Too much grass!

[Moonpig23]

I've recently taken on a new yard and one of the paddocks has long, lush, green grass and I've really no idea how to manage it!? I know there are certainly worst problems to have, especially going into winter, but I need some advice as to how to handle it to avoid my already quite fat horse getting even fatter and risking laminitis too.

Said horse is currently being worked 6 days a week, no hard feed, lives out and is having ad lib hay in the 'starvation paddock' but it seems silly for me to be haying 24/7 when I have another paddock full of grass. I just have no idea how to manage the grazing! I'm thinking of turning out in the grass paddock when I go to work at 6.30am and then bringing her back in at 4.30pm when I get home from work and then leave her in an already grazed paddock with hay overnight. Unfortunately, there's no one else to bring her in half way through the day, or I'd be doing that.

So, what would you do?

 

[spotty_pony]

Has she had Laminitis before? Is there any reason she is likely to get it? This depends very much on what I would do, Longer grass is lower in sugars than the short, stressed eaten down stuff. I’d maybe pop her in the field with the grass overnight and back in her field with some hay during the day.

 

[SilverLinings]

Could you strip-graze the long paddock, with the horse starting in a very small fenced pen (with a muzzle on if required)? Until the fenced area had grown to a reasonable size you could return the horse to the starvation paddock overnight so they get a break from the lush grass plus there's room to stretch their legs.

 

[kidsandponies]

We are in the lucky (?) predicament of having too much grass for our four native ponies. Initially on purchasing the property we used a friends sheep to mob graze the lot and still graze sheep on the majority of the land. The ponies now have one “starvation paddock” with another two leading off. I strip graze these sparingly (moving the fence about a foot a night) and have fed hay throughout the year in trickle nets in the bare paddock. Seems ironic to have too much grass and such a huge hay bill still but whilst none have ever had laminitis, I am conscious there is always a first time.
I would probably rethink with a larger horse and one that was working harder than our children's ponies, maybe still strip grazing the field with longer grass but I wouldn’t necessarily shut them off of this over night, rather let them slowly eat their way over the field.

 

[SEL]

I'm strip grazing my three through the fields. Would that work?

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

I would strip graze it or put some skinnier horses on it first to eat it down a bit.

 

[Peglo]

Leave it to die off for a month or two and then turn her out on it once the goodness is out of it.

 

[Goldenstar]

Mine are muzzled the whole time they are out atm .
They only get a night off the muzzle if they have been hunting .
They come in in the morning get worked and go back out muzzled
No one is getting fatter and we have a huge amount of grass might muzzling be the answer ?