Is Spring grass really that good?

[Firewell]

During the spring and summer, I like to turn my horse out 24/7.

Do you turn your horses out 24/7 on good grass? Or do you bring in during the day or strip graze?

Looking at the photos from last year my horse did get a bit porky and he does go a bit obnoxious on the spring grass. I was having to ride him twice per day in the summer so 1. He was calm and 2. He didn't get too fat and kept fit enough to go to eventing.

Also my mums horse died of colic last summer and we didnt know if it was something to do with the grass. We had a post mortem done and he was perfectly healthy, no cause could be found so the vet put it down to maybe changes in the grass...

Then I hear about how the grass isnt good for their feet ect. My horse does always look leaner and healthier in the winter.

Just not sure if being out 24/7 on good grass ('im talking a paddock of approx 2 acres of green grass just for my one horse) is actully that healthy... He's a TB.

Thoughts?

 

[Jesstickle]

I strip graze mine in the spring but they're out 24/7. By summer the grass is usually yellow and dead enough for them to go out on the whole field!

 

[ThePony]

Ours are out 24/7 in the spring and summer, we strip graze them until they have a decent sized field that has no grass, we top up with soaked hay. They are much better on this regeime - 'nicer' looking grass turns them evil and splats their feet, not to mention pileing on the pounds!

 

[stencilface]

We have five that get moved between 2 fields of about 6 acres a piece. In spring they go into the 'poorer' field with less rich grasses, but more variety in the sward of grasses and herbs -its also pretty much all on a hil!

Then in early summer, the winter field is recovered/rested and they get turned out on about 2/3 acres of that, and the fencing for this gets moved as they eat it, until eventually they have the whole 6 acres in the rish field. They then get moveed back into the poor field in september when its recovered, we've removed all the ragwort and made some effort to poo pick!

Mine especially can get a big grass belly, and once or twice has had a bit of gassy colic I think due to stuffing his face - I try to minimise the risk of this though by forbidding my mum from extending their field 'as there's no grass left'

The oldie will get turned onto the fields ahead of the others as he is harder to keep the weight on and he can cope with the nice grass

 

[Mare Stare]

Mine are out 24/7 52 weeks of the year.

They were meant to be strip grazed but Doris had other ideas and kept ploughing through my electric fence.

 

[Oberon]

This website might be helpful. It was set up years ago by a woman who pondered the same thing as yourself
http://www.safergrass.org/

 

[Tammytoo]

The biggest problem with spring grass is because it grows so quickly it becomes deficient in magnesium, which is why a lot of horses go loopy on Spring grass! If your horse is looking porky during the summer, why not strip graze him. The recommendation for grazing is 1 acre per horse, so he's getting more than enough. If his feet get bad in summer, there could be a vit/min deficiency in the grass so it might be worth giving him something like Farriers Forumula to compensate.

I wish I had 2 acres - I have a 15.2 tb and a 14.2 tbx on 1 acre, but I have to stable them at night to preserve my paddock.

 

[scarymare]

Mine are all fine with it. However it gets totally trashed in the winter and I suppose by the time it recovers the longest day has already been. In the summer I keep 8 in about 6 acres though 24/7 out. The crows eat the poos so it stays quite nice. I also graze the youngstock in the woods (about 4 acres). Touching all wood, I've never had a colic in the summer (my cribber gas colics in winter), any lami, bad feet, stroppy horses. I do think if I were in the SE England not Aberdeenshire this may be different though.

 

[chestnut cob]

Mine will be muzzled all through spring and summer, probably from March TBH as our grass is starting to come through already. I can't strip graze at this yard but he'll come in during the day (for longer than he's been in over winter) to get him off the grass as much as possible. Had a near miss last year when he came in with bounding digital pulses and pottery in front (kept him in on soaked hay for a week and he was fine) but that turned out to be down to YO fertilising the fields (they didn't tell anyone they'd done it, and they got it from a dairy farmer...). Three others who'd been on that field came down with full blown lami around the same time...

 

[Annagain]

In 20 years of horse ownership the only change I've noticed in the spring is that they put on a bit of weight. All 4 of the horses I've had haven't behaved any differently. Two have remained their usual calm selves and two have remained totally nutty! I've often wondered if the "spring grass" theory is a human construct!

The only change in any of them is my normally happy boy who turns into Victor Meldrew in the winter, goes back to being happy again but that's due to being let out of prison full time rather than just being on day release.

I did lose my old boy to colic in the spring, but although we didn't have a post mortem, the vet said he was showing all the signs of age related issues rather than it being caused by anything he'd eaten.

 

[tallyho!]

Depends on horse and the grass in question!

Def look at www.safergrass.org for more info. My lami can't hack spring grass so is muzzled (strip grazing useless when you have a stag x appaloosa) for as long as poss. This means he still gets a bit of the sweet stuff but can run and play with the gang as he pleases. The yearling can probably do with the stuff to grow a bit more. The rest seem to come to no harm apart from get fat. It is supplemented with Rockies Laminshield which seems to be a good source of Magnesium in weatherproof block form and a hunk of copper block.