How much grazing for shetland??

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Cocokelly379

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Hi I have recently got a 5 year old Shetland gelding standing at a approx 9h. He isn't overweight and gets plenty of exercise. His previous owner had been keeping him on a starvation patch feeding only hay as he was on 1 acre of grass and she noticed he was lying down a lot and his feet were warm so was worried about laminitis! Since being with me I have slowly been introducing him to grass again and he is now being stabled at night with hay and being let out for 1 hours grazing first thing in the morning and 1 hour late at night and being muzzled during the day. I have sectioned off a tiny patch for him to graze without the muzzle (not even a 1/4 of acre id say) and was wandering if he'd now or soon be able to graze without a muzzle on this small patch all day?? He isn't showing any signs of lami and seems to of adjusted to eating grass well, however the grass is long at the moment as he hasn't eaten it all down, yet! I don't want to make him ill but was thinking as its only a tiny patch could he ever get too much grass? And help and advice would be great! :-) xx
 
We had 2 little people that shared a 3/4 acre paddock - we kept it grazed right down and never rested or rotated it so it remained poor. Even then we had to be careful as both were prone to weight gain.

In the depths of winter they had a section of hay between them am and pm, but never any hard feed.

Tbh if you still have good grass I would either keep him muzzled, or you mow the patch down and remove the cuttings.
 
Ok thank you. Yes he only has hay never hard feed. So if the grass was down (either cut or grazed) would that small patch hopefully be ok? Its just I know he's a shetti and they are famous for being moody! but when he's had the muzzle off he is brilliant but trying to get him to do anything when he has had it on for a few hours is a nightmare! lol. All he wants to do is graze!
 
Bless him - if the grass is down then I think your patch would be fine without a muzzle.

Mine weren't ever moody but they were most definitely greedy!

Have fun - I still miss mine.
 
I have two ponies and one horse on an acre, so I suspect 1 acre is far too much for a Shetland. Don't forget the grass is growing as they are eating! Quarter of an acre sounds much better; Greedy little beggars they are lol
 
I have my two Shetlands in a half acre paddock . I have a track round the outside so when the grass is at it's worse, or if they need to drop weight they go on it and the rest of the time they have it all.
Just remember, Shetlands requirements are the same as any equine ( just smaller) and a low calorie balancer such asSpilkers Lite Balancer or supplement like ProBalance + will help keep them in optimum health.
I would check digital pulses daily so you can catch any changes quickly.
Mine live out 24/7 like this without a muzzle .
I prefer them to live out constantly as I find it keeps the grass down and stops them gorging.
I guess it depends on how lush your grass is as to whether you keep the muzzle on or not. Can you get it grazed down?
 
Thanks for all the advice. :-) I think i'm going to keep gradually increasing his grazing time until the grass is down then try without his muzzle and keep a careful eye on his weight and feet etc and see how he goes. Hopefully he will be ok! Does that sound ok? I'm worried if I get it grazed down I will soon run out of grass.
 
if you run out of grass just supplement with some soaked hay......our shets paddock in a dry summer resembled a desert but somehow they still managed to find stuff to eat and never really lost much weight!

Better to have too little than too much with shetlands!
 
I have a little miniature horse which stands at 8.5hh. She was seriously overweight when I got her earlier on this summer so have taken radical steps to ensure she lost weight and doesn't get laminitis!!

She is out with my mare who is allowed to eat what she likes. The mini has a grazing muzzle on 24 7 so she can stay out in the big field. If I am riding in the morning then both ponies come up to the house. My mare goes out in the paddock and mini will go in her stable and is left with a half a slice of hay. She has lost quite a lot of weight already and is actually looking healthy. Her exercise regime is almost non-existent. She goes for a walk 500 yards up the road and back with my 2 1/2 yr old daughter 4 or 5 times a week and thats it so I do need to keep a rein on her weight.
 
I have 2 minis, they live perfectly happily on a quarter acre. In summer their paddock is practically bare, but I feed them hay most of the year round. Currently they are doing a sterling job as lawnmowers and steadily chomping their way across a quarter acre of overgrown scrubland.

OP if you are worried about too much grass you can either strip graze it, or, much better, mow it down !
 
Thanks everyone. We've now cut down most the patch and he's basically grazed down the rest so I think its much better for him now, so do I just do away with muzzle completely or still do it gradually? but quickly!
He escaped for the first time today! Cleared the fence and off into the next field! I know they can be great escape artists but I'm convinced he only did it as he had his muzzle on and wanted to play up! lol. He's like a different pony when he's had it off.
 
I have 2 rescued Shetlands plus one who was not a rescue and arrived very overweight about a month ago. I have them on a track running around about 2 acres of land. It is probably about half a mile long and they walk around it at least once a day. Part of the track goes through an orchard which provides shade and there is a stable at one point which they mostly ignore.The fat one is now markedly slimmer. One of the rescues had been hit by a tractor and was severely crippled when she arrived in January. Although she has a very awkward gait, she is moving much better since I introduced the track system. The other rescue had "slipper feet" when he was found and a history of laminitis. He has been with me 6 weeks and the farrier detected no problems when he came last week. He trots and canters along the track. If I think the track is too bare, I simply move the inner fence (which is made of plastic fence posts and electric tape) in a bit. Most of the time I don't even switch the fence on and they are so happy on the track that even the sight of lush green grass on the other side does not tempt them to make a break for it!They get a one scoop of hard food between them in an evening.
 
The track system sounds a great idea but not really possible for me and also he has no respect at all for electric fencing! I now have him out all day without his muzzle on a small patch (about 1/4 acre) and he is stabled during the night with a bit of hay. So far so good! No weight gain, no signs of laminitis! and one happy pony! :-)
 
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