Field kept horses and dealing with the Spring grass

[HashRouge]

So I'm very interested in hearing from those of you whose horses live out all year round. My sister and I have two unshod horses, one of whom has cushings and both of whom have previously had laminitis. However, since they have been field kept I have found the Spring grass much easier to deal with. We cut down the size of their paddock coming into Spring, from 8 acres to probably around 2. This 2 acre area has been grazed over winter, but as part of a much larger area so it is not especially over grazed and there is a decent amount of grass. Now part of what helps is the fact that we can manage our own grazing and also that it is old pasture with a mixture of grasses. It is certainly not rich grazing - about one third of their paddock is also a wetland area, with lots of reeds. However, they could certainly gorge themselves if they chose to. What I'm finding though is that they seem much, much better able to moderate their own grass intake now that they have been living out consistently for 2 years. Quite often I will go up and they will not be grazing but dozing or talking to their friends over the fence. I was there for four hours on Wednesday sorting out fencing and it was really interesting to see how they didn't have their heads down pigging out the whole time, like they used to come Spring time if they'd been on restricted Winter grazing. Instead there was much more movement than I expected, lots of visiting with their neighbours over the fence, lots of just standing quietly together. It is fascinating for me because I had always assumed that these are two particularly greedy ponies, but I don't think that is the case now. I think what I interpreted as greed was more a response to restricted Winter grazing. I.e. because there wasn't much grass on the Winter fields, they would come in hungry and gorge on hay like greedy pigs, and when the Spring grass came through they would do the same in the fields.

What I want to know really is if this is normal with horses who live out all year round - has anyone else noticed the same thing? We never had the chance to have 24/7 turnout in the Winter until the last few years. I don't think I could go back to doing it any other way!

 

[Supertrooper]

Mine is out 24/7 on the same bit of field, it's a four acre field split down middle by electric fencing. His field mate has one side and mine has the other.

They are split from Nov to May/June to allow other older horse to be fed as mine won't allow him to get near food and the things he's fed mine def doesn't need!!! However I've asked this year that we continue to keep them split for a few reasons, namely that the other horse has mites and owners don't treat him so I had to keep having mine injected last year and also because mine is dominant he herds the other horse around and I feel that's unfair on him, mine is also more relaxed on his own. They can still groom over electric fence and mine can also groom horses over gateway that are in firld next door.

I also prefer it because I can then restrict my side of field as I wish, because D is out 24/7 all year round he doesn't gorge, he grazes, snoozes, lies down, eats out of hedges and mooches around playing with his treat balls.

He def lives a more natural lifestyle, I notice with the horses at my yard they all tend to be doing similar things because they are all out 24/7 in stable herds so they are always really chilled.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

I have an elderly mare who has had stress laminitis in the past and was always stabled at night and out in the day until about 10 years ago when I decided that she was stressing more about being kept in than anything else so out she went 24/7. She is in a herd of three horses and three minis on about 14 acres in the winter which is then reduced over the summer months and rotated. She has been a much healthier, happier horse being kept like this and has not had laminitis since.

 

[windand rain]

mine are out 24/7 365 days of the year the only one that will gorge is the one that has laminitis and has been restricted severely in the past I have two highlands that will eat, snooze and potter about are never hugely fat and can be left out of the field to graze the rested grass. The dartmoor will never lift his head from the floor and I find a sort of track system best for him he has a bit of grass added in every day but has to walkaround the track for water and his strip of grass