, and horse preference. We found that grass mixtures containing endophyte-free tall fescue, perennial ryegrass, Kentucky bluegrass, and timothy perform well in horse pastures. Horses grazed these mixtures more uniformly with a higher percentage of forage removal. Mixtures containing these species also yielded well and were persistent over time under grazing pressure. Depending on the species present in your pasture, you may choose one or two of the species above to overseed with. In the case of large areas of bare ground, it will be best to overseed with a complete mixture.
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