You may question the necessity for this subject on a web site about horses, but, the composition of the sward (grass in the field), and the contents of a bale of hay or haylage, will determine how well your horse thrives.
The grass family is the largest and most important family of flowering plants in the British Isles. It is comprised of cereals, (wheat, barley and oats), grasses for hay, silage and grazing, and there are more than 150 wild species.
The British farmer favours six grasses:-
TIMOTHY - Phleum pratense - a perennial grass that produces a luxuriant, soft-leafed crop for both grazing and cutting for hay.
It can withstand cold weather and in a late spring is often on of the first grasses to begin growing and will remains leafy until late June; therefore it is a valuable mid-summer grass. Late summer and autumn is will produce less than other grasses.
PERENNIAL RYE-GRASS - Lolium perenne - produces an abundance of leafy grass and is found in all good permanent pasture.
There are a large number of varieties but all have common features in that they establish quickly and easily; and do well on fertile soils, but they will grow on a wide range of soil types under good management and adequate fertilisers. It produces a succession of seed heads during the summer and should be regularly topped.
ITALIAN RYE-GRASS - Lolium miltiflorum - is similar to perennial rye-grass but taller and it only lasts for 2 years, and because it is an early flowering variety is not suitable for horse paddocks, however it is often found in hay or haylage.
COCKSFOOT - Dactylis glomerata - is course with stiff hard stems and hairy sharp-edged leaves, but it is nutritious and drought resistant. It grows rapidly and recovers quickly after cutting/grazing, unless the paddock is heavily stocked and then is becomes course and unpalatable.
The feed value is lower than perennial rye-grass, but gives good summer grazing if well supplied with nitrogen.
MEADOW FESCUES/TALL FESUES - Festuca pratensis/arundinacea - though not abundant in pasture they are common in fertile meadows. They are sensitive to competition from rye-grass but, will grow on light sandy soil and are drought sensitive. They provide both grazing and cutting varieties.
Included in amongst these grasses you will find a wide variety of other plants which can provide valuable nutrients to the horse: -
WILD WHITE AND RED CLOVER - Trifolium repens/pratense - does well if included in the sward. It enhances the feed value and palatability of the pasture and the root nodules increase the fertility of the soil by providing a steady source of nitrogen for the sward. Cultivated white clover is larger-leafed and very productive, but demands higher fertility that the wild types. Wild clover is more suitable for horses than the cultivated variety because it is less nutritious and less likely to cause digestive upsets.
YARROW - Achillea millefolium - one of the most common wild flowers, found in grassland all over the British Isles. It is a perennial plant, which blooms throughout the summer. Growing up to 45cm (18inches) tall, with rough angular stems. Yarrow bears flat heads of white/pink and occasionally deep purple flowers, which at first sight appear to be one large flower.
CHICORY - Cichorium intybus - the large blue flowers of this herb cluster towards the top of tough stiff stems. It is sometimes sown on shallow chalk soil because it has a deep tap-root that helps to break up the sub-soil.
DANDELION - Taraxacum officinale - by tapping minerals deep in the soil the dandelion provides a valuable supplement to the nutritional content in the grass.
VETCH - there are about 150 different varieties of vetch, all members of the pea and been family (legumes), used to be grown by farmers as fodder, bearing purple flowers signally or in pairs, at the end of the summer these develop into seed pods.
Comments
If you have a specific tip, experience or comment relevant to this article please post a comment below. We are unable to answer individual questions through the comments system. The New Rider Message Board is a better place to post specific questions.
Jan23rd Nov 01
Can anyone help?
I am trying to find information about docking tails, ear trimming, and nostril snipping. Why did they start? What was the reason for this mutilation?
Without making the article gruesome, I thought it would be interesting. I have a part written composition already but have very little on ear trimming and nothing on nostril snipping, but I know both happened. If anyone has any information it would be gratefully received, and I will collate it all together and put it in the ‘How it was’ section.
Andrea31st Dec 01
I have read a book a while ago and it said that most people back then had no regard for the horse's comfort and only about fashion. The nobility thought that docked tails looked smart.
The same motive for the check rein. If you do not already know the check rein was also torture, causing horses heads being raised over a comfortable level and putting strain on their backs.
Jan1st Jan 02
Andrea
Thank you for your comment - that's why this section was started - unfortuneately what I fond in old books does not necessarily follow what really happened.
Yes I knew about the check rein but I understood it to be called a 'bearing rein' and if I can find enough information I will write some more articles, but I'm a but stumped at the moment.
Ali11th Jan 02
Try Black Beauty by Anna Sewell for a rather
horrific description of bearing reins.
Lily Searle27th Feb 02
I found your site very infomative and have used the information to complete an essay that i am constructing about riding side-saddle as opposed to astride. As i come from a land based college i study eqiunes and found the site very useful to me:)
EDEE WEIGEL17th Mar 02
I believe that the old fashoned ways of clipping ears etc were to make a horse appear more finely bred as a real hot blooded horse has the looks already for the sake of fashion even to this day we do things to horses and even dogs...clip ears and tails to make their 'lines' more refined. Too bad for the animals comfort to swish away a fly.. Or a puppy with bandgaed head and cut tail. I wonder what would happen if horseshows went au' natural..it would be funny don't you think?
packhorse2nd Apr 02
Docking Tails.
