horses hot climate - no grass

[tinker88]

hi,

Im concerned. Im on another forum and have raised my concerns but people seem to be siding with the other person... but they are none horsey so views please!

on a recent holiday, i visited several horse yards.
this <font color="red"> holiday destination </font> has no natural greenery, no soil as it is a volcanic isalnd.

so horses generally have sand paddocks, and are fed a hay/straw mix 2 a day. with feeds, most horses seem to do ok on this.

but my concern is........ one yard (the worst one so far!) is situated on a golf course..... the horses paddocks are in the centre.... looking at the grass. when i called around mid day no one to be seen...., horses with no hay/straw, heads hung low (it was hot so maybe why) and basically not looking great, but weight wise ok.

My argument is that a horse even if he has never really grazed has a natural desire to graze/forage. So facing a golf course of lush grass allllllll day must be torture. Not as much as "our horses that know what grass is" but surely a horse knows naturally what grass is, and must want to have a nibble. So to me for those horses to face lush grass must be torture day in day out.
next points - the horses shoes were horrid and i know of farriers on this island that are good - so no excuse.
most of teh horses are rescues so well done to her for that. but "english person to english person" i couldnt do this to any horses at all. If they are to be kept in hot no greenery climates keep them away from the thing they most want! GRASS, and its not as though they are chewing all day they have minimal hay/straw due to the importing costs

next - the horses are used for treks, and it concerned me that rescue horses with problems are being used to trek, and with badly fitted shoes.

sorry to rattle on but it bothered me. I raised the issue on the islands forum but everyone else says she looks after them... but they are non horsey and not see my corncerns. Iam i wrong???

Thanks

 

[Nickijem]

They should really have some hay to nibble on when they want it then it wouldn't be a problem being near the grass. There is no excuse for bad shoes though if there are farriers nearby. Sadly, there are a lot of people out there who don't care as much about horses welfare as they should!

 

[Amazona]

This is a difficult one to explain and I am not wanting to comment on the trecking yard you visited.
But I have had alot to do with horses in portugal and in Riding schools there they have horses who have never eaten grass.... but there is no excuse for them having nothing to occupy them ...they would need good concentrates and good quality hay and straw mix.
As far as asking if horses are natural grass eaters then in respose to that i have imported may to the uk that hadnt got a clue about grass and would wander around looking at the scenery waiting for you to bring them in for there concentrates.
I wound and have voice my concern at the time and walk away...Dont encourage them with your buisness... if they see they are loosing money for there actions then they will get there act together

 

[Tia]

I voted "yes" but not for the reasons you offered in your poll. Lots of horses in the world have not experienced grass, so I wouldn't see that as being a problem at all. My horses live in large fields with short grass which are totally surrounded by lush and tall grass hay fields. I'm sure mine look at the hay fields and consider how to get over to them - but they can't - such is life.

What I would have a problem with is the lack of forage available to these horses. I feed hay all year round as our pasture fields cannot possibly grow long like in the UK due to the extreme heat. Hay is a good substitute and they can pick at whatever grass is there in their fields.

I've also had plenty horses shipped from Germany who have lived in stables all of their lives and haven't a clue what grass is.

I have no opinion on the trekking matter.

 

[Tinkerbee]

I used to live in sri lanka and there was a yard, bang in the middle of the city, no hacking, no turnout, just an arena andhay etc but there was also a golf course near by... very odd lol

But dont think they minded as they wouldnt know..