OT/ horse problems

xcsp · Apr 11, 2013

Hello everyone need some help ,have a 17 year old Morgan she was overweight but a easy keeper, well last fall she foundered,my other quarter horse she did not.

Well she is doing great now on the heeling process,running doing great , now the Farrier says no green grass,no grazing this spring or fall.

The Vet says put a muzzle on her,but I find that impossible as she is not going to go for that,

My question is there anything I could plant in the pasture ,that would be safe for her this spring ???? or I will have to keep them penned up and feed them hay all summer.

any suggestions
thanks
Greg

JayinNY · Apr 11, 2013

Give him plenty of exercise if laminitis is not suspected, do not
feed excessive carbohydrates, and limit turn out time on lush
grass. Try not to let the horse get overweight either. These
are a few things that come to mind, also try googling laminitis
or founder for more info. Good luck

Anonymous-0 · Apr 11, 2013

Just put her up at night all year round leave her out in the
morning. Had a horse like that grown-up and thats what we
did.

Nancy Howell · Apr 11, 2013

When the grass first comes up in spring, it is very lush and can cause horses to founder just like feeding too high protein feed.

Absolutely limit her access to the first grass of spring by stalling, penning, whatever you need to do.

Later in the year, don't know where you are so I'm making a guess, around mid-June, you can start leaving her out more. Gradually increase her time out and watch her closely.

If you stall her, to help keep her from getting bored, you can scatter her hay around her stall. this means she will have to pick it out and its more like grazing. Some may get fouled, but that's better than if she starts chewing up the stall or worse, figures out how to crib.

Hay hay hay · Apr 11, 2013

Grazing muzzles work very well. It is less cruel than letting them eat themselves to death.

Bret4207 · Apr 12, 2013

I agree with Edd. Get the muzzle on her, even if it's just a few minutes at a time. She'll learn to work with it. Just takes some time. Another alternative is to get her more active. Working cattle, driving, shoot, put a small harrow behind her and drag the garden. Work her and the fat will drop, just like with people. Older, stemmy hay is another alternative.

I've been messing with horses for a long time now. I see an awful lot of people over feeding a very rich diet to horses that do nothing other than stand around. It leads to problems.

LorenMN · Apr 12, 2013

The grazing muzzle works, she won"t like it at first, but she will get used to it after a few days. Start with an hour or two in the pasture with the muzzle, and check on her often. They will figure out a way to get it off a few times until they get used to eating through it.

We have a 21 yr old Morgan mare that is really tough to keep the weight off. We used a muzzle last summer and fall, and it worked good after she got used to it. She foundered last month on grass hay with hardly any alfalfa in it. X-ray"s showed some rotation but not severe yet. Her metabolism just can"t keep from building up sugars without being worked. We put reverse shoes on her and put her on marsh grass hay with thyroid supplement, and she seems to be moving better now and is losing weight.

xcsp · Apr 12, 2013

(quoted from post at 08:48:14 04/12/13)
Thanks everyone for the help I purchased a muzzle last summer will work with her and get her used to it. we cut her weight down quite a bit already.

thanks again
Greg

OT/ horse problems

xcsp

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JayinNY

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Anonymous-0

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Nancy Howell

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Hay hay hay

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Bret4207

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LorenMN

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xcsp

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