To hay or not to hay

[dixie_belle]

We have land, tons of land. Most of what the horses eat is fescue and clover. I have been letting them graze four hours a day, in the morning, like from 9:00 to 1:00. Then I bring them in to the dry lot and feed them dinner (hay) around 5:00 pm or so. I put it in the slow feeder nets. Takes them about 2 hours to eat two flakes between the four of them. Being a novice, I am terribly concerned with two things: their weight (which is fantastic at this point) and founder. Hubby thinks I could let them out 3 hours in the morning and 3 hours in the evening and not have to give them hay in the summer months. Me, I'm not so sure. I'm paranoid about them having too much grass and getting founder. And yet, I see horses around here out 24/7. What would you recommend? Am I being overly concerned? To date, I have not had any problems with them...what I am doing works. Hubby sees the horses as big dogs and doesn't see why they can't simply eat grass all the time. And maybe they can. Maybe I am being overly cautious. But, as I mentioned, I am still a novice. I've only had horses for 4 years now and so it's a learn by experience thing.

Maybe I should mention we are in western Kentucky (just in case that is important).

Please, give me some help here.

 

[Minimor]

All I can say is, if we had enough pasture/grass to keep our horses fed, they would be out grazing and not getting hay, especially this year. There were a couple summers where we pastured 5 of our boys on a neighbor's pasture--they were out there 24/7 and they had enough grass to keep them filled up. Our pastures here aren't as lush as some so getting "too much" grass isn't a huge problem.

If your grass is quite lush, then obviously 24/7 grass wouldn't be a good plan, but I wouldn't worry about several hours two times a day. Watch their weight, if they start to put on too much weight then you'll know they're getting too much grass & need to be cut back some.

 

[targetsmom]

OK, I have to comment - if these were my horses, there would be no way I would be able to get them into a dry lot after being on lush grass in the morning! How do you do it??? We tend to turn ours out on NOT very lush pasture in the afternoon so we have a better chance of them coming in for their dinner grain. And that can even be iffy!!!

Seriously, my big horse that had colic surgeries that removed half his small intestines is turned out on grass 24/7 and I think that is keeping him alive. It is the way nature intended for a horse to eat. Of course he only has about an acre of pasture so not much chance he is going to overeat and has hay to supplement the grass. Our minis are either on dry lot or on another acre of pasture that never gets very high or lush. If I had a huge lush pasture, I am not sure what I would do, but maybe section some of it off so it gets eaten down a bit? Or maybe use grazing muzzles if you want to turn them out longer? I did have a horse founder on grass years ago and it was only about an acre of grass but that horse had foundered earlier. You definitely want to avoid founder! That mare had a thick crest, which is a red flag for founder risk, but 50 years ago we didn't know that.

 

[dixie_belle]

Getting them back onto the dry lot has never been a problem. I have a big bell on a post that I ring. They know it's time when they hear the bell. Most times they'll come in by themselves. Sometimes I have to walk down there and walk them back up. Once one starts coming in, they'll all come in. And, oddly enough, by the end of their four hours, they are all grazing by the gate. They KNOW their time is almost up. In the winter when the grass isn't real green, they'll come flying in!! I think it's whatever they get used to. It's their routine.

So maybe I could let them out three hours in the morning (say from 9:00-12:00) and then another three in the evening (4:00-7:00). Since I'm home all day, it's not a problem to let them in and out.

They'd have 6 hours of green grass and no hay until the winter. Would that be enough? Too much? geez but this is hard. I want just the right balance but not too much.

I've probably got 5 acres behind fence, total. I've got it divided into three pastures. Two of them are probably an acre and a half. The other is larger and has a big grove of trees in it. I have only let them out into one of the pastures for the year and a half since we have been here as the fencing on the the others is not 100% complete.(working on that) There is no way they are going to eat it down. The dry lot is another matter completely. Not a blade of grass there.

I've just always heard about terrible things happening to horses who get too much grass. But I'm at a loss to decide how much is too much. Sigh. This being a horsey mom is hard work.

I have deliberately NOT fertilized the pastures. I don't want the grass to be too rich. Besides, it looks fairly lush to me. However, having said that, I don't believe fescue is as bad as some of the other grasses. All my guys are geldings, by the way.

 

[Marty]

I like your thinking. People that have not gone through watching the tortures of founder need to take heed. I'm like you with plenty of grass but I also do not keep my horses on it too long right now in spring and summer months. I put them out on the grass in late morning when it is dry and the sugars are not so high in the grass. They are on it about 3 hours and then they volunteer to come into the dry lot area on their own before it gets too hot. Then they go into stalls at will under fans. They can stay under the fans or go into dry lot, their choice. It also helps when you keep it mowed way down to the nubs.

