How much grass?

[heartofwisdom]

I've ben trying to ask this question since for weeks but I can never logon (I followed all the cookie directions and tried Firefox and IE). Anyone else have trouble with this board?

I've had my 2 little guys for 5 months.

I have 1 acre pasture. They have eat the grass as sson as it comes up so there is hardly any grass in the pasture. My back yard has plenty of grass so I let the horses out on a lounge line for 45 min to an hour every morning.

Its been great becasue they now let me brush them and clean their feet and come to me easy becasue they know they get to go into the green area.

I'm worried about them getting too much. Is an hour good? Is it enough? I'd like to let them out another hour in the evening but I worry it will be too much. If one hour a day has been OK when can I go to two hours? I was told they need more time in a grassy area in the fall?

They eat 1 cup feed in the morning and 1 cup in the evening each. They eat a flick of hay (not alfalfa) each night between them and a few treats daily. They are not thin at all.

The pasture has been grubbed to death- if I don't keep them off it for a while I don't think I'll have grass.

Here is an image of pasture and yard

Thanks,

Robin

http://heartofwisdom.com/miniaturehorses.htm

 

[lyn_j]

[SIZE=14pt]Very pretty pasture and fence...Personally I dont believe 1 cup twice a day is enough feed.... so all the grass they want would be good on that small amount of feed. You dont say if you plan to show them or are they just pets or what. What they are intended for would dictate how they eat.[/SIZE]

Lyn

 

[heartofwisdom]

They are pets, I'm not showing.

Now I'm really confused. I thought they were getting too much but you think its not enough?

The person I purchased them from ( She has 40 minis) said to continue on Purina's Omolene 1 cup tiwce a day when she used other feed they didn't gain as much.

I don't think they are underfed at all--they are pudgy. My ferrier calls them fat.

Wouldn't "all the grass they want " cause them to founder? Thats why I'm asking--I'm so nervious about foundering. I was told if if your horse gets too much spring grass he will founder, and be compromised for the rest of his life????????

 

[jleonard]

I'm not a nutirition expert or anything, this is just my experience.

When we lived in california, our horses didn't get any grass at all. There was none for them to have. They were in 12x12 stall/ paddock, although they did get let into the larger padock, 12x36 for most of the day. Still, that was just sand as well.

They got a cup of Equine Jr. AM and PM, and just a tiny bit of hay, plus about a cup of beet pulp. I know it doesn't sound like much, but they were still fat, just with this and they were getting exercise everyday. The feeding instructions were what their owner and my trainer sugested. (We were just boarding them at the time, we hadn't bought them yet) Now, in Ky, they have the same diet, but they are on pasture all day, with muzzles, because w/o them they would be little balloons with bad tummy aches and probably sore toes to go with it!

I think it depends on the horse, how much feed/ grass it gets. Some horses get fat on air. It is up to you to gauge their body condition and decide what they need or don't need. From the pics they looks good, although it is hard to see. It seems like what you are doing is fine for your horses.

It does not look like they are getting too much.

(Sorry if I'm rambling!)

:

 

[Voodoo]

They look to be in good condition, but it does sound to me like they aren't getting much to eat. I do know that if they aren't on a regular exercise schedule they won't eat near as much either. As fuzzy as they still are I would feel their back, hips, ribs etc....... to check their weight. You should be able to feel the ribs, but have to push some to feel them. If they are really easily felt you might want to put some more weight on them and if you have to push really hard then I'd say they are getting plenty to eat :bgrin . The first mini I got really fooled me, I thought he was fat, then body clipped and was so embarrased by his weight I had to keep him hid for weeks :no: . You sound like a good mini mom so I'm sure that your judgment would be just fine.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

Again with the dieting!!

I think you people have WAY too much time on your hands

Ask yourself this very simple question-

"Are they healthy???"

I do not mean are they fat, but are they healthy??

If they are and they are fat stop worrying.

Mine are out, on good grass 24/7.

They are as fat as all got out.

I mean FAT!!!

They do nothing but feed their faces (and their foals)

They are wee piggies.

They are healthy, with glossy coats (what I can see of the summer coat, they have not fully shed yet) and they are NOT foundering.

Fat horses do not necessarily founder.

If they are happy and healthy and not being shown there is no reason on God's earth why they should not be fat.

I know this offends some people but I really think some of us need to be looking in the mirror a bit harder of a morning before we start inflicting diets on our animals!!!

The pasture you are providing is almost adequate to the horses needs, the backyard grazing they get will supplement the pasture- you have got the balance right, now you need to stop worrying and enjoy your babies- you are right on track and a good horsey Mama!!!

