I've been allowing my horses access to the pasture for 8 hours a day lately. But I've noticed the last few days they have had hot feet, so yesterday I asked the hoof trimmer and he said no more than 4 hours a day access to the pasture. He is warning all his clients about the ideal conditions for laminitis here this year.
The drought has caused such a change in pastures, plus so much hay is trucked in from far away that our horses have not had consistent forage for a couple of years.
I've never had a problem with mine until last year. And now I am paranoid about hot feet. They are confined to a dry corral except for a maximum grazing time of 4 hours per day. We are not happy! Confinement brings out all the unpleasant little personality quirks--such as the desire to paw all the water out of the water tubs.
The drought has caused such a change in pastures, plus so much hay is trucked in from far away that our horses have not had consistent forage for a couple of years.
I've never had a problem with mine until last year. And now I am paranoid about hot feet. They are confined to a dry corral except for a maximum grazing time of 4 hours per day. We are not happy! Confinement brings out all the unpleasant little personality quirks--such as the desire to paw all the water out of the water tubs.