Advice please on strip grazing

[05kitty93]

Hi,

I have a section D mare who lives off fresh air! I sectioned part of the field off with electric fencing and move the posts every so many weeks so she has access to a limited amount of grass. I also soak a couple of sections of hay and pop that out in the field for her.

My questions are....
1) Do you strip graze?
2) How often do you move the fencing in order for him/her to have access to a limited amount of grass?

I worry about laminitis, sand colic and gastric problems and try to prevent these as best I can.

I know she will never be a size 0 but a size 14 would be nice!

As always any and all advice gratefully received.

Cheers
Ruth

 

[*hic*]

1) yes
2) sorry - but depends on the horse and why I'm doing it! For my section A who has in the past had laminitis I move the posts every day or every other day to give her a foot or so wide strip of fresh grass to nibble on. The other trick I play with her is to have her follow the other horses round on rotation so that they have always eaten down the grass before she gets to go in a pen. I also run her with sheep in a pen which has never been sown with grass, what has grown is "volunteer" and is of less good quality than my specially sown stuff. It is never fertilised.

 

[05kitty93]

Jemima_too thank you for your advice.

As far as I am aware Lottie hasn't had Laminitis. However, I am restricting her grazing in order to keep her weight down and to prevent laminitis.

 

[Patches]

I move my strip grazing fence most days, of an evening. The grass is less lush overnight, so I prefer them to be eating the longer shoots down then, rather than in the morning. I only give them about one or two feet at most and there are at least three horses in it (sometimes five, depending on where the livery horses are grazing).

The frequency of moving the fence depends largely on the weather and how much the already grazed area of the field seems to be growing.

 

[Fiona]

I strip graze too, and move the fence about 2 feet every morning when the horses go out. The new stuff keeps them busy for a couple of hours, then the mooch about and nibble the rest of the day.

NB - moving it v little at the moment, as all the fields have been fertilised (except the bit they are in) so need some rain to make sure all the fertiliser has disappeared before we get too much further across the field.

Fiona

 

[05kitty93]

Thank you all for your advice.

I am going to move the fencing a foot every other day, hopefully this will keep her occupied but will also help keep her weight under control? I would be happy if she would either stay the same or loose a little of her tummy. I also ride as often as I can which should help too.

She is in the section of field on her own (the other ponies are poor doers) what size area would you recommend I section off?

Sorry for all the questions....