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Pasture management on Waikato equine studs
Authors: Wallace TPublication: New Zealand Veterinary Journal, Volume 25, Issue 11, pp 346-350, Nov 1977
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Animal type: Horse, Livestock
Subject Terms: Animal production/wastage, Diet/rations/food, Management, Grazing, Farm/farm management, Nutrition/metabolism, Pasture/crop
Article class: General Article
Abstract: With the continued success of NZ-bred horses in Australia`s top thoroughbred staying races, and the annual visitation by trainers from that continent to purchase our best yearlings, there appears to be good reason to re-evaluate our one special asset in this production of top-class horses - high quality pasture. Some of NZ`s best pastoral farmers have achieved remarkable outputs of livestock DM in the form of milk, meat and wool per hectare - but for the vast average group there is a great potential yet to be reached. Like their farm livestock counterparts, equine stud managers have acquired a good deal of skill in pasture management by trial and error. In view of the substantial contribution the breeding industry is now making to the country`s export earnings, the time has arrived for some application of research into the best methods of pasture control on the equine stud. Unfortunately, in managing the stud operation with its usually low labour input in this country, convenience in observation and handling of the horses frequently dictates policies which are incompatible with good pasture husbandry. In this paper the stocking rates on three studs, and management methods over the breeding season are reviewed. For one stud, an assessment of pasture feed supply and horse requirements is attempted. These studs were selected as typical of the usual two to three-stallion studs in the Waikato area, operating on areas of approximately 40 60 hectares.
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