Description
Our GALLOP Southern Horse pasture blend is a mix of cool and warm season grasses. We do this so at any point in the year the climate will be optimum for at least one of the grasses in the mix. All these grasses have either a medium to high drought tolerance once established and all grow across a range of soil types.
An elevated content of nonstructural carbohydrates such as fructose in pasture grasses is found to be one of the main causes of laminitis / founder in horses and ponies. The recommended thresholds to avoid equine laminitis are to keep NSC’s below 10 g/100g of the fodder. In all introduced cool season grasses , like Perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and Cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata), excess carbohydrate is stored in high amounts as simple sugars such as fructose and glucose,
Native Australian grasses, however, store carbohydrates as starch. The horse can digest this in a non-harmful way. For example, the Weeping grass and Wallaby grasses easily fall under this threshold having fructose levels of less than 0.2 g, glucose of less than 0.2 g and total sugars of less than 1.0 g/100g!
Grasses in the mix
Native Wheat Grass – (Anthosachne scabra)
- An all year green perennial grass with a tussocky habit.
- Found in all Australian states except the NT and is more common in districts with cool winters.
- Pasture –it occurs naturally with other grasses and is one of the first to start growing in spring, providing early green feed. It has high to moderate feed value.
- It is drought resistant, frost tolerant and has strong winter and early spring growth. Native Wheat grass is best used for revegetation or pasture.
Burra Weeping Grass – (Microleana stipoides)
- This is an extremely versatile and useful grass.
- Weeping grass has an attractive appearance, persistence and high grazing value, as well as tolerance of shade and acid soils.
- This native provides persistent ground cover once established and requires mowing roughly 3-4 times a year. The dense foliage and soft leaves means that this grass produces a very high quality lawn.
Silky Bluegrass (Dichanthium sericeum)
- This grass prefers warmer, drier sites. It is adapted to a broad range of climates and soil types.
- This grass has a high drought & heat tolerance, moderate frost tolerance and most importantly a high grazing tolerance
- It has a high leaf to stem ratio and is palatable to stock especially when young.
Mixed Wallaby Grass species – (Rytidosperma Setaceum/Fulva/Ariculata/
- Wallaby Grasses are one of the most resilient native grasses.
- They have high drought tolerance, high heat tolerance, high acid soil tolerance and high frost tolerance
- Wallaby Grasses can grow on most soil types from sandy soils to soils with varying levels of clay, and are also tolerant to soils that are alkaline.
Kangaroo Seeds & Awn (Themeda triandra)
- It is a warm season grass that has its main growth in summer and is generally dormant in winter
- A great adaption of this grass is its fire tolerant and responds well to regular burning and spelling
- It responds quickly to the first rain of the season growing an upright green leaf from the crown of the plant.
- It also produces a large bulk of dry matter and makes excellent fodder for grazing.
