Livery for laminitic horses/restricted grazing

[Shilasdair]

Hi
Just wondering how those of you with EMS/Cushingoid/laminitic or just plain porky horses manage with livery?
Does your yard have grass-free paddocks (all weather) or low grass (mud!) paddocks to use?
Are you allowed to restrict grazing by using electric fencing and strip grazing?
Or do you have to just keep them stabled instead?

I strip graze with electric fencing at the moment - but soon I'll be moving locations and therefore yard, so wondering how difficult it might be.

 

[holeymoley]

It is almost close to impossible up here. This is why despite my previous posts I stay put at my yard. I pleaded for the only non fertilised field there was. Its cross grazed with sheep part of the year. He goes out in the peak months with a grazing muzzle, the rest of the year he goes out with a grazing muzzle with a larger hole and usually january- march he goes without anything- grass and weather depending. If he looks like he has a ‘belly’ then I reduce the hours out. Not the best but it works for us, he’s happy enough in with soaked hay and I keep him exercised.

To answer your questions- they don’t like strip grazing… (i have all the fencing though). There’s no grass free area. Luckily mud is fairly okay where we are. We have a 12/2pm bring in policy in the winter though. Again not ideal but then they usually are miserable standing in the rain in the depths of winter.

 

[Shilasdair]

Where is 'up here'?

 

[holeymoley]

Where is 'up here'?

West/Central Scotland

 

[chaps89]

Pretty much impossible tbh.
Only worked on yards where I had my own field to do my own thing, not shared herd turnout, so then I had to get a companion too as I don’t like them being turned out alone as a general rule.
But even having your own field isn’t a guarantee, unfortunately some yard owners don’t like bare paddocks, electric fencing etc!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I just posted on another thread about this but my two are essentially stabled with little access to grass while it’s growing. They are either in, out for a few hours every two days, go in a sand pen twice daily, are ridden and on soaked hay. Hate keeping them like it but in summer it is essential with a laminitic, an EMS pony and fields full of rye grass.

I’m not allowed to split the field, it never gets rested, fertilised or cross grazed even though we have cows on the farm. Winter is so much easier.

 

[HashRouge]

My YO allows us to manage our grazing with electric fencing, however we choose. I always start with a small area and gradually make it larger by strip grazing. At the moment, we have three on probably just over an acre. It is well grazed down but has a decent amount of space for them. The biggest difficulty for me at the moment is that my two no longer have the same grazing requirements - my Arab (who has cushings) actually needs more grass now due to her age and not holding weight quite as well, whereas my Welsh needs serious weight management. At the moment I've got just about the right balance. It does give me palpitations though if I ever think about moving them. I just need to be left to manage my own grazing, basically! Couldn't cope with big fields/ herds. My Welsh is also very hard to catch, so I would lose him completely in a big herd!

 

[I'm Dun]

It can be very very difficult. I've usually managed to find somewhere that I can make work with compromises but its never been ideal sadly. I wish yard owners would cotton on to the fact that people want to be able to restrict grazing!

 

[Noble]

Cheshire, my yard is on a sand base so very little mud. It is, in my opinion, a fab yard as caters for all. A large gelding field and a similar size for mares, individual grazing paddocks for those who want them and numerous small bare unfertilized paddocks for challenged horses/ponies. You can manage your own paddock individually or buddy up and share a few of these bare paddocks with friends. We have juvenile cows that have their own fields but can be used to graze down fields if the grass gets too much. A very well managed/run yard that can't do enough for you.

 

[Shilasdair]

I'm about to start the search for livery for my two (who need restricted grazing for different reasons) - maybe it would be easier to find land to buy?

 

[SEL]

I ended up with 2 horses (now 3) because I couldn't keep my mare on herd turnout. I thought I'd got one with similar metabolic needs but actually he drops weight considerably during winter so is much, much easier to keep the weight off than the mare.

I only go to yards where I can electric fence the field as needed. I track the field (& the gelding will get a few hours a day on the long grass) and have had plenty of comments over the years about why I can't I strip graze because long grass looks messy. Fortunately the vet knows how incredibly tough it is to manage this mare's waistline so has been on board with everything I try to do and most yards will accommodate 'vet says'

Annoyingly around us the grass is just incredibly rich because we're on clay soil. I'm on unfertilised old meadows with a fabulous variety of grasses but all 3 of mine have piled on the pounds this year with the ever changing weather and for the first time even the big lad has suffered with his feet.

 

[TwyfordM]

Every yard I’ve found is different. Complete DIY if you have your own field is doable as you can section off how you like.
Mines been in herd turnout for a few years but that’s just not going to be possible now with the added EMS ??‍
Im on a large yard that have a few options for limited grazing. Theres a couple of pens that get a tiny bit of grass but are mostly mud/gravel. YO is going to set up another pen for mine or alternate it with the other Lami pony. They could have gone in together but difficult when she’s on weighed hay at the moment.
Indoor school is used on rotation for turnout although that’s mostly for a 1/2 hour leg stretch.

It’s better than nothing, but far from what I’d like/set up for mine if I had my own land. Most yards seem to have a “sick” paddock of some description. But then when you have more than one horse needing it, it becomes an issue.

 

[vmac66]

I share a, practically bare paddock with an ems pony. My horse comes I too a haynet during the day to make sure she's getting enough to eat, also on 2 chaff feeds a day. In winter the mud is horrendous. The alternative is a 12 acre field full of rye grass. Livery yard owners have no idea how to manage paddocks for lamanitics, probably why their horses get lami most years.

