Wondering how high others cut pasture grass for a horse who wears a grazing muzzle. We mow with our riding mower and the highest it can go is 4". If it makes a difference, horse wears a Best Friend muzzle, but I may switch to a Greenguard.
Thank you.
I mow for pasture health, which then seems to work for muzzles. That’s 5-6".
I try to keep ours in the 4 to 6 inch range for my mare that wears the Greenguard muzzle. I’ve never used any other brand so not sure how they do.
It depends on what you have growing in your pasture. You never want to cut down more than 1/3 of the length of the grass, although Momma Nature does not always cooperate with the rain and sometimes it gets away from you. Longer grass will have more fiber than short mown or grazed down grass. Katy Watts is the expert on forage and laminitis, if laminitis is an issue.
"Practice sensible pasture management. Mowing and weeding your fields not only promotes the health of your pasture, it may be better for your horses. “Grasses grow from the bottom, pushing the leaf out above them,” Cairns explains. “If you’ve cut the leaves off, it stimulates growth in the remaining tissue. That growth requires carbohydrates so the reserves are used to make more leaf material.” To minimize the accumulation of carbohydrates in pasture grasses, keep your pasture between four and eight inches in height, mowing as often as necessary to maintain this range.
Some studies suggest that stress from overgrazing or nutrient deficiencies can increase fructan levels in grasses. To avoid taxing your pastures, rest each field every two months. If you’re unsure whether your soil requires additional fertilization, contact your local extension agent or farmer’s co-op and schedule a soil sample analysis."
https://equusmagazine.com/management/fructandanger_032205-8262
Katy’s website: www.safergrass.org
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