What kind of soil is good for horse pasture? (Houston: house, to buy)

[lallen2004]

As we hit the market looking for property to buy and clear for a pasture, we suddenly realize how little we know. One property is saying under all the weeds we'll find mostly sand. Is that good or bad? Any feedback on the best type of soil and what to plant would be appreciated.

[ROY DUBOSE]

now, i know little about this subject but i'd think the most self sustaining area would be east and north of austin vs. the hills -- i've got an alum contact at usda if you'd like to dm

[lallen2004]

Roy - that would be awesome, thanks. This property was in Bastrop.

[TexasHorseLady]

You have hit on the number one question when looking for horse property in this area. I cannot tell you the number of times, when we were looking for our place before I became an agent, that we'd go look at a property advertised as "perfect horse property! 25 acres!" only to find that it was 23 acres straight up and down hill country with limestone and holes that would make it very perfect for our veterinarian's pocket book, but not so great for horses, and two acres of flat. (This is one of the reasons that I eventually became an agent, in fact.)

Best soil bar none is sandy loam (which is different from sand). You're going to find that east, in the Elgin/Coupland/Thrall general area - also down in Bastrop/Caldwell counties - east of I35, in other words. Sand is okay - it's frequently used in arenas, though there are better footings available these days - but not as good as sandy loam, because the latter will grow pasture better. (I hail originally from East Texas, where the family farm was sandy soil, not sandy loam - grew GREAT watermelons, but not as good pasture.)

Second is Houston Black - rich black gumbo clay. Grows things wonderfully, but you do run into the mud problem when it really really rains. (Future archeologists, if they ever excavate where our paddock is now, are going to dig up a couple of mud boots that were lost at different times when they sunk so deep in the mud that the best I could do was retrieve my foot - the boots were a lost cause - this was before we learned how to alleviate that problem in the high-traffic areas.)

Your other choice is Austin Chalk (limestone). You'll find that west of I35, with pockets (of varying depth) of good soil interspersed throughout. East of I35 it's pretty easy to find good soil for horses. West, you have to make educated guesses or have someone familiar with the area who knows where it's most likely to be found if you're lucky (and if that property is on the market).

Our own place, just east of I35, is half Houston Black (with a creek running through, so a little bit of creek bottom where the grass is awesome) and half Austin Chalk (going on up the hill at a grade - if you keep your horses barefoot, like we do, it's great for "filing" their hooves and lengthening the time between necessary farrier calls. Then flat again at the top, but not much grass except one corner where, again, a creek cuts across the property and there's a little bit of creek bottom and awesome grass. If we go out and don't see the critters, we pretty much know they'll be there (it's not visible from the house due to the rise).

If you have a particular property in mind, you might want to talk to the Bastrop county extension agent about it, maybe even see if he'll come out and walk the property with you and your agent. (Contact info at the link.) Extension agents are a wealth of information about their area, not just soil but what those plants are that are growing there, what resources are available, ways to grow the kind of pasture you want (and whether or not it will grow there, and what's the best pasture grasses for horses that will grow well), etc. We don't do a monoculture pasture here - we prefer "pasture salad", where a variety of native grasses/plants grow and the horses pick and choose what they need. You might want to read some writing by Allen Nations and Joel Salatin. Oh, and if you can avoid doing weedkilling/fertilizing, and do something like having Sustainable Growth, Texas, spray your pasture. (We switched, and it made a HUGE difference to our hay pasture - increased production from 20 round bales on ten acres to 28 in one season.)