Strip grazing- Quick question

[Cobs Can Jump]

Hi Everyone

I haven't posted on here for a while but I have a question and was wondering if you could help me.

I have a 14.1 cob (he weighs 456kg at the moment which is a good weight for him) who is prone to laminitis. We are strip grazing him, but I just wanted to know whether there is a rough guideline as to how much grass he should be getting per day?

The field he is in is 40meters wide, we are grazing him width-ways.

Thanks in advance

 

[Micky]

I'm not good at measurements but i roughly stripped mine toe to heel 3 steps wide daily, maybe a bit less in high summer, not quite so bad now as the grass is stopping growing! Add vitamin E tablets to his feed as he is not getting as much as if he was on a normal paddock

 

[Cobs Can Jump]

Thank you Micky , he's having the winter off after a summers competing. I was just curious to see what other people thought because we're not entirely sure he's getting enough/too much so keeping a close eye on his weight.

 

[Dry Rot]

Watch the pony's condition and give more or less accordingly.

How much feeding value is in x square metres of grass depends on so many variables it would be impossible to say how much is enough.

 

[Cobs Can Jump]

Thank you this is what we are doing, the grass is quite long so it doesn't look like he's getting alot, but his condition hasn't changed so far, so it must be about the right amount.

 

[pottamus]

My field is roughly the same width as yours and I do four heel to toe feet per day during the winter months and supplement with hay if necessary. In the summer I dont move the fence out at all, he has to nibble as it grows. This is for a Welsh cob who has had laminitis a few years back. Keep weight taping too.

 

[Cobs Can Jump]

Yeah we've just weighed him again today and he's put on 30kg's in a week and a half :S not sure whether he should be putting weight on that quickly. So we'll be keeping a very close eye on him and he's only getting 3 meters square of grass a day, but keeping in mind the grass is about 6-8 inches long he's actually getting a fair amount.

I also have another question, how much would you expect a horse to put on through the winter when they are no longer in any work?