Staking minis out to eat grass

[Bassett]

I would like opinions on staking a horse out on a lawn to eat grass. We have about 2 acres of lawn that my husband mows almost daily in one place or another. (push mower - no rider) :no: Would you think it would be okay to tie my minis out and let them eat some of this delicious grass? My pasture is a fenced in area about 50x80 feet. 4' high fence. 2 shelters. I also have a 28' - 6 sided pen with a 6' high fence and a small barn type shelter. Grass just doesn't grow fast enough and I just can't fence in anymore area right now.

Please give me your honest opinion on what you think. Seems such a waste to not let them graze it.

: Bonnie B

 

[Manda]

....

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

Staking them out? I wouldn't. Even if you were watching them, things could happen in a split second. Too much of a risk. :no:

 

[Reble]

I would like opinions on staking a horse out on a lawn to eat grass.

: We can do this with our stallion he is older and does not get tangled, smart boy.

Just have to be carefull, some minis if they get tangled up spook and can get hurt, would only do this with supervision.

 

[Jetiki]

Big fat cotton rope, or run a smaller rope through a garden hose so it doesn't get tangled as easy. I have tied mine out without a problem using these items.

If your horse isn't spooky then I'd say you can do it. I tied mine to the corner fence post connecting hay string to the fence and the rope to that, in case of severe tanglement or panic attack it would break. Mine never got tangled by my foal who's 5 months old now, was 3.5 months at the time ran through it and broke it, would probably have choked him if I didn't have the hay string there to break.

If they aren't used to the taller richer grass I would only do for short intervals, say no more than an hour for a few days then gradually at the time.

Karen

 

[dangerranger]

of our 4 horses 2 can be staked out and two I would absoulutly not even try. the two that I would are very aware of there feet and never seem to get themselves tangled. the other two I hobble and ground tie with a short lead [ barely touches the ground.] I still need to be nearby. as in working in the yard. our minis were brought here for this very reason [ weedeaters, I wanted to name them Snapper and Trimmer, but my wife won out.] DR.

 

[Minimor]

Personally I wouldn't do it, even with a horse that "never" gets tangled. Why not? Because I once knew a pony that was staked out every day that there was any grass to be picked--for years and years and years and he NEVER had any problem....until the day when something spooked him and he hit the end of his tether rope & broke his neck & died. It wasn't my pony, but I did know him and honestly, I would have never thought something like that would happen to him. If it happened to that particular pony, it could happen to any pony.

I'd get a few temporary posts, some hot wire & a little fence charger & use that to put him on different parts of the lawn to graze.

 

[jayne]

I do stake my two out occasionally; it's more of a factor if they are not too fat and can handle the extra calories. I did a few things to make sure it was as safe as possible, but as others have mentioned, it is never completely safe. Here's what I did:

I bought the screw-in type stakes for big dogs. These have a turning thingy at the top and it is nearly flush with the ground so it can go round and round without tangling.

I bought a very thick soft cotton lead rope off a spool at the farm supply store. I then had a snap attached to each end. I think I went with 15' in length.

I knew my horses. The two I stake are 12 and 16 years old. I've had them for many years and know they are sensible and just hold still when they are in trouble.

I stake them out where there is nothing for them to get stuck on, only grass. I don't put them close enough that they can tangle with each other either.

I don't leave mine out more than a couple of hours, but if you do, be sure to offer water during that time. I know that when I put mine back in the paddock, they head right for their water trough.

Lastly, I supervise them almost 100% of the time they are staked out. I take an iced tea, a good book and a comfortable lawn chair out to their general area and enjoy their company. Sometimes they come and say HI, but usually they are pretty preoccupied with enjoying such a nice treat as fresh grass.

My two go NUTS when they see me dragging out the stakes; it is such an exciting event for them! They will dance all over their paddock, but when I bring out the halters they hold stock still because they know if they don't behave and walk nicely, they get put right back.

Hope this helps! Jayne

 

[Charlotte]

never tie a horse below the level of it's withers and never with more than about 12" of slack. Big horse or little. More slack in the rope and the horse can become tangled. 'Staking out' offers the possibility of rope burns which can be very severe and very hard to heal.

