readigrass

[barkinghorse]

Does this help put weight on?
Vets have adivsed me not to turn William out as the fields are rutted and boggy.
I have to have the vet out on a weekly basis (i'm not joking) due to cuts on his legs or swelling so no grass for him (not that there is any anyway) so YO said to put him in the sand school twice a day with a mate, which is working well.
He doesn't hold his weight in winter and is a very mild EPSM horse so wondered about Readigrass?
Any ideas?
Jo

 

[Weezy]

No idea - I feed Just Grass tho instead of chaff - really nice thing to give IMHO (that doesnt help you at all does it!!!)

 

[barkinghorse]

Actually, it does!
I like the look of it and i'm sure William will love it and i like feeding things that look nice!!
Jo x

 

[Malibu]

i am also intrested for Malibu who is on box rest and lost ALOT of condition!

 

[Weezy]

I just feel that I would rather give a naturally occuring substance (grass) rather than chopped straw - smells nice, is clean, 100% dust free, is obv not molassed and suits my type of feeding

 

[Halfstep]

Readigrass can be quite heating. Don't know why as it is just dried grass, but it sent my lad through the roof. Perhaps the sugars in the grass when dried have this effect? Just a warning though.

 

[JaneSteventon]

I feed grass nuts soaked which i guess is the same thing really just in a different form. Equine vet round here always recommends them for weight gain. My two do fine of them amongst other things.

 

[fairhill]

I fed mine readigrass when she needed to put on a lot of weight. She got through 2 bags, but did start to go off it by the end of it, not sure if she got bored, or just didn't need the extra calories!
I just left it in her corner manger so she could eat it ad-lib. I really rate it for weight gain, and she didn't get silly on it at all.

 

[galaxy]

My horse did really well on it and didn't fizz up (and he does really easily). I had to stop feeding it thought because I was allergic to it! Eyes watering, sneezing, itchy nose... the works!! Looked a right idiot doing my feeds!

My only comment would be to make sure you dampen it because my friends horse choked on it quite badly when it was dry....

 

[Louby]

Im interested too as would be lovely to give my boy on box rest. Only experience of it was a friend fed it to her mare who had COPD and was on horsehage so it meant she had more to eat and it sent her do lally so Ive steared clear of it. Feed merchant said it was quite heating when she told him what had happened.
I also worried that if they bolted it down they would choke as its so dry????

 

[fairhill]

I didn't wet the readigrass when i was feeding it - I haven't found it any drier than some chops, and I see it more like feeding hay, which is also very dry. It also meant I could just leave it in her stable and didn't need to change it every night. They don't seem to bolt it down - it does take a lot of chewing!

 

[charlotte1]

I put my girl on it this winter as last winter i really struggled to keep any weight on, and was stuffing her full of hard feed, which just made her impossible to handle and ride. She now has a bucket of Readigrass each night with a small hard and is keeping the weight on really easily, and it doesn't heat her up at all, and she is so much more chilled on it. I do feed it damp though as it very dry.

 

[Heidi1]

Can't help you on the Readigrass, but I feed Just Grass to my horses, have a TB who's weight is up and down through winter and at present (touching wood), she has maintained a nice weight, they have been on Just Grass for the last 8 weeks. Worth giving it a go, oh and they have not fizzed up.............

 

[evsj]

I was feeding readigrass over the autumn as mine was off work with an injury. Didn't realise it was medium energy feed until a few months later but it suited my mare really well. she kept her weight on and enerally looks really well despite not being clipped this year. I didn't notice any heating or adverse tempremental effects. even at two small tubtrugs per day it seemed to last for ages, too.

 

[Scarlett1980]

Readigrass is brilliant although the same nutritional value as sring grass so don't over feed it if your horse gets too fizzy but it will put condition on safely. If you want to feed quite a lot of it you could mix it with Happy Hoof?

 

[spaniel]

Both mine are on Pure Grass (again a purely grass chaff rather than a straw mix). I use it as a chaff in the feed of the old one and as a complete bucket feed for the young one. I have found that the youngster will not eat it if I wet it down and so far we have had no problems with chokie even though he dives into it like he hasnt had a meal for a week!

Give the manufacturers of your chosen chaff a call, they will be delighted to give you the analysis on their particular grass.

 

[Kezza]

it does depending on how much of it you feed. Some horses don't like it unless you wet it or failing that, add really wet sugarbeet to it, that worked with my boy.