Grass intolerance??

[vicm2509]

I dont know if anyone remembers my posts about Barons rather sloppy poos? Well I bought him in April, and since going out 24/7 in May his droppings became very loose and this went on all summer regardless of what I fed him. Putting him in stressful situations i.e hacking, shows etc made them like water. He was not passing it so much that it affected his weight, they were just more sloppy than the average horse.

He came in at night in November but stayed in the same field during the day, his poos firmed a little but were still quite sloppy (firmer in the morning than the evening)

Vet came out to give him his boosters and had a look and said no need for blood tests as they dont look like anything to worry about. Also added many horses have sloppy poo when out at grass.

Anyway I moved him into the baldy field (about 1/8th size of his usual field with minimal grass) about 3 weeks ago, within 12 hours he had firm normal looking poo!! Yesterday as a litttle experiment I put him back in the big field which has a lot more grass (but not excessive amounts as it is grazed on all year) for about 6hours....result...this morning very sloppy poos in his stable which were very smelly!

So could he have some sort of intolerance to it? He is stabled at night on hay and fed sugarbeet, soaked oats and alfa with topspec supplement. He has been on various feeds since I bought him and the diet hes on at the moment seems the best but big field still makes him have smelly, sloppy poo.

Suggestions please??

(sorry to post about this again, its just i am a little worried and want to help him but vet says its noting to be concerned about)

 

[AmyMay]

I would have thought that it's unlikely - perhaps more to do with excess moisture in the grass in the other field.

 

[vicm2509]

It is much wetter up there come to think of it. Problem is not one of the other horses on our yard (and there are about 40 of them) has this problem. Yes some have sloppier poos but the field change does not alter the problem for anyone but Baron.


Also his poo was sloppy right through the summer, even when the grass seemed bone dry.

He doenst seem bothered by it but it is so sloppy that I cant use white boots on his hind legs, he gets poo in his tail and I have to clean his bum all the time. By the time he gets to a show he looks a right state and he is about to poo you really do have to move out the way as it splashes.

When he is in the smaller field they are normal and the only time I will get a sloppy one is if he is nervous on a hack.

 

[spaniel]

Does he have access to a salt lick at all? It may be that he needs a little salt to encourage his digestive system to absorb more of the water pasing through his gut.

 

[vicm2509]

He does have one in his stable but he wont touch it, i even tried putting some of his mollases lick on it so he would try it but no.

I did add salt to his feeds for about 4 months which made no difference. So I put him on the topspec supplement about a month ago hoping that would have an effect. He went on that around the same time he came in at night so im not sure if it was that that made a difference or the fact that he is on grass for only 8 hrs a day now.

 

[H's mum]

It could well be sugar intolerance - H has this too and can't go out for longer than a few hours if the field has grass - 4 hours max on what looks (to us) like a bald paddock - if she's out for longer then she colics!

Now you know what's causing your boy's runny bum, you can at least manage him more effectively by using bald paddocks/grazing muzzles etc! Well done for getting to the bottom of it!

btw... I find feeding H carrots also has the same effect - they are very sugary!!!

Kate x

 

[vicm2509]

Thank you, that never even crossed my mind. I can put him in the bald paddock all year (thats were all the fatties usually go) if I need to. He hasnt ever had colic with me and his tummy is never sensitive to touch. He doesnt pass wind often either. I do admit to bulking up his feed quite a bit with plain old sugarbeet since he has been in which hasnt made it worse, but maybe I will try him on speedi beet instead.

Although thinking back, in april when I got him the yard ran out of hay and litrally overnight he had to go on haylage which immediatly gave him the runs. So maybe you are right about the sugar.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

My mare is sugar intollerant - Grass, Haylage, Sugarbeet, Mollasses all result in liquid and at times projectile poo (she can hit the back of the stable from 4ft)!!!!! Touch wood she doesn't colic.

She is on restricted grazing (she has lived out before, but was a complete mess). She has ab lib hay with a small feed of Alfa A Oil which is about the only thing I have found with no added sugar in it. She is still soft compared to most, but I have just started feeding her Aloe Vera Gel (3 weeks now) which is really starting to firm her up (I had tried just about every other powder and potion at the feed shop).

I think I may be close to being able to go home without stinking of poo.

 

[CBFan]

A horse I shared last year had a very sensitive tummy - he couldn't eat haylage 'cos this made it worse and he was put on a probiotic supplement and a high fibre diet which really helped.

You don't really say whether your horse is a good doer or not but maybe simplifying his diet to Hi-fi (lite) and alfa-a (lite) with topspec balancer / supplement might help?... Sugar / speedi beet probably won't be helping a great deal as might have a slight laxitive effect anyway...

