Depending on climatic and geographic conditions, stocking rate, management practices, and hardiness of the forage, pasturettes vary in what they can offer a horse. The horse spends most of its day in a barn, holding corral, or paddock. Properly managed small pastures in optimal regions can provide significant, nutritious forage. Other folks with the same kind of property, mismanaged, have pastures that are eaten down to nothing. It all depends on how much effort you can put into it.
Good management begins with knowledge.
You should know the type of soil you have, measure the nutrient content of your soil via annual soil analysis, realize what forages are best suited for your individual situation, and determine the carrying capacity for your acreage. You also can get information and soil analyses from your local county extension service. Beyond that, good management involves paying attention to the health of your grass, meeting the nutrient needs of your grass, and keeping the pasture clean and fencing in good repair. You have to groom them, fertilize them, harrow them, and clip them. The average horse consumes 20 to 25 pounds of roughage a day, and pastures often cannot sustain that in terms of growth.