The current drought is affecting horse owners acutely. Even though there has been somerain in certain areas, many of the hay growing regions have missed out altogether or have simply notreceived anywhere near enough rain to grow hay. As a consequence hay suppliers are running out ofhay and as each one does so the problem is escalating.

Just as an example my own supplier has cut no hay this year where she would usually have cut andbaled hundreds of round bales. As we move into winter, the chance of rain reduces and it willprobably be next summer (or longer) before many farmers are able to make hay.

As hay becomes scarcer more pressure is put on any available pasture. The problem is that, indrought, the land is less able to cope with grazing pressure (what horses eat plus hoofpressure) as the grass grows much more slowly if at all. If paddocks are grazed short then barepatches will form. Short grass (less than 5cm) takes longer to recover when it does rain. Barepatches lead to erosion of top soil which means that either nothing or only weeds will grow there inthe future.

During a drought horses must be restricted or be kept off the land due to the damage that they cancause to dry soil. During a drought, hot dry winds will carry away soil and after the drought hasbroken the rain can cause a lot of damage if the paddocks are bare, therefore aim to lock up thepaddocks whilst they still have 5 to 8cm of growth on them for protection otherwise land degradationwill result.

There is plenty that you can do to paddocks to ensure that when the drought breaks they willrecover. Cover any bare patches with mulch which will rot down when it rains again. Mulch can beanything organic, such as a mix of manure and shavings from your stables or yards, rotting leaves orrotten hay. Grass seeds can be thrown into this mulch when the drought breaks.

Feeding horses during a drought obviously becomes very expensive. In a prolonged drought hay maybecome relatively more expensive than hard feed (grain and other concentrates). This can result inhorses being fed a diet that is too high in energy and too low in fibre. Horses are then more likelyto develop serious conditions such as colic and gastric ulcers due to there being not enough fibrein the diet.

In a drought the water supply must be more frequently checked as it is more likely to becomestagnant. Dams are not usually a source of clean water in a drought and may develop blue-greenalgae. You will need to fence off access to the dam (a simple electric fence will do initially) andpump this water (if it is clean enough) to troughs etc. If it is not clean enough you will need touse another (such as your house water). Leaving a dam fenced will allow a buffer zone of vegetationto grow (when the drought breaks) that will filter out nutrients before they enter the water,resulting in much cleaner water in future.

Once the drought breaks you will still need to take extra care of your property andhorses. Even though it is very tempting do not allow the horse out as soon as the paddocks show abit of green as they take time to recover. Even when the grass starts to grow well start off withlimited grazing and build it up as the horses will gorge themselves at first.

You can purchase a publication called Drought Feeding Of Horses by David Nash (an equinenutritionist) from the RIRDC website. This book lists what sort of things can be fed to horsesin an emergency plus it has lots of other useful information about horse and property care in adrought. Other useful publications on this topic available on the site include Healthy Land,Healthy Horses and Sustainable Land Use For Depastured Horses.

Disclaimer: While the author and publisher have taken all appropriate care to ensure theaccuracy of this articles content, no liability is accepted for any loss or damage from or incurredas a result of any reliance on the information provided in this article.

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