Latrine Behavior And Pasture Management By Rebecca Bott,

By Rebecca Bott,
Former SDSU Extension Equine Specialist

Latrine behavior in pasture vs large areas of land

Horses not only affect their environment though grazing behavior, they play a unique role in developing an ecological niche. They fertilize pastures via defecation and can modify soil structure by trampling. In doing so, they alter the ecology of the area. As such, management of manure and grazing can provide significant challenges for many horse owners. When horses and ponies are in vast areas such as rangeland and the stocking densities are low, there is a reduced pressure to select grazing vs latrine areas. Horses in this setting are often found performing eliminative behaviors in and around grazing areas. Horses are free to use an area of land and move on to the next. However, in a more restricted pasture setting, they typically do not eat where they defecate. They select certain grasses for consumption, tending to heavily graze these areas of a pasture creating patches of overgrazed “lawns” or “nutritive areas”. Horses tend to localize regions of pasture in which they relieve themselves of manure and urine away from these lawns. These regions are left under grazed, yielding tall and overly mature forage and resulting in the name “roughs” or “eliminative areas”. Thus, manure and forage management is critical in pasture settings.

Managing pasture to eliminate lawns and roughs

• Development of lawns and roughs in a pasture setting is not only unsightly, but is also an inefficient use of grazable land. Several management strategies may be used to overcome this problem.
• Use a sacrifice lot. A challenge with pasture grazing is that areas can become overgrazed. This weakens the plant root system and creates opportunities for undesirable plants to move in and take over, such as invasive weeds. Establishment of a home-base, where horses can be kept from time to time, such as when pastures need a rest from grazing, is a great management strategy. This area is called a sacrifice lot because this space is compromised in order to maintain the rest of the pasture in a healthy and productive state. Horses should be moved to the sacrifice lot when pastures have been grazed and need a period for recovery. Horses should also be relocated to sacrifice areas when pastures are wet and easily trampled, including during and after rain. Horses that are housed in sacrifice lots without access to pasture should have access to hay.
• Implement a rotational grazing system. Not everyone has access to unlimited grazing acres. Yet, even on small acreages, pasture use can be maximized with the use of a rotational grazing system. This is accomplished by partitioning a large pasture into smaller pastures.