Sorry feed again... Readigrass again!!!

[Louby]

Would you give a box resting horse Readigrass? Hes getting very bored now, hes got a tongue twister that hes fed up of now and somedays eats his bucket feed and some days doesnt.
Hes on pretty much ad lib Haylage and 2 feeds of HiFi, Baileys Lo Cal with a handful of nuts. Ive been picking him some grass every night and putting it in a haynet and thought a bit of Readigrass would be much easier!
Just remember a friends horse going do lally on Readigrass and horsehage.

 

[_daisy_]

i bought it for one of mine who was stabled a lot of the time - wont bloody touch the stuff. Even the dustbin of a pony doesnt like it.Have tried it with all of mine and non of them eat it! Bale is now sat in shed whilst I think what to do with it.

Cant see why it would be a problem to feed it.

 

[Louby]

Yes lady on yard said hers wont touch it either and one of them eats anything. She said she dampenned it down and the dustbin mare then ate it but the others still wouldnt touch it.

 

[Nuttymanxmare]

I think Readigrass is better than normal grass as once its cut the grass starts to ferment

 

[_daisy_]

tried to edit my post but was too late.
What i meant to say was I TRIED to feed it to my mare that was stabled

- i even dampened it for her - what a waste of money. im sure there are a lot of horses out there that would eat it but not my 5. It looks good stuff.
My friend bought a bale for her 3 - yet again non of them would eat it so she ended up giving it to the rabbits - they wouldnt eat it either

(cant say that i would give it to a rabbit but at least it wasnt my rabbit she fed it too - anyway mine doesnt like grass so she probably wouldnt eat it either) Right im getting the feeling that all my animals are now fussy buggers

Its a shame youre not nearer me or you could have the bale

 

[TGM]

Well I suppose much depends upon his condition at the moment - is he just right, overweight or underweight? If he is overweight or just right, then I suspect the reason he is leaving his bucket feed is because he is really not that hungry, given he is not getting any exercise and is getting plenty of haylage. If that is the case then seems no need to try to get him to eat any more.

If he is the skinny type and you are worried about him losing weight then it might be worth trying him on Readigrass, but might be best to find someone who already feeds it so you can try him on a few handfuls before you buy a whole bag full. Alternatively, you could try swapping the HiFi (which is pretty boring stuff!) for something more interesting (but still fibre-based) like AlfaA, AlfaBeet or Speedibeet.

Or you could try sticking carrots into his haynet, or giving him a swede in his manger.

 

[Louby]

Thanks everyone.
Hes dropped weight but then he really needed too and is probably still a bit overweight really. I just thought of readigrass because he loves the fresh grass I pick him but its no fun in this weather picking it!! Ok Im being a lazy so and so.

Didnt want to give him Alfa A as it really bangs the weight on him. He gets carrots when Im mucking out otherwise he licks me to death.
Was thinking of getting him a decathlon ball for use when supervised as he bashes them with his legs after a while and although I think his leg is much stronger now Im a bit wary.
If anyone actually got there horse to eat readigrass, did it heat them up?

 

[_daisy_]

have you thought about changing the Hifi to Spillers Happy Hoof - all mine love it. The dustbin of a pony only gets fed this and she cant get it eaten fast enough - she even forgets to breathe so ends up sounding like a pig!
I have a decathlon and i dont like it - i prefer the snackaball ones - mine couldnt work the decathlon one so she ignored it but loves playing with the snackaball one. Good thing to be carefull - if i give the snackaball to either Ebi or Sasha they go mental with it- literally kicking it from one side of the stable to the other - they just cant help it - their faces light up when they see they are getting one in their stable. I used to leave mine in the stable with them as once they realised it was empty they left them alone.
Have you seen those hanging things that you can slide fruit and veg on - theyre some kind of likit contraption - ill see if i can find one

 

[Louby]

Ive seen the new pole thingy, dont you think they look dangerous? Knowing my luck, it would go in his eye or something. If something can go wrong it goes wrong for me!!
I'll have a look at the snackaball, thanks.
Just bought another bag af hifi and it lasts me forever, damn I would have tried the happyhoof.
Thanks

 

[_daisy_]

cant really say ive thought about it really - dont think so though - cant find a piccie of it so cant say for def that its the same one were thinking of
have you thought about putting apples in water so he has to bob for them?

 

[K9Wendy]

My horse eats it, my guinea pig eats it and my gerbils eat!! They all love it!!

 

[Weezy]

Had probs with Readigrass, never had a prob with Just Grass - if you compare the 2 JG has a much sweeter smell too!

 

[barkinghorse]

Hi Louise,
I bought William the Just Grass as it is lower in protein than most and higher in fibre.
He loves it and to make it last longer, i sprinkle it across the rubber matting at the front of his stable.
I found if i put it in a bucket, he took too much in at once, and with his track record of vets, i didn't want to risk choke.
Jo

 

[Weezy]

Thats exactly what I do - put a bucketful all over the rubber matting to be *grazed* - seems to work well! I do use it instead of chaff in feed too, works for me!

 

[Louby]

Thanks, I also worried he'd eat it so fast he'd get choke. Who makes Just Grass? Not heard of it before, bet none of the feed merchants near me sell it.

 

[SpruceRI]

I've been feeding my girl on box rest with Readigrass. It hasn't sent her loopy and she just loves it. The other two out in the field adore it too. So much so that they'll walk away from their feed bowls to eat it. (Even My Piggy Shetland pony!)

I dampen it down for one of mine as she coughs a bit on it, and it gives me hay fever! But I think it smells gorgeous - like toffee apples!!!

 

[Weezy]

Just Grass is made by Dodson and Horrell

 

[wilder]

my horses hated readigrass but absolutely love a product called graze-on it is much finer and more like grass and thye just found readigrass to tough

 

[Louby]

Thanks everyone, I bought the Just grass and he loves it. Put a bit on his mats at the front and it occupied him so I could muck out round him. Usually he eats his carrots then licks me to death and it takes me twice as long.

 

[mybaycob]

i fead my chappie reddi grass last winter and he balloned but he is prone to weight gain so now i just feed happy hoof

 

[Louby]

Well give it to him tonight and he wouldnt touch it. Ah well horses eh! I'll try him again with some tomorrow.

 

[_daisy_]

guess what - my horses have made me out to be liars!!!
the 3 girls who live out 24/7 had pretty much eaten all their haylage & next bale is delivered on Wednesday so I thought - cant do no harm throwing the bale of readigrass out for them. If they eat it great if they dont fine.
Guess what - the bloody greedy gets have eaten it all!!!!

 

[luckilotti]

all 7 of mine love readigrass - they go from shetland to shire and 3 to 25years old - all i can say is once the feed store had run out - they sold me something similar from Northern Crop Driers - again - was dried grass but wasnt as green and was cut shorter - the youngster prefered it over Readigrass.

cant say its ever made any get hyper - they normally just get 2 scoops max (depending on which horse it is!) its just as an extra treat in the mornings before they go in the field.