Am I being silly-changing grazing and worried about sand colic.

[Toffee44]

Currently samba is in at night (soaked hay) out in day and muzzled on very rich pasture. I have no control of sectioning off etc.

Now moving yards and be yard other side of the downs and is very sandy soil. Will have own paddock so have total control sectioning and hopefully no more muzzle.

We are moving next week but I am getting nervous now about this sandy soil. And will the big change in grazing type cause an impacting or sand colic?!? Is there anything I should do to avoid? Keep her in muzzle for a fee days even though grass will be short? She will be out 24/7 through summer.

Or am I over thinking it?

She has alway been a well covered mare and has never developed a crest or fat pads or been lami. But now has she never been an ideal weight as I had no control on her current grazing other than muzzle.

 

[Tickles]

Hmmm... you can't really introduce the new grazing gradually if you're moving her.

Do you have the option at the new place to keep her in overnight with soaked hay for a few days so that part of her routine doesn't change as well as all the rest?

 

[cheeryplatypus]

I think you can give ispaghula husk to help prevent the sand settling in their stomach. It gets soaked and makes a sort of jelly you feed. Friend uses it on her mare who used to colic all the time.

 

[Toffee44]

I was planning on putting her straight out as no one is in at night on the yard. Don't think she would cope with everyone else out.

Where do I get the husk from? Can I use it just for a few months. I did look like paranoid owner and asked a couple of people about sand colic on the yard and they said they haven't really had the ground blamed for any colic.

 

[be positive]

google psyllium for horses and you will find various stockists, I have not used it so cannot recommend the best place to buy it.

It seems to be something you use for 7 days each month to reduce the risk.

 

[LynH]

I use psyllium or Sand Out on my horses for the first week of every month. The charity I got my loan pony from insist that all their horses and ponies are fed psyllium each month to prevent sand colic. They also request that horses are kept on grazing which is a minimum of 2" long as short stressed grass is more likely to cause laminitis. I do the psyllium but at this time of year all my horses are on restricted grazing and will go onto longer grass with muzzles once the spring burst is over. It's a difficult balance between sand colic and laminitis.

 

[Copperpot]

Please do give them something. My first ever horse I lost to sand colic and my friend almost lost hers too

 

[Tnavas]

They also request that horses are kept on grazing which is a minimum of 2" long as short stressed grass is more likely to cause laminitis.

I find this 'don't let them eat short grass' thing really ridiculous - it may have more sugars per inch BUT when the grass is that short they have to work like fury to get one mouthful, they work hard to get less.

Over the past 45 years I've successfully prevented any of my school ponies getting laminitis and my Clydesdale who lives on air by grazing on billiard table short grass.

Phsyllium husks are great for dealing with sand colic - I have also heard that feeding boiled linseed is just as good.

 

[Archangel]

I have kept my horses on sand for 18 years. I had one I used the husks on as he dedicated his life to eating and would eat roots and all, so picked up sand. Generally I try to manage their grazing to make sure they have a bit of bite rather than letting it get too short or patchy as that is when they pick up the most sand. When feeding in the field I use big trugs to avoid feed being spilled out on the grass and put the trug on grassy bits rather than sandy bits. Hay is fed in huge tubs rather than straight out on the grass. It all helps I think.

The grazing on sand is generally not so rich as say clay or chalk. When it is dry the grass will slow right up. I have friends on both clay and chalk and I cannot believe how much grass they have right now as mine is just coming along steadily. Of course the bonus is no mud in winter

As a precaution I feed a bit of oil during dry periods as I believe it keeps the sand bound to the food as it passes through. Vet says I am bonkers though

I don't think I would move off sand now as I tend to favour good doers and they are much easier to manage on the less rich grass.

 

[Dry Rot]

I'm on sand here. It was thrown up 7,000 years ago by a tsunami when a chunk fell off Norway! It is a fine mica sand which blows in the wind. Recently, roads through similar land were blocked with blown sand and they had to get the snow ploughs out!

I've had no problems with sand colic but I did do a bit of research and learnt that it should not be a problem provided they have some roughage going through the system to clean it out. Other countries have far more sand than we do and seem to manage OK.

One thing, we did an autopsy on a sheep once and the vet was amazed to pull a decent handful of sand out of it's stomach. He remarked that he had never seen anything like that before!

I also opted for pea gravel in the field shelter rather than sand but I don't think I needed to worry. When there is no grass, we feed hay or haylage. And when there is grass, that should clear out any sand in the intestinal tract. Can't explain the sheep though!

 

[LynH]

Tnavas - I also find the request re short grass ridiculous especially as she is a Highland and has a tendency to be overweight. It's difficult with loan owners requests, I see my primary responsibility to be the health of the pony and their requests secondary to that. I do keep her on short grass at the riskier times and muzzle when on longer grass. As their concern with short grass is two fold, sand colic and laminitis, I do give regular courses of psyllium.

 

[lachlanandmarcus]

The important thing is that the grass isn't shortish. it either needs to be long and low sugar (and the pony probably having to be strip grazed or muzzled to limit intake) OR it needs to be just about down to the ground and the pony is licking Velcro type grazing )

I have to go for the second as pony escapes any strip grazing fences and needed stitches she is so violent with any muzzles.

Interestingly while being overweight and long low sugar grass DID give her lami, the Velcro grazing approach plus controlled diet when out of the field has resulted in no lami. So for us, the bare paddock approach is working best, but it does have to be bare.

We have sandy soil but haven't had any sand colic issues, I try to avoid having any bare patches of soil, partly cos we are a grass sickness high risk area so bare patches to be avoided anyway.

I am able to bring in sheep to eat down the grass to nothing if I ever need to.

 

[Tnavas]

The important thing is that the grass isn't shortish. it either needs to be long and low sugar (and the pony probably having to be strip grazed or muzzled to limit intake) OR it needs to be just about down to the ground and the pony is licking Velcro type grazing )

I have to go for the second as pony escapes any strip grazing fences and needed stitches she is so violent with any muzzles.

Interestingly while being overweight and long low sugar grass DID give her lami, the Velcro grazing approach plus controlled diet when out of the field has resulted in no lami. So for us, the bare paddock approach is working best, but it does have to be bare.

We have sandy soil but haven't had any sand colic issues, I try to avoid having any bare patches of soil, partly cos we are a grass sickness high risk area so bare patches to be avoided anyway.

I am able to bring in sheep to eat down the grass to nothing if I ever need to.

If we look at how we used to prevent ponies getting laminitis, we kept them on extremely short grass. We didn't soak their hay but still somehow managed to keep our ponies safe.

No way would I put my Clydesdale out on long grass - she would explode in a very short time! While the long grass may have less sugars per inch - the amount she would be able to consume in volume would be extremely high.