Turning out to grass full time-advice needed please

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fallingstar

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Hello everyone
Im new here and would really appreciate some advice regarding my pony Hero.
He is a 14hh new forest type in his late teens and suffers from copd,laminatis and cushings. He is currently on full livery and is out during day and stabled at night. Unfortunately my finances are very strained at the moment and i am considering grass livery as a cheaper alternative. I feel that from a copd point of view this would be a good idea as he has been especially bad this winter despite being on shavings,haylage etc. But he is also a lamanitic little piggy who gets fat just looking at food and i am concerned that grass livery could be the worse thing to do. The owner of my current yard says he will freeze if i turn him out at this time of year. I dont agree as he is native type and unclipped but maybye i am wrong?. I am the first to admit i am no horse expert and i would really appreciate any advice that will help me do the right thing by my boy.

Thanks in advance for your help
 
I also have a NF who is prone to laminitis and personally I wouldn't risk making any drastic changes to his routine at this time of year. Access to frosty grass, cold nights and stress caused by changes to routine could all bring on laminitis so it might not be the best option IMO. Could you consider DIY or part livery instead for him as they are also cheaper alternatives?
 
I'm sorry to say this but I wouldn't have a lami on grass livery UNLESS you can arrange restricted grazing from April to October. I don't like muzzles if they have to wear them 24/7. I'm not sure if even that would work if the lami is related to the cushings though....

Also if you could solve the above I would wait until it dries up a little before I turned out fulltime if they've been in all winter.....

What about a sharer and or/part/DIY livery to cut costs?
 
Having nursed my lad back from laminitis last August and still having a few set backs on no grazing...I would not risk it at all. Yes, out 24/7 is the way to go with COPD, but it needs to be on well managed grazing, where there is little green stuff from a laminitis point of view.
 
Thanks for your replies.
I know its a dreadful time of year to consider turning him out to grass. I really am in a desperate situation. DIY/Part livery would be extremely difficult as i work full time on shifts and i also dont drive and there are no yards around me that arent a fairly hefty journey on public transport.
Basically he was being stabled at my friends private yard and being cared for by her. But with the cost of everything rising she cant afford to look after him at the price im paying and i simply dont have the income to pay more than i already am!
Ive considered a sharer for him but hes only really ift for hacking due to his health problems and he would be no good for a child/novice to ride as hes strong and can be very sharp. I think i would struggle to find someone.
Going to have to weigh up my options,it really is a rubbish situation,stressed to bits over it all.
 
I had a mild lami sufferer on grass livery! I just had to be extreamly strict about how I strip grazed. This was easy as I had an individual paddock to do this in. I had to make sure I had the taller posts so she couldnt jump them and had the electic tape energised otherwise she would squeeze through to the longer grass. She had to graze the grass bare before I moved the fence over and only moved it about 2 ft at a time. But depending on how the grazing is divvied up where you are I would not risk it otherwise.
Also if this is your only option I wouldnt turn out until the end of march when it gets slightly warmer.
 
I always think horses are better for being out 24/7 they harden up and look better for it, however laminits is a problem when considering turn out. As you well know it is a difficult balance to make. However one of my small ponies suffers but she is still out i just section of a good healthy bit of paddock that has beeen grazed right down to almost bare earth and stick her in their and just keep an eye on her condition and feed appropriately, she seems fine and thankfully has not had a bout in years.
 
Well anyone worried that i was going to throw my boy out in the wet and mud can rest easy as ive decided i couldnt live with myself if i did.
Im considering in for around may though after the first flush of spring grass has gone providing i can find a yard with suitably sparse grazing. He has had 2 bouts of Lami,both mild ones and i thing if i manage to keep his weight down then he should be okay.
Finding a yard at all is proving a nightmare though. Two i have been to visit have no room for my boy at present and the other one within a reasonable distance only does DIY livery. Its going to prove very dificult due to my working hours but i may have to consider it at least for the next few months.
Oh if only i had an acre and a half and a pony box of my own,how lovely life would be
grin.gif
 
Well I shall go against the grain here as I have to say I kept a laminitis sufferer on grass livery for many years very successfully, The mare had had severe laminitis (not while in my care) before I bought her as a hack, she COULD NOT tolerate being stabled so I made a track around the paddock she was in, hay went one end, water the other, this track allowed a whole lot more movement than a postage stamp paddock, and I used my other horse to graze it off first. She lived happily like that for years!!! so if you are sensible it CAN be done.
 
Agree with Lilym. If you can find somewhere who will let you do this kind of thing OP it should benefit your horse no end. You sound really down, hope you manage to get something workable soon.
 

I had a horse with COPD who was clipped and stabled. I was advised by a vet to turn him out for the rest of his life when he was 17 and he loved it, living until he was 34 and still clipped and worked until he was 30.

I now have a laminitic mare who lives out and although we go through a bit of a sticky time when we have weeks of frost as we have done this year, when she is in work and on restricted grazing we tend to go from March until the end of November without any threat of laminitis.
 
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