Turning out horses after sundown is helpful to avoid both heat and flies, but it can also be used as a tool to combat weight gain, reports The Horse.
When the sun goes down, plants naturally stop photosynthesizing and producing sugar. As the night stretches on, plants use the sugar they produced during the day to grow.
The limited sugar in the grasses is helpful not just for horses that might need to lose weight, but also for horses that have metabolic issues like pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID).
During the summer In North America, plant sugars are lowest at 3 a.m. and begin to increase after sunrise. If night turnout isn't feasible, turning out horses from 6 to 10 a.m. is also an option. Sugar production after 10 a.m. starts to rise.
Night grazing can become an issue once temperatures begin to drop below 40 degrees F, which causes sugar levels in plants to remain high. Once the first hard frost happens, night grazing should be stopped.
The ability to adjust a metabolically challenged horse's turnout schedule to include night or early morning hour-grazing when plant sugars are lowest may allow him to be turned out for longer without compromising his health or necessitating a dry lot.
Because PPID horses often have insulin regulation issues, reducing sugar in these individuals' diets is often beneficial. Along with your veterinarian's advice, limited early morning grazing might be the safest choice for them.
Beware of putting metabolic horses on overgrazed fields, however; if grasses offer no competition for light or water, weeds may grow, which may be higher in sugar than the grasses. Additionally, grasses that are brown, yellow, or dry aren't necessarily safe to graze and may have high sugar content, even though they may look dead.
If horses are turned out at night, it's imperative that fences are safe and secure and that all gates are latched. Fresh water should be available at all times and if insects are biting, fly spray application is recommended. Any diet changes that are made, including turnout onto more-lush pasture, should be done gradually to allow the horse time to adjust.
Read more at The Horse.
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