am i going loopy

[Agent XXX999]

There used to be stuff called equigrass I think – it was like a section of really sweet lush grass you fed to your horse. I was wondering if I was imagining it – does it actually exist, and is it any good?

There is absolutely no grass at the yard (well there is but its cr*p!), and despite the fact he is on ad lib haylage I was thinking that it might be good to give him something like that for lunch – like a midmorning snack!

Is it any good and if it is where can I buy it?

 

[allijudd]

doesnt spillers do something similar...such as readigrass?

 

[muffinino]

I used to feed the scurry ponies with Readigrass. It came in a green and yellow bag (I think) and was short, dry, green grass stuff that was very sweet smelling. Is that the one? Used to give it to them as part of a feed when we were at shows as they lived out all year on grass&it substituted a bit for not being able to graze. They loved it and it helped bulk out feeds.

 

[the watcher]

I remember it too, friend of mine used to feed it at her stud, it grew in boxes a bit like cress..will do some research!

this is the stuff..you just have to find the supplier...

Hydroponic Forage
Another alternative to hay is hydroponic forage, which is the fresh shoots of germinated barley seeds grown in a controlled environment and fed at around five days growth. As with vacuum cleaned hay it involves the purchase of special equipment and, if not properly maintained, there is a risk of mould contamination. As fibre levels of hydroponic forage are very low, in practice it is generally regarded only as a supplement to the diet.

 

[charlotte1]

spillers do a product called readigrass, sounds very similiar to what you are looking for, give my horse a bucket of it every night and she loves it as is very similiar to grass.

 

[Agent XXX999]

At risk of sounding like a dope, it is fresh grass, rather than freeze dried…you give it in a chunk?

 

[the watcher]

Found an article relating to this which names a charity teaching Andean farmers to grow this stuff for their llamas, you might be able to find a supplier through this?

news article

 

[charlotte1]

Think it's rye grass that has been dried. It's still very green, i just tend to dampen it and then looks alot like grass.

 

[threeponies]

You can in theory grow hydroponic grass yourself, I've got it in a book somewhere will have a look for it if you want?