Grass goodness atm

[motherof2beasts!]

So usually at this time of year I know the grass loses its goodness …. But it’s been a very mild winter so far.

Our main paddock is just poached now so there’s lots of standing at the gate, both are asthmatic and very good doers. If we want to put hay out in field then it has to be soaked overnight which is just a pain in the backside as they are in overnight on soaked hay, my back has had enough of soaking .

There is another paddock which was topped in august but hasn’t had a horse on it for over a year. Do you think they’d be ok if strip grazed or likely to get even fatter…..

 

[Tiddlypom]

You had the sub zero conditions that lasted for a number of days not long ago (start of December)? I’m reckoning that will have zapped the goodness out of the foggage, so it *ought* to be fairly safe to strip graze into.

I’m strip grazing into my foggage 2 x daily.

ETA According to the laminitis app, the current lami risk is low.

 

[Fire sign]

So usually at this time of year I know the grass loses its goodness …. But it’s been a very mild winter so far.

Our main paddock is just poached now so there’s lots of standing at the gate, both are asthmatic and very good doers. If we want to put hay out in field then it has to be soaked overnight which is just a pain in the backside as they are in overnight on soaked hay, my back has had enough of soaking .

There is another paddock which was topped in august but hasn’t had a horse on it for over a year. Do you think they’d be ok if strip grazed or likely to get even fatter…..

I have a similar question … good Doer standing in mud and a pristine rested paddock with short green grass … I would love to put her in there , she would love to be in there , but is it a lami risk ?!

 

[meleeka]

Having one who’s just come down with laminitis, I’d say the risk is still high. I usually open this field up at Christmas anyway, but did so a week early this year. I’m guessing the mild temperatures haven’t helped.

 

[The Xmas Furry]

Fwiw, my mini is free ranging at night, out with B across 4 paddocks, one is foggage but much more dry underfoot.
She is still in a grazing muzzle as plenty of droppings coming through, I'm not taking chances as she's not permitted to get laminitis again (by me, its 4 yrs since she last had it and that put her on the final chance list)

 

[motherof2beasts!]

Thanks for responses , mixed bag as expected. This relentless rain has destroyed their field , we never usually get mud as on sand/stone. We put them out and they just stand at the gate calling …. It’s all a bit depressing. Think maybe we’ll start with going into nice paddock a couple of hours a day then back into poached field to see how they go with it. Both are cobs but rather pathetic cobs , they won’t graze if the grounds muddy….

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Thanks for responses , mixed bag as expected. This relentless rain has destroyed their field , we never usually get mud as on sand/stone. We put them out and they just stand at the gate calling …. It’s all a bit depressing. Think maybe we’ll start with going into nice paddock a couple of hours a day then back into poached field to see how they go with it. Both are cobs but rather pathetic cobs , they won’t graze if the grounds muddy….

Sometimes I think it's worse for them to only have access to 'the good stuff' for a couple hours, as they know it's limited supply and it encourages them to gorge more. I would go for the strip grazing over that if you can bare the faff with the fencing.

 

[santas_spotty_pony]

Defiant goodness in mine still. Two have put weight on recently and they are only on hay and happy hoof feed wise.

 

[Nudibranch]

We still have grass but the last couple of weeks it has definitely lost its value. The mare is being bossy and pawing the gate which is her hungry sign. Even the very fussy Herdwick sheep have started to eat their mix now so there really isn't much goodness out there. We are Shropshire so not especially north or high either. I wouldn't be concerned putting mine onto fresh grazing right now.

Wet weather always makes it worse as well, presumably because they're taking in more water with each bite.

 

[Jambarissa]

I assume it's lower sugar at this time of year because it needs sunlight to make the sugar and moderate temperatures to grow. So it should be growing slowly with limited sugar.

Ours is definitely growing. We have an unfenced strip where we often handgraze and it's much longer but the horses grab a few mouthfuls then want to get back to their hay net. Similar in the fields, plenty of grass but they're at the gates after a few hours.

 

[Wishfilly]

The limited sunlight will be limiting photosynthesis a bit, which should mean less sugars than in summer. However, I do know of a few horses who got laminitis or signs of it in November, so I would be wary.

My pony is currently showing less signs of hunger than at the end of the summer when they had grazed their paddock right down. He is in at night, but not eating all his hay and his weight is reasonably stable.

That said, I think I would try them with the strip grazing and keep a very careful eye on their weight.

 

[Spotherisk]

This time of year four years ago my previous AM then got laminitis horse was turned out naked with a blanket clip and a muzzle on only grass and gained weight. He was diagnosed with pssm the following month and pts the month after.

The climate has changed so much in the last 20 years that we have to reassess how to keep them safe. Warm wet winters are killers, just as we all used to fear frosty mornings (we don’t get frost at home now, it’s too warm).