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  Discussion on More nutrition in eaten down pasture?
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Posted on Tuesday, Aug 14, 2001 - 11:10 pm:

I am having a friendly disagreement with the lady who boards my two horses. They have less than an acre of pasture between them and it has been very dry here so it is totally eaten down. I say they need to have hay in the morning AND and night, she says only at night. She says the short grass/hay in the pasture is the most nutritious and that should be plenty for them all day long. (it is half brown and just little brown and green stubbles). Has anyone ever heard of the "short stuff" being more nutritious?

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 15, 2001 - 9:23 am:

Not when it's THAT short!!! I believe it is felt that pasture grasses are more nutritious when they are shorter because they are less mature - thus less stemmy & fibrous. But we're talking about "shorter" NOT overgrazed, which is the situation you are describing. I would definitely shoot for morning & evening hay for two horses on less than a acre of eaten-down stubble.

Bonnie

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 15, 2001 - 11:03 am:

Diane,

Our situtation is similar. Our two horses have only a few acres of grass that is all but gone now, much like you describe, very short, half brown, patchy. Even though we have rotated them very religiously between the six paddocks we have, the grass has been overgrazed and can only recover so many times over the summer when there has been no rain, which is also the case where we are. Our horses are given hay in the morning and evening to compensate the lack of good grass that's available this year. It's good enough to keep them busy during the day looking for something edible, but certainly doesn't meet any nutritional requirements any longer. I think I would agree with Bonnie and shoot for morning and evening hay for these two horses while the pasture is so poor.

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 15, 2001 - 11:10 am:

In my opinion, it is extremely important that your horses get the hay they need. My horse was in a similar situation last summer. Only the place he was boarded didn't give him any hay morning or evening. He lost a lot of weight and I moved him to a better situation. Horses can lose weight so fast. Don't let this happen to your horses.

Monica C.

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 15, 2001 - 1:54 pm:

Thanks so much everyone! That does clear it up for me - the GROWING short grass is more nutritious, the eaten down stuff that is not growing is not. I can see where a person could misunderstand. (I will be sure to point that out to the lady at the stable. Hee hee.) So my horses will definitely be getting hay in the AM too!

Posted on Thursday, Aug 16, 2001 - 7:09 am:

Hello All,
I thought I would wade in with some thoughts. In the case of fescue and probably other cool season grasses, a blade length of 4 inches is considered the minimum length at which the grass can produce optimal amounts of tissue for good growth. Once below that the grass goes into a holding pattern with the idea to try and just survive and has greatly decreased nutritional value. Of course season, temperature, and rainfall will also greatly affect production. To simply look out at a brown overgrazed field and to suggest it is a sign the horses are getting adequate forage intake from this is well...wrong.

For a permanant solution to this problem Diane run a search on rotational grazing, institue the changes recommended and you will be amazed in a year at the difference in the condition of the pasture.
DrO

Posted on Thursday, Aug 16, 2001 - 9:31 am:

Unfortunately, unless Diane's boarding situation is an unusually amenable & cooperative one, it is doubtful that they will agree to automatically change the way they are doing things based on Diane's findings - i.e begin a rotational grazing program. If I were her, I would consider myself extremely lucky to get them to agree to the additional hay!!

Bonnie

Posted on Thursday, Aug 16, 2001 - 2:47 pm:

Question for Diane.
How are your horses? What would you say there body condition score is at? Are they losing weight?
Its been my experience that, people can argue all day about the nutrient value of any horse feed and get nowhere. But, if the feed is no good the animals just will not thrive on it, question answered.

D.

Posted on Monday, Aug 20, 2001 - 10:37 pm:

Thanks to all of you my horsies are happy again! The gelding had lost weight but was not dangerously thin at all. I caught them in time. I see them every day so I keep a close eye on them. My mare is still a bit chubby - she is half morgan/half quarterhose and has that morgan appetite that Dr. O mentioned for sure. They are always hungry, but I was noticing they were "desperately" hungry. And I noticed some branches were stripped on a tree in their pasture too. That is when I started asking questions about their diet. I am lucky to be boarding at a wonderful stable and they do care when the boarders complain about something. Again, thank you all. I have two very happy horses again!

Posted on Tuesday, Aug 21, 2001 - 12:18 am:

That's great! I know your horses ARE much happier with the extra hay. My DJ is a Morgan, and believe me, I KNOW how much they treasure their groceries :O

Suzy and DJ (The Eating Machine)

Posted on Wednesday, Aug 22, 2001 - 1:32 pm:

Good stuff. I'm glad you were able to get things sorted out.:)

D.
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