Mythbuster Monday: Horses Prefer to Eat Shorter Grass
On Mythbuster Monday, we tackle a variety of equestrian myths to either bust or confirm. Today’s discussion: Do horses prefer to eat shorter grass?
It’s Mythbuster Monday, where Horse Nation dives into different equestrian myths and provides research-based evidence to either bust or confirm those myths. Today’s topic: Do horses prefer to eat shorter grass? What is the difference between shorter grass and longer grass? What is the reasoning behind preferring the shorter strands of grass? Read more to find out!
Myth: Horses prefer to eat shorter grass
Myth or Fact: Mixed
Canva/CC
Grazing is when horses eat grass and plants from a pasture or range. It is a natural behavior and one of the most important parts of their diet. Horses typically graze for a few hours, rest, and then graze again. Their digestive system works best when they process small amounts of forage over long periods of time. Grazing provides many benefits to horses. It provides adequate nutrition and keeps stomach acid from creating ulcers. Grazing also reduces unwanted behaviors such as cribbing, chewing wood, and eating bedding and manure.
But, do horses prefer to graze in areas with shorter grass?
Canva/CC
According to the Paulick Report, horses do not graze pastures uniformly. A study by the University of Minnesota found horses preferred the shorter, immature grasses. Horses tended to graze the grass that was less than four inches tall. This is the part of the grass is where the plant stores its carbohydrates.
Canva/CC
Equiculture published an article about horses and grass length. They wrote that horses prefer shorter grasses because their mouth is best set up to graze grass at the height of 2-3 inches. Their two pairs of incisors meet in a way that enables them to cut the shorter grasses like scissors. This allows them to get the amount needed to feel satisfied more quickly. They article also states that horses prefer the shorter grass because when they eat longer grass, they are required to chew more, slowing down the intake process.
Canva/CC
An article by Equine Nutritionist points out that a lot of different factors go into which type of grass a horse prefers to graze. Clare MacLeod writes that a horse’s preference is unpredictable. This is because it may depend on temperature, rainfall, soil, season, species of grass, which different plants are mixed with the grass at different lengths, and the amount of grazing pressure. She also discusses the fluctuation of grass undergoing photosynthesis. This produces sugars and stores them as fructans, which are digested differently by horses. Fructan affects gut health and insulin levels in horses differently, so the grass they prefer may also have this as a factor.
Canva/CC
After diving into the research, there is mixed information on which grass length horses prefer. Studies imply it might not be the length that draws the horse to eat it, but may be due to many other factors. Check your pastures for grass type and nutrient level. This will give a better understanding of why horses are eating down some parts of the pasture while leaving other parts to grow taller.
Do you have an equine myth you’d like us to tackle? If so, send it our way! Email your suggestions to deann@horsenation.com. Put Mythbuster Monday in your subject line.
