Which has more sugar? Winter grass or hay?

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CobsGalore

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Our winter field has lots of grass, not rich or lush, just 10 acres of roughage.

My horse is currently on a starvation paddock for being a little fatty.

I am hoping the winter will help me get the weight off him, but what would be better for him weight loss wise - winter grass or bare paddock and hay?

What has more sugar in it? Or does it really depend on the grazing and the hay you get?
 
If it helps my horse got lami from being in a large field with really rough non lush grass 3 weeks ago! He was fine on the short better grass all spring/summer and is currently on a bare patch in the day with soaked hay and the short better quality grass at night.

It's so hard to know what is right and every horse is different. :(
 
It does really depend on the individual grazing and the type of hay. But looking at your location I would say that up to now it has been mild and wet down South and the grass is still likely to be relatively rich, so I would not want to turn a fatty out onto 10 acres of unrestricted grass at this point in time. (As an aside, there are as many, if not more, cases of laminitis in the autumn as there are in the Spring).
 
Grumpymoo said:
If it helps my horse got lami from being in a large field with really rough non lush grass 3 weeks ago! He was fine on the short better grass all spring/summer and is currently on a bare patch in the day with soaked hay and the short better quality grass at night.

It's so hard to know what is right and every horse is different. :(
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Funnily enough my mare had a 'funny turn' at grass about 3 weeks ago. She suddenly developed 4 very filled legs. I brought her in for a couple of days, kept her on soaked hay and she recovered quickly. I turned her back out, having reduced her padock size quite considerably and she's remained fine. Her symptoms co-incided with a spell of warmer, wet weather, so I've put it down to the grass having a spurt.
 
Thanks, it's so difficult to know what to do with a good doer! He is out tonight on the large field but will go back to his restricted grazing during the day.

I think I will keep him on restricted until the grass is a lot poorer, but he will need forage to keep him warm as he will be unrugged this winter
 
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