 

[NinjaPony]

Depends on the yard. I’ve been very lucky, my laminitic pony has his own little field that I can manage how I like, and he stays on it all year round. It’s on a sheep farm and has been grazed for 40+ years. The grass is not rich and touch wood we haven’t had any episodes. He goes out with a muzzle on as he just destroys electric fencing in his endless pursuit for food. My previous yard was very difficult, rich grass and strip grazing was a pain/he kept breaking out.

 

[DizzyDoughnut]

I got really lucky! On the yard I'm on there is only me and one other woman and we both have our own fields that we can use however we like. So I make a track during the summer and then strip graze across the middle in winter. Luckily the pony I have left now has never had Lami so I can be slightly more relaxed about it but the thought of ever having to leave where I am worries me. I don't think I could go back to having no control over their grass intake. Being able to be flexible and adapt my plan as I go along has made it so much easier to manage a Lamintic PPID pony.

 

[ester]

My yard didn't allow strip grazing and when he was field sharing he was muzzled, once his share left I was permitted to put a track up round the outside of our small paddock. I'm not sure they'd have agreed to a newbie doing that though, bit too much emphasis on paddocks looking nice.

 

[Wishfilly]

We have individual and paired turnout and we are allowed to section our fields how we like (e.g. strip grazing, track etc). However, the grass is very rich (ex-cattle farm) so most people with laminitis prone/EMS ponies do still have to be strict with the amount of turnout their horses have (I'm talking e.g. only out 10-4 though, not only out for an hour a day). No dirt paddocks, and the grass seems to bounce back however badly it gets trashed in winter!

You would need a horse that respects fencing though, as ours doesn't have much of a kick!

 

[Auslander]

Move to Berkshire! I have hardstanding pens with woodchip lounging areas, and a track that is purposely kept bald!

 

[brighteyes]

I strip graze with electric fencing at the moment - but soon I'll be moving locations and therefore yard, so wondering how difficult it might be.

Isn't this going to be dependent on what the new YO allows?

 

[Shilasdair]

Move to Berkshire! I have hardstanding pens with woodchip lounging areas, and a track that is purposely kept bald!

Yes, but you have scary Shetlands too!

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Will they tolerate muzzles? Personally, I hate the idea. You need scrubby rubbish grazing ideally, or a track system. I don’t know how common these are. Is this for the permanent move up beyond the Wall?

 

[scats]

We have our own fields at our yard. Our grass if rye though and, even when it looks like there’s nothing, is very rich. Mine are muzzled and I also strip graze.

 

[buffy2]

I'm lucky that I rent 2 acres, so I can graze the paddocks how I need to, the owner isn't bothered by my acres of electric fence, I think I would struggle to find a yard suitable for my ems ponies needs

 

[cowgirl16]

I think this is a huge problem, unless you are lucky enough to have your own land and can manage it how you choose. I was lucky to get a place on a track livery yard 7 months ago. My porker is happy, fitter and MUCH slimmer!

 

[Fransurrey]

With my EMS pony I was on a yard where I had my own field and shelters. I couldn't consider any other setup as I needed to be able to restrict in an emergency (if pulses were up). I had a bare grass paddock as large as I dared for him and his companion, fed hay all year round and used a ground feeder (Harry's Horse slow feeder with zip sewn in so I could throw it on the floor!). The fence got walked back from November onwards and left completely open in January to March (we're on a hill and grass is slow to get going), unless it was mild. When the EMS pony got older and needed more hay, I used to put it down loose and muzzle the companion, who could still eat the hay through the muzzle.

I still have that setup for my cob and the same companion, but with less fencing and paranoia! These days I hang the slow feeder and leave the top open, so my cob can stuff his face through the top, whilst the pony can only reach the holes and has to trickle feed. I still feed hay year round, but the fence doesn't get walked back, now. I put it up in May, take it down in November after a few days of them having a couple of hours on the longer stuff to ease them into it.

 

[Birker2020]

The pony in the stable next door to me has laminitis and it goes out in a small wood bark paddock that my partners ex colleague supplies the lady owner FOC.
It's only about 11 hands and can't even tolerate 20 mins at grass without an acute attack of lami so its a good solution. Otherwise it goes in the indoor school.

 

[MuddyMonster]

I've been on a few yards over the years of a good doer and now EMS/PPID native.

Yard A: Herd turn out but constantly . We struggled with this, even with a muzzle as it felt we were always moving to fresh, lush grass.

Yard B: Paired turn out with minimal grass but I felt this was actually worse, as what was coming through was always 'fresh' and full of sugar. The grass was too short for him to be happy with a muzzle so he was in a lot Spring-Autumn.

Yard C. Track system with minimal grass. The track was ideal on paper but I think mine found the track too much. I don't think he liked other horses in a narrow space (there were wide areas and loafing areas in all fairness).

Yard D: Is where I am currently. Alternative summer & winter fields. Mine is turned out overnight & muzzled from Spring - Autumn (or will be, we moved this year) & then out in the day over winter.

Muzzling and turning out as a herd works best for him, I think . He can still interact with the others - and he does, he grooms and plays and they all move a lot. When he's stabled in the day, he has soaked, rinsed and double netted hay

We do have individual isolation paddocks if needed, but thankfully mine is able to cope with a muzzle.

 

[milliepops]

i've had really different experiences on different yards, i've been on some where it's been totally free rein to do what you like with your paddock, one where the YO insisted on strip grazing but he had to move the fence (fine if you wanted that, not fine if you have a poor doer that could do with more).
now I am sort of in between, my YO is not massively keen on temporary fencing but my field is round the corner so she's not looking at it and I try to not ruin my paddock by being too restrictive. fortunately i have a poor doer that I can deploy to top the grass and then i've strip grazed into it for the native this year.