Is there any easy way to tell if grass is too rich?

[RhiannonE]

My boy and I have just moved to a fab new yard and we're very pleased so far. He's currently running along side his new mates which I think is great and he's loving having a small field all to him self at the moment.

He's not been there very long but I hacked out the other day and he kept trying to walk on the grass verge instead of the road. I stopped and checked his feet and no stones or swelling/heat and then I trotted him on and no lameness.
Then thought I was perhaps being a bit paranoid and he maybe just wanted to go on the grass to try and eat it.

Anyway I later met up with my friend and she said oh I bet it's all that grass in his new field, making his feet sore... So i thought well where we came from the grass was very rich as they also fertislised it, although there was less of it as we had 13 horses in the field whereas Whisper's in a field on his own at the moment. What i wanted to know was could rich grass cause him feet problems in as little as a week?! (he's had no previous lami or anything like that&he's ideal weight according to vet *head swells*)

Thanks

Rhi

 

[OWLIE185]

In my personal opinion one should never fertilize fields that horses go on. It is just asking for trouble.

Horse can easily get laminitis from eating fertilized grass. My advice would be to get your horse off it immediately.

If you think that he is going pottery or lame get a vet in immediately to check him out.

 

[Flyingbuck]

I can't believe how much some people will spend, for the most part unneccessarily IMO, on fertiliser for horse paddocks, especially with the hike in the cost of fertiliser recently.

Horses are not dairy cattle and do not need/thrive on rich pasture.

If you can't get him off the grass, at least section off a small strip to contain him and cut down his consumption - but I would agree with above - if at all suspect, get the vet in asap.

 

[Honeypots]

I would learn to take his digital pulse. Generally you can barely, if at all, feel it. Get to know what is normal for your horse so that any change can be picked up quickley.
The ground is pretty dry and hard at the moment so I wonder, if he's at a new yard, whether he's been bombing around alot with his new mates and made his feet a bit tender. Is he barefoot? or maybe twaeked something?
If the grass is too rich it will often show in a horses poo...Is it sloppier than normal for instance?

If in doubt maybe call in someone more experienced or give your vet a shout...

 

[Slinkyunicorn]

A week on rich grass is more than enough to bring on lami - restrict his grazing immediately - the fact that there were so many horses at your previous yard probably helped to keep the grass down. Heat or not is not necessarily a reflection of laminitis - you need to feel for his pulses to see if they are 'bounding'. Go to the Laminits Clinic website which will give you lots more information, management tips etc by putting them into practise immediately you may save yourself and your boy a lot of pain and heartache. Get vet if you are at all concerned - better sooner than later.

 

[RhiannonE]

He's currently in a stripped off bit next to the horses that's he's soon to be going out with so i can't unfortunately make it any smaller as it's tiny as it is.
I know that my new yard used to have barely any grazing at all so they felt they had to fertilise it to get the grass to grow as the fields used to be mud pits, not sure why my old yard did it though then as their grazing was always brilliant.

 

[RhiannonE]

He's got shoes on all his feet and his poo is still firm and the same colour as normal so I haven't detected any change in that so far.
He hasn't even been walking any slower or felt uncertain in his movement it was just that he walked directly over to the grass and walked on that instead of the road. He schooled today fine and my instructor would've noticed any difference in him so he's definately not at all lame currently.

i think the vet is coming out for another horse tomorrow so I may see if I can come in on the visit just to get him checked out as i'd rather be safe than sorry. I hope I am being paranoid as he's only in a small field for four hours a day currently until he's in with the others but sounds like everyone agrees with me that I might be on to something!

 

[fatpiggy]

It could just be that he fancied walking on the grass. Daft though it may be, my horse used to walk on the worn and obvious routeways rather than on the nice soft grass. Watch them in the field and you will see them doing this too (as do other livestock). Eventually they wear a mark on the ground.

But yes, be VERY careful. Most farm grass is ex-dairy and really not suitable for neds, especially ponies.

 

[teddyt]

Horses can get laminitis in hours, let alone a week. Generally there is more sugar in stem than leaf, more sugar during the day than at night and more sugar in certain grasses such as ryegrass. What is the land and grass type? Is it a farm or specifically grown for horses. Grass on farms is unsuitable for horses because it is very high energy and protein for maximum milk/meat yield. How big an area does your horse have to itself and how long is the grass? Has it been fertilisd and when was it last grazed?

 

[titchy]

As well as bounding pulse, see if your horse will turn on hard ground and back up freely.

Before my pony showed any sign of lameness due to laminitis she became reluctant to back up freely. Because she was only 3 years old I thought it was just a stage she was going through. I have since read that reluctance to turn and back up is a common symptom.

Hope its not laminitis.
xx