Readigrass

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Polygon

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Hi all

Down in the far South East corner of the country we are suffering from desert-like lack of rain and hence we have no grass at all! I have 2 horses (both in hard work) and am struggling to keep condition on them. Currently they are living out in a paddock (with next to no grass) and have a ring feeder with a large round bale of hay. My problem is that my new horse will not eat the hay (even when I put individual piles of it around the paddock) and is picking sadly at the non-existent grass.

Do you think it would be feasible to buy a bale of readigrass and spread in thinly around the paddock so they can wander about eating it? I can't really feed it in buckets as they share their paddock with a 28 year old pony who bullies them away from any feed buckets etc. They both get a large hard feed twice a day (incl build-up mix, conditioning cubes, high-oil chaff) so I can't really increase that, also I want them to "graze" throughout the day not wolf down huge meals intermittently.

Do you think that could work? As Readigrass is "just" grass could I expect to put 15kg (or however big the bale is) on the ground without problems or should I introduce it gradually?

I would appreciate your thoughts or experiences on this!

Thanks in advance
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Jo
 
What about using haylage instead of the hay? A lot of horses prefer haylage, it will probably have a higher feed value than the hay, so will help with condition, plus will work out cheaper than Readigrass. I would also think that there would be a lot of wastage of the Readigrass as it gets blown around or trodden on.
 
It would depend on the soil - you don't want them eating large anounts of 'dirt' in with each mouthful. You might have to invest in lots of rubber skips or maybe some sort of very long, shallow trough to sprinkle it in. Is it possible to partition it off with an electric fence so yours can get some peace? How about some prepack haylage strewn about - sounds like the stuff you are offering isn't very tasty?
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Another thought - I presume you have checked out that there isn't a dental problem making it difficult for the horse to chew hay?
 
Thanks guys, I was feeding haylage (pre-packed) which they liked (althought that was before I got the new horse) but the farmer (who is a friend and neighbour of ours so I really don't want us to fall out!) has put the ring feeder and hay in and I don't think he has large bales of haylage. I don't mind feeding haylage although it was rather annoying that half of it (or probably more) was feeding the fat, greedy, bullying pony (!) as it's not cheap! I can't remove her or fence her off as she belongs to the farmer's daughter in law and she was there first......complicated I know. If I put haylage down again the bully will definitely eat it first.
No dental issues, the hay looks and smells fine and my other horse is eating it but this one won't! I really think she just wants to graze but I can't make the grass grow any faster! That's why i thought she might like Readigrass.
She had a net of haylage yesterday whilst on the yard and will get haylage (and grass if there is any!) this Thurs- Mon whilst we're at a competition.
 
TBH I think you will just have the same problem with the Readigrass in that the bullying pony will eat most of it, plus it will work out more expensive than even small bale haylage AND be more prone to spoilage and wastage! You may have to make sure you bring her into the yard every day and get as much haylage into her as possible.
 
graze on his cheaper than redi grass. have you no stables to bring yours in in the day so you can feed haylege in there stable?
 
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