 

[billiethekid40]

If it were me I would not want them going for 14 hours from 7pm-9am with no food. Thats way too long for grazing animals and if you ask me more dangerous than letting them out 24/7. If left on pasture most horses don't actually graze and stuff themselves all day, but rather eat a bit here and a bit there. Horses left for long periods without food often WILL spend all their time eating and gorge in the first hour- they're HUNGRY! The sudden intake of grass can be dangerous and cause founder as well. The only way I would keep this schedule is if they had at least a small feed of hay in the AM before they went to grass to take the edge off the hunger. I would also give them some busy hay in the evening when they came off to give them something to digest overnight.

 

[rabbitsfizz]

You know your land and your grass far better than any of us, but I will tell you there is far greater risk of founder by letting horses out on lush grass for a limited amount of time and then keeping them short of long stem fibre, as you are doing at the moment, than when you let them out on grass all the time.

Horses need to pass fibre through their gut 22 out of 24 hours a day- so by giving them nothing at night you are letting them out to gorge, quite literally, as they will be hungry, in the morning.

Now, how about a compromise?

How about a small field, and a hotwire?

Leave them out all the time (do not , obviously, just suddenly do this- you know all that, right? You introduce them to it slowly) on a small field that has a hotwire strung right down the middle and move the wire every, oh, I don't know- how quickly does your grass grow? Every week?? You would have to juggle a bit and make up your own mind.

I have good grass, I would not call it "lush" but it is good. The "ley" is over 150 years old, and it is mixed grasses. My horses are all out 24/7. Some are a bit fat- so what? I have the ones I show up in stalls at night, so I can keep them trimmer, but the broodies, the stallions, the youngsters, they all graze all the time, and they do get a bit porky, true, but no-one has founder.

As I said at the beginning, you know your grass, and you would have to take it slowly, but your hubby would be happy and you would not have to feed hay or muck out!

I have no dry lot, I have no use for them, I cannot , honestly, see the point of having grass and keeping a horse on a dry lot, so I guess I see your husbands pint of view.

But I do understand your worries.

With correct handling you can both be happy and so can your horses!

 

[ohmt]

Over a 2 week period every May we gradually increase the amount of time we let our mares out on 20 acres of lush grass. We keep a large round bale of grass hay up front for them when they come back.

So far in over 20 years we have never had a founder or colic and they do gain a bit of weight (not to the point of being obese, but they get a little extra junk in the trunk) which I don't mind because by the time they are putting on that weight, many have already met their boyfriends so are in foal and I want all of them a little heavy going into winter.

We always keep a large round bale up front for them if they want it (they never eat from it) and of course have access to our big barn at all times. I don't grain them as they don't need it, but I make sure they have salt and mineral blocks.

 

[Windhaven]

when I put my horses on pasture, I slowly increase their time starting with 20 minutes to all day. I do bring mine in at night and feed them grass hay to keep them busy. They really don't need anything but grass hay when on good pasture.

I bring them in for two reason. I don't think it is healthy for them to be obese and we do have coyotes near our place. But even if I didn't have coyotes I would still bring them in at night so they don't get obese.

I do have a few horses that would do good on pasture 24/7 and not get obese but do to the coyotes they are all keep up by the barn.

You just have to figure out what is best for you and your horses.

 

[kaykay]

Once you have cared for a foundered horse you will do anything to avoid it. I always err on the side of caution and no way could I have small equine without a dry lot. I have seen way to many foundered minis and ponies that were left on grass pastures

We let ours at around noon and bring them in around 7 or 8 pm. They then get just a small amount of hay to keep them busy over night. They get another small portion of hay in the morning.

We never have trouble bringing ours in. I just yell "horses!" and they come running.

 

[SNDFarms]

We personally keep our horses on small cross sections of grass 24/7 and supplement hay and grain, but they have access to food and water 24/7, the worse thing in my opinion you can do is change a horses diet several times a day, horses are great at adapting their gut to whatever food they have, but it's very hard on them when they only have access to certain thing during certain hours, other things during other hours, and then nothing at all during other times of the day/night.

Give a horse a routine balanced diet and plenty of water and you will have a healthy and happy horse..

I have seen and helped treat colic and founder in horses, but I personally have never had a case on my farm.

 

[Sandy B]

Looks like you have lost of suggestion but I might add mine. I think it really depends on your type of pasture. Lush green and rich or ??? They are already out for several hours in the morning, I would definitely let them back out to graze in the evening until you can safely turn them out 24/7. Like others have said. Horses will learn to regulate their eating when they have access to food 24/7. Otherwise they eat non stop for the few hours they have when turned out. It usually takes a few weeks for them to regulate them selves but I think Rabbitfizz gave a great idea- to hotwire fence a smaller portion of the pasture say for evening pen up. That way they can still graze but not over-indulge. Once they learn to graze properly then you can remover the smaller pen. You might need to rotate the pen every 4-5 days depending on grass conditions. You sure could save a lot on your feed bill! My only suggestion is that you do supplement them with a vitamin & mineral.