Thank you what a great informational video and a good explanation. What about when grasses and pastures are brown in the winter but there’s no snow cover yet? Sain Foin and grass is what we have and after one of my horses put on too much weight quickly this fall, we’ve been very careful. They alternate morning and late night with grazing times as well as hey nets so we know approximately how much they are eating. But how much sugar and how much nutrients are in dormant pastures usually? They finish their night hey nets by midnight usually and then go seven or eight hours without food. I just wonder how safe night turn out would be for them as a better option when it’s only 10° and they’ve already finished their forage. I wonder how to tweak their schedule so they can have more safe turn out time. I would rather not use a grazing muzzle on all night I think
Its really hard to pinpoint how much sugar is in dormant pasture. But it's really easy to find out your horse's risk of laminitis and colic. Once you understand how "at risk" your horse is, then you can adjust accordingly. And generally speaking, cold nights and brisk mornings tend to increase sugars, and warmer afternoons lower them, but when it's cold all the time and snow is coming, who really knows. Offering hay with slow feeders is always a good idea, and may be easier for horses to eat in the cold weather anyway.
Thanks! I know understand why the barn owner times turn in/ out. She had mentioned, briefly, abt the sugars in the grass but not this throughly👍
It's part art and science to keep higher-risk horses safe!
Thank you what a great informational video and a good explanation. What about when grasses and pastures are brown in the winter but there’s no snow cover yet? Sain Foin and grass is what we have and after one of my horses put on too much weight quickly this fall, we’ve been very careful. They alternate morning and late night with grazing times as well as hey nets so we know approximately how much they are eating. But how much sugar and how much nutrients are in dormant pastures usually? They finish their night hey nets by midnight usually and then go seven or eight hours without food. I just wonder how safe night turn out would be for them as a better option when it’s only 10° and they’ve already finished their forage. I wonder how to tweak their schedule so they can have more safe turn out time. I would rather not use a grazing muzzle on all night I think
Its really hard to pinpoint how much sugar is in dormant pasture. But it's really easy to find out your horse's risk of laminitis and colic. Once you understand how "at risk" your horse is, then you can adjust accordingly. And generally speaking, cold nights and brisk mornings tend to increase sugars, and warmer afternoons lower them, but when it's cold all the time and snow is coming, who really knows. Offering hay with slow feeders is always a good idea, and may be easier for horses to eat in the cold weather anyway.
Thank you for videos like this! Very simple to understand
Oh thank you! That's so nice of you.