Dirty Tails - with manure, mud or water on them
a) swished and sent dirt/water on to the people in the carriage behind - remember many many many horses were used to plough, used in traps, carriages or carts etc. (as well as being ridden)
b) longer tails got caught up in the straps of the driving harness.
c) Dirty tails looked less than 'nice' from behind
d) Less work for the groom - and as with trimming ears - it made for neater horse - and with this last, you might just as well ask why we pull manes and tails today! try pulling your own hair sometime.
Danae17th May 02
As for the ear and muzzle clipping is, in my opinion, strickly based on appearance. The horse's actually use the hair! The ear hair helps keeps the bugs, dirt, and moisture, out of their ears. With the muzzle and eyelashes, they use them as feelers. Think about it, when you don't shave your legs you can actually feel stuff with the hairs (great analogy huh?!) the same goes with horses. It becomes another sense for them.
Viv11th Jun 02
Nostril slitting is extremely old and yet carried on into the middle ages. Nostrils were slit prior to bits being used - a very low noseband was used to put pressure on the horse's sensitive nose for control - this of course covered the nostrils making it difficult for the horse to breath. The nostrils were therefore slit to allow the horse to breath... the practice continued on and off even after bits were invented and in the middle ages when there were a lot a very cruel practices nostril slitting (low nosebands) were often combined with very harsh bits!
Elizabeth Durack13th Jun 02
Tail docking became a fashion, but an initial reason for it was to prevent driving horses from swishing the tail and hooking the tailbone over the rein(s) and clamping it against the buttocks, a trick some horses apparently learn (presumably because of harsh rein handling). It was considered a safety precaution for this reason. It was also felt (and is still felt for certain breeds where the practice is legal) that a docked tail showed off the horse's hindquarters well. Tail docking is still standard on draft horses and show hackneys here in the US. Ear trimming can occasionally be seen in old photographs and was apparently cosmetic... though really it just looked odd. The horses' ears were cut almost in half in a rounded shape. How brutal and sad!!
Maija15th Jun 02
I am particulary interested in reconstruction of te 15th century sidesaddle. Although, this article gives some hints, they are not enough. :) I would appreciate any help with the research.
EDEE WEIGEL3rd Dec 02
REGARDING THE EAR TRIMMING -TO CLARIFY A FACT: THIS WAS AN OLD FASHIONED ( 1800 'S ) PRACTICE SIMULAR TO WHAT IS DONE TO A DOBERMAN DOGS EARS IN MODERNE TIMES! THE HORSES EARS WERE TRIMMED TO BE SMALLER AND MORE REFINED LOOKING -- NOT JUST WAS THE HAIR TRIMMED AS IN A SHOW HORSES GROOMING - BUT THE FLESH OF THE EAR WAS CUT AWAY TO MAKE THE EAR'PRETTIER' !!! SAD TO THINK HOW HORSES HAVE SUFFERED FOR THE VANITY OF MAN'S EGO!
MANS ROAD TO SUCCESS WAS PAVED WITH THEIR BONES....
Jan4th Dec 02
Hi Maija
The quote about the Catherine de Medici saddle in 1580 came from:- The Country Life Book of Saddlery and Equipment, but information was difficult to find and was collated from many sources.
Had I found a definative answer I would have included it because I would like to know the answers, to the questions the article has left unanswered.
Jan4th Dec 02
Thank you to all those who have left information about docking and ear/nostril cutting.
If your infomation has a source or you are quoting from a book - please could you e-mail (mike@newrider.com) with the paragharphs concerned, the name of the book, publisher and date published and Mike will pass on your e-mails to me.
And hopefully at long last I can complete the article.
Thanks
Jan
Henrietta10th Dec 02
I'd just like to say that true docking (cutting the bone of the tail) and ear and nose cutting for cosmetic (ie non-medical) purposes is illegal in Britain.
Dr Sharon E. Cregier20th Mar 03
Regarding tail-docking, the cosmetic amputation of the
tail, its legalities, illegalities, and long-term pain
and medical consequences for the horse, the specious
reasoning used to excuse the practice, please see
www.infography.com for a bibliography of sources
on the topic.
For the horses, Sharon E. Cregier
Ian Hoskins23rd Mar 03
Would you be able to date the introduction of the ladies' safety stirrup? I am particularly the invention and significance of Scott's patent stirrup - made by Hampson and Scott.
thank you
Ian
Henrietta28th Mar 03
Rosamund Owen in her book "The Art of Side Saddle comments that various safety stirrups appeared around 1850. Does this help? Have you tried the "Google" search engine?
Diane Chew28th Mar 03
Mary - Champion and Wilton were in business until 1957. I have seen a receipt for one of the last side saddles they made. It cost £76 7s 6d (£76.38p) - the latest new ones cost around £2000-£3000! Suggest you look up Nick Creaton's articles on the major side saddle manufacturers on the Side Saddle Association's official site.
