| Summary: | The pasture–animal interface of warm-season perennial grass–legume mixed pastures has never been investigated in forage-based equine systems. Therefore, this 2-year study investigated the herbage and animal responses under 84-day continuous stocking in mixed pastures of rhizoma peanut (RP, <i>Arachis glabrata</i> Benth) and bahiagrass (BG, <i>Paspalum notatum</i> Flüggé) with 30 kg nitrogen (N) ha<sup>−1</sup> (BG-RP) compared to BG pastures fertilized with 120 kg N ha<sup>−1</sup> (BG-N<sub>120</sub>) and no N (BG-N<sub>0</sub>). Measurements were taken every 14 days, except for intake and in vivo digestibility, which were measured every 28 days. BG-N<sub>120</sub> had the highest stocking rate (<i>p</i> = 0.01; 3.7 AU ha<sup>−1</sup>) in 2019, while BG-N<sub>0</sub> had the lowest (<i>p</i> = 0.01; 2.6 AU ha<sup>−1</sup>) in 2020. Crude protein and digestible energy were greatest (<i>p</i> < 0.05) for BG-N<sub>120</sub> and BG-RP in some of the evaluation days in 2019 but similar across pastures in 2020. Crude protein digestibility was greatest (<i>p</i> < 0.05) for BG-RP in the late season. Intake was less (<i>p</i> = 0.03) for horses grazing BG-RP (3.2%BW) compared to BG-N<sub>0</sub> (5.0%BW). Nonetheless, no differences (<i>p</i> > 0.05) were observed among pastures for body measurements. The results indicate that BG-RP pastures can improve forage nutritive value and maintain horse body condition while maintaining similar stocking rate to monoculture bahiagrass with high N fertilizer rates.
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