 

[TequilaMist]

Don't know about the sloppy poo but it is possible for a horse to have an intolerance to a grass.My friend bought a mare from borders took it to yard everything ok for a bit til spring then horse started getting very itchy and little bumps broke out.After vets input and testing horse was found to be intolerant to rye grass which is apparently quite a common type up here.She spent a fortune feeding Timothy Hay initially til rash subsided and she found a way to manage it tho.which she has.
Not saying this is cause of your horses problem just that grass intolence is possible.

 

[JaneSteventon]

Hello. Could it be something to do with fertilized grass. One of my horses is fine on my field which is not fertilized but has sloppy poo on a farmers field which i rent and is muck spreaded. She also gets mild urticaria on the fertilized field. However having sais that it could be rye grass intolerance as well as the farmers field (i presume ) is rye and mine is a mixture of grasses. I don't actually worry anymore as she is fine in all other ways and it has improved over the years. My other horse is fine on the same grazing.

 

[vicm2509]

Neither of the fields he grazes on are fertalised so that cant be the problem. Both fields, the small and large are managed in the same way its just the smaller on has less grass.

He isnt a good doer but not poor either, he is 7yo, 16.3 IDxTB and hadnt done that much before I got him (out of work for a year) so he is still filling out and im building him up. He is currently fed this twice a day - 1/2 round scoop soaked oats (unsoaked amount), 1 round scoop alfa oil, 1/2 round scoop soaked sugar beet and topspec comprehensive supplement. He is on grass all day and has as much hay as he wants throughout the night. I would say he is currently the perfect weight and in good condition.

When I got him I put him on conditioning cubes and normal hi-fi and with grass his poos were the same. I then changed this to hi fi and fibre cubes but he was still on grass, poo slightly firmer but no significant difference.

I was under the inpression that sugarbeet and alfa were both high in fibre which is why I changed him to this, he seems to be doing really well on the soaked oats diet and from what I can understand it is the grass causing the sloppy poo as they are nice and firm unless he goes in the big field.

His poo gets a lot more sloppy when we hack out, and as the hack goes on they get worse. They are mainly small poos but lots of them, when hacking that is. And its the same on the way to a show, but once where are there he calms down and they are less regular. Im not saying they are only sloppy when I ride as they are sloppy all the time, it just seems worse when I put him in unfarmiliar surroundings. When they are sloppy the smell is really bad aswell.

Is it worth talking this over with a different vet or should I just keep him in the small field and try and manage it myself?

 

[AmyMay]

He sounds a bit 'stressy' which could contribute. Have you ever had a full worm count done just out of interest???

 

[vicm2509]

I have just been reading up on equine sugar intolerance and none of the other symptoms seem to apply to baron.

It appears that horses with a sugar intolerance usually get over excited, well baron is the most laid back horse ever, if you had to describe him as lazy or excitable I would say lazy although he is pretty push button tbh (besides his little napping episodes, lol). He doesnt get bloated, and doesnt often pass wind. He seems happy in himself and certainly not stressed, and he doesnt get any lumps, bumps or rashes on his skin.

Is it still possible that this could be the problem?

If it is I will talk it over with another vet then perhaps get him tested. At least then I can manage it properly.

 

[vicm2509]

He is stressy on hacks yes, the rest of the time hes really laid back. He used to be really nappy and it would take me half an hour to get him off the yard, he would nap badly while out aswell. He no longer naps (well he might have the odd paddy) but I do have to talk to him all the time if we hack alone. He is fine when in company hacking but still poos lots. Apart from that nothing phases him at all, on bad days he can be happily munching his hay and do 3 sloppy poos in an hour.

I have never had a worm count done but he is on a good worming programme. But would this explain why his poos are only sloppy when he is in the big field? In the small field they can still go sloppy towards the end of a hack but this is the only time they are sloppy.

 

[AmyMay]

[ QUOTE ]
I have never had a worm count done but he is on a good worming programme. But would this explain why his poos are only sloppy when he is in the big field? In the small field they can still go sloppy towards the end of a hack but this is the only time they are sloppy.

[/ QUOTE ]

Your worming programme may be excellent - but what about the years before you had him - just thinking about long term worm damage that you may nothing about.

Not sure it would contribute to the runny poo in one field not in another scenario - just a thought if you are still worried.

 

[piebaldsparkle]

My mare sounds the same as the only symptons she has is sloppy poo. However by elimination I know that grass, haylage, mollasses and sugarbeet all result in sloppy poo. She is still turned out for sometime each day, as it is inpracticle to keep her in all the time, but I restrict her grazing to a baldish patch and limit the time she spends out (max 8 hours). She did have a worm count done by vet, but nothing found. Vet wasn't worried either, as I seem to have identified the triggers. Aloe Vera Gel is helping firm her up. She does loads of little poos when hacking too.