How Long After Mowing Can Horses Graze

Horses are known for being highly social and natural grazing animals. They prefer to roam outside in the pasture and interact with other horses. Since pasture is their major food source, it is important to keep it mowed and grazed.

Mowing your pasture properly is essential for horse health and safety. Cut the grass to a suitable length as it provides high nutrients. However poor mowing management can make pastures unsafe and unhealthy. Because poorly clipped grass can be dangerous for a horse's digestive system. 

Some people cut down the ideal, palatable, and highly nutritious plant. So, clipping the grass accurately creates much healthier turf and prevents the growth of weeds. Besides, grazing management is important for less productive pastures. It helps to improve soil health, moisture, and balance other nutrients. However, not mowing at the proper time and allowing horses to graze without sufficient time can be harmful to pasture health, necessary grass growth, and availability.

Therefore to keep your horse safe and healthy while managing proper mowing and grazing,  in this blog we've discussed the risk of early grazing, waiting time after mowing, and assuring safe grazing.

So let's start the journey without any delay!

The dangers of mowing and grazing too soon

Mowing pastures too early can be risky and it may cause compaction of the grasses. As a result, it reduces the availability of food sources and nutrient intake. Even damage the newly sprouted roots and their possible cultivation. As a result, grass can only grow in certain areas and in immature stages that are unsuitable for horses to consume.

Despite the damage, there are also some potential hazards during mowing. Such as ingestion of toxic chemicals and mechanical injuries from mower blades. While mowing pastures, people not only just trim the grass but also use some chemical products to get rid of pests and weeds. Consequently, it kills beneficial insects like weeds eaters and plants rather than those parasites. Also consuming that chemically toxic grass can cause various health risks and death as well.

While cutting inadequate grasses, there is a risk of being injured through a mower blade. For example, it changes the soil quality, discoloring leafage, dropping premature leaves, wilting, damaging the depth of plants’ roots and peaks as well. 

Before allowing horses to graze, it is important to wait a certain amount of time after mowing. Consuming those trimmings or can say ill-prepared hay, creates mold in their stomach which is harmful to their digestive system. So make sure to let your horses graze after it becomes a suitable pasture.

How long to wait after mowing before grazing

Suppose in the middle of the morning you are mowing the pasture and thinking if it's better to wait or let horses graze now. Well, the answer is quite dependable. 

If your horses are not used to mowing pasture, then it is a big No. Because freshly mowed pastures are only suitable for grazing. It will take some time to regrow the grasses that are suitable for horses. You can leave it for a few days. Depending on the circumstances, it can take as little as a week. Allow them to roam around if they are familiar, but don't let them overgraze! 

There are some factors we should consider before letting them graze after mowing. 

Such as 

• Grass type: The growth of grasses are determined by the type of grass. Such as ryegrass, fescues, begin to grow rapidly after mowing.
• Type of mower: Hand pushing mowers and riding mowers are the two most common types of mower machines. Pushing one requires quite a lot of time to mow the land. Therefore it can expand the grazing time. In contrast, riding one takes less time to trim.
• Weather condition: To grow well, it not only requires good soil but also proper sunlight, water, and warm temperature. Excessive heat can reduce plants' natural development and produce less suitable grass.
• Year-timing: Some months of the year have high rates of grass growth. For example, from March to May, the weather is at its best. Aside from that, the low temperature limits the grass growth from December to February.
• Grazing time: Although grazing improves pasture health, it may have an impact on freshly mown land. Because it is more like a resting time for those newly cut grasses. Besides, trimmings are not ready to consume for horses. So drying time is required to turn them into suitable hay.

It is indeed that considering those facts aids you to determine the appropriate waiting period. The days you will need to hold your horse from grazing. Furthermore it will help to grow grass properly and increase the availability of food sources. 

Tips for ensuring safe grazing after mowing

Grazing and consuming grass is a natural urge of horses. But after mowing it becomes quite risky for them. Suppose you trim the pasture and pile those oddments. And the horses were like “ oh loose grass ! my work is done!” as they don’t need tears or mosey. But this easy work can be hazardous for horses.

1. Don't let them consume wet trimmings: Those trimmings are too wet and moist and easier to hoover that can cause choking. Just like when you eat bread! Besides those clippings have some excessive proteins which is bad for the horse's digestion. So let those trimmings dry first and turn those into edible hays. 
2. Make sure the pile is safe while eating: In case you give access to the horse for grazing, make sure the grass is suitable enough to eat. Sometimes we trim other plants or bushes while mowing grasses. It is like killing two birds with one stone! It both brightens up your yard or pasture and completes the work. Those trimmings are fatal to horses because there will be some inedible parts that are unsuitable for the horses.
3. Avoid using dull blades: Make sure to mow the pasture in the right way before letting them graze. Using blunt mower blades can damage and worn-out the grass. It may make the turf more vulnerable to diseases. 
4. Keep pasture safe to graze: Check if any broken blades remain in the pasture while mowing. Because when horses start to graze, they are more likely to accidentally swallow pieces of that blade along with the grass. 

So maintain those mowers and mowing equipment properly to minimize the risk of injury to horses.  Write a bit more here…

Conclusion

Finally, when thinking of your horse's safety and health, proper mowing and grazing management are significant. Avoid applying chemicals to grass, as it creates toxicity for horses and causes serious health issues. Improper mowing can damage the soil, fertility, and growth system as well. 

Depending on the horses, some are used to mowing pastures that are safe for them to graze. But it can be dangerous for others. Therefore, make sure to maintain the time for grazing after mowing your pasture. 

I believe this small journey will help you to make the right decision about when to let your horse graze, so please share your helpful insights with us.