A strip grazing question for you knowledgable people

[sonjafoers]

Ok, so the vet came today to look at my arthritic horse and as I wasn't available my husband oversaw the visit. He has explained everything the vet said & a lot of it centred around weight management as she is overweight.

She is currently stripgrazed and is on a very bare patch, and despite this is gaining weight rapidly. She's only fed a light balancer and has no hay etc.

The vet recommended removing the electric fencing and allowing her full roaming of her field which is 50% bare and 50% decent grazing. The longer section has been fenced off since April so has some long stalky bits but it has just had sheep on it for 10 days or so.

His theory is that the bare grass is being eaten as soon as it comes through so the horses are eating purely the tips with a high sugar content - he likened it to putting a cake in front of her all day. By allowing her to roam and graze not only is she moving more but she is filling up on an assortment of grass rather than only the sugary tip.

He also stressed she needs to increase her exercise to help with the weight loss and as she can only be walked & trotted at present she needs to do 90 - 120 minutes every day.

He feels that after 6 weeks she should have lost enough weight so that we can continue investigations if necessary.

Of course I completely understand the exercise bit but am quite worried about removing the electric fencing although in order to follow his advice I have done so. Part of what he says makes complete sense but there's still a lot of me that just thinks grass=weight gain.

Can anyone help me get my head around this please!

 

[twiggy2]

when ever I strip graze mine i move a fence to open the field on one side and move a fence to close off some of the short grass behind them.

personally I would shut off the short grass and put a muzzle on but it does depend on the horse

 

[southerncomfort]

I definately wouldn't allow your horse free access to the whole field, that sounds like a recipe for disaster to me especially if your horse is already overweight.

My advice would be to either do as advised above and muzzle your horse or do what we do which is to have a track right around the perimeter of the field. Their are many benefits to this (google 'paddock paradise') but the best thing about it for me is that my 3 natives are fit, slim and have really good musculature especially over their hindquarters.

Good luck.

 

[3OldPonies]

Could you move the fencing so that she has a strip that is part good grazing and part bare? That's what I'm doing with my two oldies, both arthritics and one prone to lami? It's making them both move about more but not allowing so much good stuff that it causes a problem. Interestingly they seem to go for the good stuff at night which is when the sugar content should be lower.

 

[BurntontheoutsideTurkey]

My advice would be to either do as advised above and muzzle your horse or do what we do which is to have a track right around the perimeter of the field. Their are many benefits to this (google 'paddock paradise') but the best thing about it for me is that my 3 natives are fit, slim and have really good musculature especially over their hindquarters.

I would echo this. If you keep the track quite narrow it encourages them to move on a bit more. My friend's (with one 13.2 welshie) is about 9 feet, only wider at the corners and where the field is a funny shape. He is looking great on it, despite his usual tendency to balloon.

 

[dollyanna]

I would definitely go for a track, it can be really quite narrow with a wider section for grazing if you want, but it made a huge difference to mine.

 

[Tnavas]

Ok, so the vet came today to look at my arthritic horse and as I wasn't available my husband oversaw the visit. He has explained everything the vet said & a lot of it centred around weight management as she is overweight.

She is currently stripgrazed and is on a very bare patch, and despite this is gaining weight rapidly. She's only fed a light balancer and has no hay etc.

The vet recommended removing the electric fencing and allowing her full roaming of her field which is 50% bare and 50% decent grazing. The longer section has been fenced off since April so has some long stalky bits but it has just had sheep on it for 10 days or so.

His theory is that the bare grass is being eaten as soon as it comes through so the horses are eating purely the tips with a high sugar content - he likened it to putting a cake in front of her all day. By allowing her to roam and graze not only is she moving more but she is filling up on an assortment of grass rather than only the sugary tip.

He also stressed she needs to increase her exercise to help with the weight loss and as she can only be walked & trotted at present she needs to do 90 - 120 minutes every day.

He feels that after 6 weeks she should have lost enough weight so that we can continue investigations if necessary.

Of course I completely understand the exercise bit but am quite worried about removing the electric fencing although in order to follow his advice I have done so. Part of what he says makes complete sense but there's still a lot of me that just thinks grass=weight gain.

Can anyone help me get my head around this please!

I have a fatty and she is on an acre of very, very short grass. She has to work so hard to get a meal that she is walking most of the day. Regardless of the level of sugars in the grass the mere fact that is is not an easy mouthful means she doesn't over eat. By walking so much she is keeping trim.

Put the sheep through the paddock until there is nothing really visible left then put your mare on it, don't give any extra hard food, let her work for her meals.

CAn you get away with not feeding the balancer and instead provide her with a mineral block.

'In the days of old' our horses and ponies didn't get any suppliments and they still lived. If she needs to have bute or the like, mix it with some warm water and peppermint oil and syringe it into her mouth.

Feed a couple of peppermints first to get the peppermint flavour in her mouth then dose with medication. This peppermint beforehand works really well for those that hate getting a wormer.

 

[sonjafoers]

Thank you everyone, there are some really good replies there.

My farrier suggested a paradise paddock type set up a while ago but unfortunately I wouldn't be able to do so as the YO won't allow it. I have 3 gates in my field & these need to be fenced in a certain way to allow access, so using a track around the outer of my field would be perfect for me but no good for anyone else.

Tnavas that's a good idea re the peppermint, I have to give bute & cosequin daily so she gets the balancer to carry this but I think I'll try your idea. I have ordered a muzzle for her too so will use that.

Does anyone have any thoughts re the bare patch actually causing weight gain by only providing sugary tips of grass? It's kept my brain ticking over all afternoon!

 

[Tnavas]

Thank you everyone, there are some really good replies there.

My farrier suggested a paradise paddock type set up a while ago but unfortunately I wouldn't be able to do so as the YO won't allow it. I have 3 gates in my field & these need to be fenced in a certain way to allow access, so using a track around the outer of my field would be perfect for me but no good for anyone else.

Tnavas that's a good idea re the peppermint, I have to give bute & cosequin daily so she gets the balancer to carry this but I think I'll try your idea. I have ordered a muzzle for her too so will use that.

Does anyone have any thoughts re the bare patch actually causing weight gain by only providing sugary tips of grass? It's kept my brain ticking over all afternoon!

That's what I was referring to, if the grass is really short and she has to move around a lot to graze, the amount she gets should hold her weight reasonably stable. Get the sheep back in to seriously eat it down more. Space is really important for fat horses, exercise goes hand in hand with weight loss. Just as with humans, you can eat a small amount and lie around but you won't lose weight as what you eat is maintaining your weight. You have to exercise. For your horse it needs to be a mixture of being worked by you or working by moving around in her paddock.