Help Please - How much grazing?

[Murphs]

Ok - daft questionbut, putting the risks of laminitis to one side just for a minute. How do i know how much turnout my horse should have on relatively good grass (not long) that would be equivalent to the amount i would feed her in hay - she's a good doer and overweight but i've just managed to get her to stabilise and lose a few pounds. I want her to spend as much time out with her buddy as poss but don't want her to pile the pounds back on. I have a 3 acre field sectioned into 4 grazing paddocks and 2 horses grazing - Ebony's a cob 14.2hh and Candy is also a cob - 15.2hh

Thoughts please

[Tammy]

I have a 15h QH that is an easy keeper. I put her out from 4 to 6 hours a day...depends on if she is getting exercize.

[clairev]

I find 6 hours is just about right for my 14.2 cob - and she is ridden for 1-2 hours almost every day - once the grass is well down she'll be able to stay out longer but any more than that at the moment and she balloons!

[fionahogg]

Hi I also have a good doer. We've always had to stable him during the day from about 7am to 4pm - during the day is when the grass is most 'dangerous' for laminitic types - and he's gone out at night. But this year we bought a grazing mask from Greenguard. It really is excellent for restricting grazing and is nothing like the 'old style' muzzles and the problems associated with them. It does not interfere with breathing, and it allows the horse to get sufficient food through his system to satisfy his need to chew. It also has the obvious benefit of keeping the horse in his more natural environment. So far Monty has been able to go out 24 hours a day on very good grazing and he's put on very little weight. He wears the mask for the suggested 8 hours a day and goes without it at night. I thought you might like to know about it because I find it really does allow you to keep 'fatties' out for 24hrs.
Take a look at: http://www.greenguard.co.uk

Hope this helps! Sorry I haven't answered your question but this might still be of some use!

Fiona.

[Murphs]

Thanks Fiona - i have thought about a muzzle but have been a little bit nervous about using one. Some people say the horse should be supervised whilst wearing it and as i'm out at work during the day i wouldn't be able to do that. I've also heard that some horses then gorge themselves on grass for the 16 hours that they aren't wearing the mask! How did your horse take to it? Does he gorge when "mask free"?

[julie biggs]

hi murphs,.....i am having the same problem as you, mavericks ballooned out he's now got a huge grass belly, he is not particually overweight it's just his belly. all because i ignored what people were telling me at the time, that was to fetch him in of the night ( or day if you prefer) to halve his grazing, at this time of year. i wish i had of done now, its not a pretty sight, i'v now had to cut his grazing time right to get rid of it,luckily a grass belly does not take long to come off, but its the risk factor that goes with it, so far i have been lucky...hope this helps.

[fionahogg]

Hi Murphs.
You don't need to supervise them when they have it on, but I would definitely advise you use a field safe headcollar. If the mask gets caught on anything it will break because the straps attaching it to the headcollar are made of leather. Also if your horse is in a field where there are frequent fights/upsets then I wouldn’t really recommend using it because the horse is less able to defend himself. But Monty has had no problems whatsoever with his. The horses he is with don't bother him with it on so I don't need to 'supervise' him wearing it at all.
He doesn't really gorge when he is not wearing it I think this is because the field he is in is quite long in grass anyway so he finds it easy enough to get enough food to satisfy him but not too much to increase his weight by that much. There are a couple of other horses who wear masks at my yard (we've set off a trend lol - but are all laminitic ponies and wearing the mask has been really been beneficial) and they gorge but settle down after quarter of an hour or so.
Obviously stabling is also another good way to help control weight but if I had to stable Monty he'd be on his own and he doesn't appreciate being cooped up at all so I feel the mask is a better option for him.
I feel that the positives definitely outweigh the negatives and although they seem expensive initially, it's cheaper than having to stable throughout summer!

Hope this helps!

Fiona.

[Miriam]

I guess I am pretty lucky as my horse although can be prone to laminitis as she piles on the weight during the winter (even though she is only out during the day and in at night) can be left out 24hrs due to the fact we have a couple of small paddocks which have little grass in and can be used as fatty paddocks. I bring Rhi off the grass at beginning of May (whilst no one else is using the paddock) and leave her in 24hrs until she has gone down to her approx weight. She is then turned out during the day and brought back into the paddock at night. I will continue with this pattern until August. All this because I had a horse on loan two years ago that suffered badly from laminitis.


Miriam