Grazing for fatties, so frustrating....

ticobay831

ticobay831

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ok been told to keep on well grazed paddock or bare paddock, cant do that, says that over grazed or stressed grass isnt good for them sugar content high, not suposed to leave them in as its not good for them to stand around and they pig out when they go out anyway,,,, paddock with grass on is also no good, long dead grass is ideal but havent got any of that. SO WHAT DO I DO!!!!!!
sorry really getting peed off with all this.
 
I know exactly what you mean - i share your frustration as am having the same problems. I know a lot of people will say use grazing muzzles but my two get terrible rubs with them and I constantly worry that they are getting them off which they do and then pig out on long grass.

FWIW I bring my in during the day to a very bare paddock and feed a sec of soaked hay and straw (they mostly leave the straw so they cant be that hungry)and a fibre feed with some Antilam and then out at night on very short grazed grass.

Its the best I can do - short of keeping them on the bare paddock all the time and feeding more hay (my feed costs are so much higher in summer!)
 
Have answered you in veterinary but just to add, I went to a Laminitis conference at the Royal Vet College last year, and the chief speaker said the worst advice they ever gave for laminitis etc was to avoid short grass because it is stressed and has more sugar in it.

It does indeed have more sugar per millimetre of leaf/stem/whatever, however because it is so short, the horses can't actually eat that much of it, so they can't actually get a huge rush of fructans no matter how hard they try to, and therefore it is absolutely fine to turn out on short grass, although the amount of time they can go out depends on each horse and just how short the grass/large the field is.

He said they had had a huge increase in laminitis cases after the advice to avoid stressed grass was given, because people started turning out on normal grass, and research showed that a horse can actually gorge itself and eat 5 times the amount of calories they need in one day - 5! So we need only turn out one day a week and leave them in for the next 4! Ha, just joking, but that illustrates the problem.

So they have taken back that advice about short stressed grass, but it is hard to get the message out as we all now believe we mustn't put our horses on stressed grass!

Hope that helps the dilemma a little.
 
Thankyou thats just what i needed to hear, its all so bloody contridicting and confusing.
thing is he stresses when he cant see others and have a youngster as well that dosnt need a bare paddock, maybe a gun would be the answer ??? only joking!!!! :-)
xx
 
That's really interesting, thank you Llewelyn. I've also heard really contradictory things about the stressed grazing versus muzzling on lush grass - my horse won't keep a muzzle on so I do stressed grass and lots of work to keep her slim! What you said does make a lot of sense though.

I have heard really good things about the RVC lectures which unfortunately I missed this year. I want to get the information but it doesn't seem to be getting out there at the right level - either it is over-simplified and we are told fat ponies get laminitis so keep them skinny, or it is scientific papers in the vet journals which to be honest I don't think most ordinary horse owners can really understand (I know I can't). So if anyone has any good resources - care to post links? Thanks :)
 
Fascinating subject and I am facing the same dilemmas. One slim fit Pony Club games team pony with laminitis! Been worrying about the short grass for the others but feel happier now having read this.
 
I think we need to change the TYPE of grass we feed our horses. UK cow grass is just far too rich.
 
At the recent RVC lecture I went to (notes in the vet section), it was mentioned that you can take your lawnmower out there to ensure the grass is kept short!
So short grass is better then longer grass - for grazing muzzles there is no limit to the size of the paddock but aim for the grass to be 2cm - 2" so they can graze, too short and the grass doesn't get through the hole, too long and it bends over and again is difficult to get through the hole!
I bought a sheepskin coat from my local charity shop and made tubes to fit onto the muzzle straps - works really well :) My 385kg boy has his on for around 19 hours now and it means he can go out as into the field without being fenced into a small area or kept in longer. He does come in for 4-6 hours in the morning to have a feed (400g of Good Doer and 400g of Oat Chaff) with supplements (Benevit advanced) and 2.3kg of hay (soaked for 20 hours). He is on a month's weight loss programme (aiming to lose .7kg a day) until he reaches his target weight of 365kg... working really well so far :)
 
Mine is in a sectioned off corner of the field that he has eaten down to next to nothing and will stay in that for the rest of the summer, with the fence moved a smidge every now and again. Never seen any evidence of the stressed grass thing, he is absolutely fine on it. He is the ultimate horse hoover and will stuff his face if given access to any more and will not wear a muzzle. He comes in for a couple of hours a day to be ridden and has a small bit of hay and a chaff feed to carry his cortaflex. This is what works for us.
 
I use a combination of starvation paddock overnight and muzzle during the day, works well so far. Previously I used a track system with very little grass cover around the perimeter of the field, but with only one horse needing restriction now there would still be too much grass. The muzzle plus paddock means that the horse gets some time with plenty of free movement and some time free of the restriction of the muzzle. The only difficult part is when the grass gets too low for the muzzle, which it almost is as I've got sheep on too; then I'll resort to strip grazing the starvation paddock to make more of a track.
 
My lad does well on very short grass that he can only really nibble as it grows through. My vet is happy with him being on that and is very much of the opinion that he is having to find bits to nibble on throughout the day rather than stuffing his face silly. I do couple this up with stabling him at night throughout the year too.
I think the time off the grass completely each day is beneficial as it gives their stomachs a chance to settle and cope with what they are eating...limiting the chance of overload...which triggers the laminitis type problems.
It is so confusing and I am lucky that I rent my own field and canmanage him how I like, but it is not practical to do this when on a yard so I really do think that limiting grass intake by whatever means is the key...and if that is keeping them on short sparse grass, then so be it...it is the 'overload' of grass that is the problem. But just my opinion.
It was interesting too that my lad has always been on a paddock of short chomped down grass but when I turned him out 24/7 for the first time...he developed laminitis in the August...so clearly the time off the grass completely is better at keeping things level gut wise...coupled with good exercise too.
 
I have two very good doers & have to be very mean. I use an electric fence on the paddock, they have a fairly large bare patch & I move the fence a smidge at lunchtime & teatime with a bit bigger moves morning & evening. A fence is brought up behind them once a day so they never get a bigger area & the grass behind can recover so I can start again. Seems to work OK
 
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