The UK Horse Pasture Evaluation Program had another strong evaluation season during the summer of 2024. This program began in 2005 as part of Equine Programs to develop stronger ties with Kentucky’s horse industry. The program focuses on the following objectives:

• Providing detailed pasture management recommendations to horse farm owners and managers.

• Improving pastureland by increasing forage quality and quantity and reduce the need for stored feeds, such as hay and grain.

• Assessing the potential risk of fescue toxicity for broodmares on pastures.

• Providing undergraduate students with a new appreciation for agriculture and the horse industry.

In 2024 the program conducted 41 full farm evaluations covering over 700 pastures in 7 counties. The total farm acres from the enrolled farms was over 10,000.

The results of this program allowed these 41 farms to improve their pasture management and led to overall higher profitability. One farm reported that they had a 100% foal crop with no major vet calls, compared to a lower foal crop and numerous major calls the previous year without our program.

Collaborators: S. Ray Smith, Krista Lea and Jimmy Henning