We recently got property in Eastern VA. We have a strip of land between woods and horse pasture. I would love to plant a foodplot. My question; what would be a good foodplot mix for deer that is safe for horses?
That might present a challenge. Deer love clover and alfalfa but if you have a horse that tends or even could founder on that nutrient rich forage if you're not careful with how much they are allowed to graze in there. The other "typical" plantings of corn, soybeans and turnip/brassicas will also give your horses fits. I don't know if I would recommend making a food plot that the horses had access to.
My daughters retired 21 time state champion can not tolerate anything other than grass, if she gets into anything rich she will founder, granted she is retired but the next founder may kill her. Talk to the horse owners. Clover and alfalfa can be fatal in the green form as well as deer feed so better to be safe than sorry.
Horses are about the only animal I know that will kill themselves eating. I may go with a straight timothy, if I don't get any better ideas.
Yeah I feed the deer in the pasture, the horses are not normally out there. I was going out of town for 4 days so I dumped about 50 pounds of deer feed and 50 pounds of corn, the horses got into it and foundered made me sick to see the trail cam pics of the horses eating the feed considering what the vet bills were.
You could check with a vet as to what kind of mix would be safe. Generally speaking a mix that's mostly grass with a mix of forbes and a small percentage of legumes should be safe and also desirable for deer browse. It should be mixed in proportions where horses can't easily founder on it and deer will pick through to get what they find palatable. Something similar to a really nice native prairie mix I'd think would be great but I'm anything but a "horse expert" either. I don't think it's an impossible task though. A decent vet should certainly be able to steer you in the right direction.
Straight timothy is about the only thing that will "usually" not help a horse to founder but it doesn't have a big draw for deer, unless it is freshly mowed or newly planted.
Well thanks, guys. I was afraid there might not be an easy answer. Maybe I'll put a couple of apple trees in on the end...
I got mini horses and a alpaca in a small pasture. I plant a pasture mix with Timothy, alfalfa,clover, and mix in some oats. They seem to like it. But I Let them in for a hour once a week and it isn't their main diet. I would look into oats or winter rye. I would consult a expert before doing anything though.
Big NO on oats or Rye. Horses don't know when to stop eating and they will founder on those. Horses are great and I have had them around for years but you have to be so careful with their pasture and how each of them react to different forages at different times of the year. I only had a timothy mix in my pastures that my horses had free access to.
It is amazing how quickly a large animal like a horse will go down. Most are very sensitive to electric fences but every once in a while you'll get one that is immune or just to stupid to feel the shock and they'll go right through!
I have no idea how horses live in the wild, no ferrier, no grain and supplements, shots or deworming.
Their stomachs adjust to the feed that they have available. If I was careful as I introduced my horses to the pastures and allowed them to begin first thing in the spring to eat the new grasses, I was OK with them being able to feed free choice in the pastures but if I kept them out and then just turned them out and allowed them to eat all they wanted from the start, I had sick horses.
I know nothing about horses, but I would imagine they could eat barley, wheat, and oats? I would definitely check with someone more knowledgeable on the subject. I do know a guy at work that claims wheat as a fall foodplot is the best thing he has ever planted for deer. Has to do with that new growth in the time of the year that other options are maturing.
I would get a bag of a horse pasture mix called Dan Patch. the deer around here love it and of course it is safe for horses as well. Dan Patch Brand Horse Pasture Mix - 50 lb. - Mills Fleet Farm Dan Patch Horse Pasture Mix 20% Ginger Grazing Kentucky Bluegrass 20% Park Kentucky Bluegrass 20% Smooth Bromegrass* 15% BG24T Perennial Ryegrass 15% Benchmark Plus Orchardgrass 10% Climax Timothy ◦Provides excellent quality pasture for the horse owner all year long ◦Grasses selected to handle close grazing habits of horses & other livestock ◦Best suited for medium to heavy soils; avoid seeding on sandy soils ◦Continuous horse stocking will require annual reseeding ◦Seed 30-35 lbs/acre Albert Lea Seed
