too much grass

[lamprellsarah]

my 16HH horse has just gone on to three acres of good grass it's about 2 to 3 inches high and she is on it with 8 other horses, she now has lose slightly runny droppings.
how long will it last??
whats the best food binder, to make her droppings more firm??
or is it not worth getting it???

 

[Macha's Ember]

Grass

I am not sure how things run at your barn. At our barn turn out is limited and the horses are often in their stalls. If your horse is out on grass 24/7 the situation might be different. When horses at our barn get the "runs" because of the feed and not another problem, such as an illness or nervousness, we change to pellets or mix them with our sweet feed. This hardens the horses stool.

If the grass is too rich or if your afraid the horse might colic from the grass, we supplement with a digestive aid, like Accel. This helps them digest easier. One of our horses had been coming in from pasture repeatedly bloated and with colic-like symptoms, Accel stopped the symptoms and the bloating.

Hope this helps.

Macha's Ember

 

[Murphs]

try to give the horse a break fromthe grass for a few hours aday. Give him hay that usually puts mine back on track!

 

[lamprellsarah]

my horse is out 24/7 i have no stable and at the moment our other paddock can not be used because we had a cross country day and we had to go though it so the fences are down!!!
so now what do i do??
Accel not heard of it where can you get it from???

 

[ros]

I probably wouldn't worry unless your horse is already overweight. The loose droppings should clear up when the digestive system gets used to coping with the extra bulk.

 

[Bebe]

Before moving to our current livery yard Bebe spent 2 months on a field with 5" high grass. She was with 3 other horses, all on 24/7n turnout. She had runny manure for 2-3 days whilst her digestive system adjusted but after that she was fine.

If you're worried would you be able to temporarily fence off a smaller piece of the field? This will restrict the grass intake and prevent them from gorging at first.

 

[ros]

PS I bet 8 horses will go through 3 acres like a does of salts!

 

[KarlR]

The problem that we might face soon (if our property deal goes ahead) is that of 2 fat horses on 6 acres of grass that is at least 6 inches high.

We're desperately trying to get it cut before we move and we're also going to post and rail it into sections! Otherwise we'll have two very fat, laminitic, colicey horses!

On the subject of droppings, by TB always has running droppings when at grass - even after 6 months they were still runny, but are starting to clear up now that he's in more. It never bothered him though, although it's a bit messy having to wipe their bum regularly! He still put weight on quite quickly despite this.

 

[Sharon H]

I shouldn't worry about it. Horses usually get this for a few days when changing pasture. If it carries on for weeks and weeks you might have a problem but i shouldn't think it will.

 

[judyl]

Why don't you try feeding probiotics. I use Protexin probiotic which I buy from my Vet. A probiotic helps the gut keep the 'friendly' bacteria so that gut should work normally. My horse has a tendency to colic which is why I began feeding her probiotics. You can also try yoghurt which is much cheapter but a bit messier - my horse decided that she didn't like the taste!

Judy

 

[Mossy]

Our way the autumn grass is just starting to come through after the summer drought. all that glucose is causing interesting behaviour! Connie got right above herself and is off all hard feed. Moss is having it worked out of him, much to his disgust, - and the horses at the school I help out at were all giving their riders a hard time today! Peaceful plodders found a mind of their own!