K&K
11th Jul 2002, 08:54 PM
My first question has to do with grazing. Beauty was recently put out in the "Fat Field" - a field smaller than the rest with less grass, because she's a very easy keeper. At the moment she's out there by herself but soon Honey & Gypsy will join her.
The first day she went out, she was put out after her grain in the morning, stayed out until about 2 when I put her in her paddock (since I read you're not supposed to let them graze their heads off the first day out), then that night gave her 1 flake of grass hay and a half flake of timothy. Hay-wise, she usually she gets 1 flake grass hay in the morning, 1 flake timothy for lunch, and 1 flake grass & 1 flake timothy at dinner.
The second day, she was turned out in her paddock in the morning, with 1 flake of grass hay. At about 1 I put her in the field, where she stayed until 6. I gave her a 1 flake of timothy that night.
Today she was turned out in the morning, into the field, with no hay breakfast. I'm going to leave her out until about 5, then take her into her stall. I was going to give her 1 flake of grass hay for dinner at 6:30-ish.
What I was wondering was ... am I doing this "introduction to grass" correctly? Does she need more or less hay than what I plan on giving her? Once she's out in the field regularly (9am to about 7pm), does she need any hay at all? I was thinking 1 flake of grass hay to munch on at night would be good, but I'm not sure if that's too much or too little. And would taking her off timothy for the summer be bad for her?
Thank you VERY much for any advice you can give me. She's my first horse and a lot of these things are very new to me.
:) thanks again
The first day she went out, she was put out after her grain in the morning, stayed out until about 2 when I put her in her paddock (since I read you're not supposed to let them graze their heads off the first day out), then that night gave her 1 flake of grass hay and a half flake of timothy. Hay-wise, she usually she gets 1 flake grass hay in the morning, 1 flake timothy for lunch, and 1 flake grass & 1 flake timothy at dinner.
The second day, she was turned out in her paddock in the morning, with 1 flake of grass hay. At about 1 I put her in the field, where she stayed until 6. I gave her a 1 flake of timothy that night.
Today she was turned out in the morning, into the field, with no hay breakfast. I'm going to leave her out until about 5, then take her into her stall. I was going to give her 1 flake of grass hay for dinner at 6:30-ish.
What I was wondering was ... am I doing this "introduction to grass" correctly? Does she need more or less hay than what I plan on giving her? Once she's out in the field regularly (9am to about 7pm), does she need any hay at all? I was thinking 1 flake of grass hay to munch on at night would be good, but I'm not sure if that's too much or too little. And would taking her off timothy for the summer be bad for her?
Thank you VERY much for any advice you can give me. She's my first horse and a lot of these things are very new to me.
:) thanks again