Spring Grass

[lucky]

Hello, I am fairly new....I havent had the mini a year yet. So it hasn't been spring for me. I hear people saying things about spring grass and you can't let them it on it. Maybe I'm doing the wrong thing right now, I don't know. I live in a 5 acre to 10 acre addition. We have 5 acres fenced with a house, pond, shop and garden. The grass is starting to grow, mainly weeds. I have been letting horses out from 8-3. Do I need to put them up earlier, let them out later, I usually mow everything. Should I mow the weeds down? They are out now eating. The 2 full size horses next door are out on 2 acres. The weeds/grass is about 4 inches high. I could mow everything short would that help? Thankyou for any info.

 

[chandab]

The best place for resources on safe grazing is the Safer Grass website: http://www.safergrass.org/ It explains all the ins and outs of safely grazing horses on improved pastures and not so great pastures; especially for horses with metabolic issues (even normal horses would benefit from their owners knowing this). I need to go back and read more carefully the information, now that I have a Cushings gelding.

 

[earthchild]

I would recommend getting a grazing muzzle, that way your mini can be outside all the time.

 

[Marty]

I have a fit every year during spring because of this very reason, but I get over it......

Weeds or no weeds, that's a lot of "stuff" growing out there and some of it may be poisonous so you may want to get your horses off of there and spray them.

As far as the spring grass growing, I wait until late morning to turn my horses out so the grass won't be wet. They began going out at about 2 hours a day at first and then I increased it slowly over he past month to 4 hours. Now that we've had a lot of rain and the grass is growing like crazy, I had a couple come in with tummy aches last week so now we are back having to start all over again at 2 hours again.

We also keep it mowed down.

Good luck with this.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

That is a hard call. As a fellow Oklahoman I am dealing with that issue myself. I have never had trouble with my horses grazing 24/7--until last fall. The dead moonscape, then the fall rain bringing on green pasture again caused trouble with suspected laminitis. Now I am paranoid. I am letting mine out for about 4 hours a day. I started with 1 hour morning/afternoon and now they are out 2 hours morning/afternoon. Their noses are out of joint at being confined and it is a pain for me, but I feel much better about it.

I would not worry too much about them eating poisonous weeds, and I've watched them eat a bite of practically everything growing, except the wild onions. I've seen them skim over a blade of grass to eat henbit.

Do mow! ! Mowing will allow the good grass to get sunlight and grow better.