Fence the area you want to use for grazing. It's the only safe way.

 

[Miniv]

We've never considered it........too much risk.

We also have swaths of grass that need to be mowed. But we have opted to push in temoraray fence posts and set up metal goat panels and tied them to the posts with twine. Let the horse munch all day with a bucket of water..........and if he hasn't "mowed" it all down by nightfall, we let him go at it a second day.

:

MA

 

[Warpony]

I used to be able to stake out my old mare. I used a very thick heavy cotton rope and tied her to a very heavy old tire that had some give to it so that if she got tangled and pulled or if she spooked and tried to run it wouldn't stop her to hard.

That stopped the day the neighbors dogs came over and chased her and the tire up the drive and into the road. Now I take about 8 step in fiberglass temporary fence posts and run a strand of electric tape around the area I want to put them in, then I have an insulated wire I run from my pasture fence to the temporary pasture to keep the tape hot. No risk of rope burn or tangling, it takes about as long to set up as it take to set up a stake out, and it works just fine.

 

[MBennettp]

I just take a lawn chair and something to drink and let them graze while I hold the lead rope. I have seen too many bad rope burns from someone staking one out to graze.

Mary

 

[rabbitsfizz]

I would do Mary's way- I like the idea!!

Or the hotwire.

But no tyeing up for me- I do not even allow my horses to graze at shows- they are close tied and given nets of hay- it is just too risky and too many things can go wrong.

It does not matter how well you know your horses.

I have done this with a bigger pony and it worked OK for AGES- right up to the time it stopped working and she got all tangled up and thank God a friend was there to help her.

I learned the lesson the hard way, luckily the horse did not have to pay the price.

Never again.

Just another thing that is OK right up to the point where it goes badly wrong, IMO.

 

[Bassett]

Thanks everyone. I guess I was thinking that as young as they are (5,5,5, &6 months) that it would be the time to train them to stake out. But I can see it might not be a good idea unless I am right there. Like everyone says a mini will find a way to get hurt.

. Thanks again, your opinions are all valued.

BB

 

[Marnie]

Here is an alternative to staking out, I've not done it yet but may start next yr as I've seen it done and it worked great. You take 4 hog panels, you can just stand them up any place that you want to, tie them together, you can easily move it every day if you want to. You have a nice little 16 by 16 ft pen. Just imagine how the minis would enjoy this!

 

[Sterling]

I just take a lawn chair and something to drink and let them graze while I hold the lead rope. I have seen too many bad rope burns from someone staking one out to graze.

Mary

I've done this with my big horses and a good book. Some quiet time with the horses is really nice.

 

[HGFarm]

Ok, here is my opinions of 'staking horses out' to eat....

Severe rope burns or damage to legs and we had one friend who had a horse that he had staked for years while hunting - and he hunted a LOT. Something startled the horse one time, he took off running, hit the end of his rope so hard that he broke his neck.

I dont ever stake anything out- way too much risk

 

[Pandora]

We dont'; stake out and I dont' think I ever would.

We have a huge unfenced area in front of the barn. The setup makes it possible to put a gate on either end of this are so they can't go too far down the driveway, either towards the road, or towards the house, and we let the minis loose, except for the senior studs and show string during the summer. We then watch them while they are out and they have fun grazing this way on the weekends. Course there a cuople houdinis who do get out, but they only go to the other side of the gates and we got get them right away

:

 

[Nickermaker]

I wouldn't stake out on lawn also due to the fact - what type of grass is it? If there is fescue in the lawn, most lawn seed has not been tested for endophytes and is not certified to be endophyte free. So if you are breeding these guys this could present a problem also. And some lawns are of fescue around here anyway.

Just something else to think about that hadn't been brought up.

 

[Nathan Luszcz]

I just take a lawn chair and something to drink and let them graze while I hold the lead rope. I have seen too many bad rope burns from someone staking one out to graze.

Mary

I've done this with my big horses and a good book. Some quiet time with the horses is really nice.

Ditto

I bring my pony to the park from time to time and sit under a tree with him on the end of a lunge line and read while he nibbles. Just make sure the grass is still attached and not mowed already. Decomposing grass clippings produce toxins that can kill a horse.