:

 

[Margaret]

First of all are these boys still growing? I did not see you mention there age. That is the first thing I would consider. If they are younger and still growing than I would not worry too much.. They are not shaved and the extra coat can mimic a heavy look. If you can feel their ribs (when you press in) -than they are not too heavy. Fat deposits build up on the neck usually last, so they will get cresty on the top of the neck when it happens.. I have three horses on a devided acre, but mine are full grown and I do watch their weight. So far on pasture 24-7 and no-one is overweight. I dont like to suppliment these full grown mini's as they have a seperate 12-12 mineral block and salt block. -And their condition tells me they are getting what they need, and I dont need to add to that. They are not fat and not thin. Nothing builds up a horse better than leaving them on a well maintained pasture if they are thin- I have discovered. Now if they were too hefty, then I would put them on a scrappy pasture (like yours), so they still get something, but not continue to grow.

 

[midnight star stables]

Her minis are 2 years old.

 

[Ojai Minis]

Your horses look good

I would not worry about them getting grass a couple of times a day. The 1 cup of grain, 2 timesa day you're feeding is probably just fine. I don't think that horses should get a lot of grain unless they absolutly need it. My horses get 1 cup of a sprouted barley mixture 2 times a day, 1/4lb alfalfa hay, 2 times a day and about 3/4lb orchard grass hay 2 times a day. They get out to "graze" about an hour a day, but I have mostly have just weeds, (I"m in CA) so it's just to give them something to do. One horse is butterball fat, the other is just right. There food gets wieghed at each meal.

What would concern me more, is these pictures, is if those lunge lines are attached to a tree or something. In my youth, (not knowing any better)I had a horse tied to a tree with a lunge line to graze and I turned my back and next thing I knew, he was so tangled up, I had to cut the lunge line in places to untangle him. Thank god, I saw it quickly or he would have choked himself to death or broken a leg.

Have fun with your horses!!!

Liz V.

 

[heartofwisdom]

The pasture you are providing is almost adequate to the horses needs, the backyard grazing they get will supplement the pasture- you have got the balance right, now you need to stop worrying

Thanks Jane and everyone. They are two years old.

I am not worried about them getting fat but I am scared to death that they might founder. I'm just trying to find the right balance. I'm brushing daily and I can't feel the ribs easily so I think they are getting enough.

Hows this for a signal--They are eating more hay now then they did in the winter? They gobble up the hay every morning and none is left from the night before. It seems like they just aren't getting enough from the skimpy pasture. I have increased the back yard time from one hour a day to two but I'm still nervous (very, very nervous) about foundering. I know I'm a worry wart.

I THINK I need to divide my pasture in half and alternate every few weeks to let the pasture build up. Or keep them in the paddock for a few weeks with hay and supplement with the backyard until my pasture comes in a bit better.

One more question: If I keep them in the paddock for a few weeks, can they have free access to hay or do I limit?

Thanks again.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

How big in acres is the paddock and how big is the backyard??

Maybe you should be looking at getting the backyard fenced

:

 

[Mona]

[SIZE=14pt]Very pretty pasture and fence...Personally I dont believe 1 cup twice a day is enough feed.... so all the grass they want would be good on that small amount of feed. You dont say if you plan to show them or are they just pets or what. What they are intended for would dictate how they eat.[/SIZE]

Lyn

Lyn, I think you are wrong there. I have all my mares on very POOR pasture in the summer...looks worse than the pasture shown here, and I feed them 2 cups of grain(at one feeding) in the summer. They are FAT pigs!!! In the winter, Spring and Fall when there is no grass in the pastures, I feed limited hay and increase the grain to about 3 cups a day. My horses are too fat if anything, and I have also gone years without even feeding any grain at all. They do not need grain to keep weight on, plain and simple. If they gave grass to eat, and water available and a salt/mineral block, they will survive just fine.

 

[Margaret]

Mona, I had to chuckle when I read your post..... With my 24-7 pasture, depending on how ample it is, I sometimes add some grass hay,.....But -if I dared to add any grain, I would have little porkers too. :lol:

 

[Marty]

I"m going back to your original question and comment about the grass founder.

Yes, grass founder is a real concern and whoever tipped you off about it did a good thing. Sounds like she's a smart cookie to me.

Grass founder is usually caused in the spring time when the grass begins to grow very lush.

Since horses have not been used to it, after a long winter of dead grass, any sudden extensive amount of being exposed to the new grass can induce founder. For instance, say if you have had horses in a dry lot area for months, and then suddenly they are turned out on a lovely grassy pasture and left there. Their system can't handle it and you can see founder. It's like turning a kid loose in a candy shoppe and then they gorge themselves. But a human can just barff it all up. A horse cannot. So that is why we end up with founder or colic.

So what you are doing in my humble opinion is right. You are carefully easing them into the new grass situation. I do the same thing here in the springtime. My horses started out on the new spring grass for a couple of hours a day. Then I gradually increased their pasture time a little bit each week.

Now in the fall it's backwards because that is when the grass begins to stop growing and eventually die off. So there is no real threat of grass founder anymore. But with that does begin a new problem of grazing on an over-grazed pasture. You just can't win sometimes. So yes, I would most definately divide your fields and also fence that nice area in your yard as well. You can never have enough turn out areas.

Here is a link you may like to read:

http://www.horsecity.com/stories/071403/he...ounder_HB.shtml