grazing | Horse Racing Free Tips

Grazing Overweight Horses: Restricted Access Appropriate At Times

Are you toying with the idea of regaining control of your horse's body condition by implementing a weight-loss plan? Depending on your horse's situation, restricting access to pasture might be the place to start.

Why limit pasture access? Aren't horses natural-born grazers?

While horses evolved as grazers, the quality of the pasture grasses has increased dramatically in recent years, making it unsuitable for some horses, especially those that tend to be easy keepers.

“Many horses can graze pasture grasses with no problem whatsoever. Chronically overweight and obese horses sometimes benefit from limited grazing, however, which results in caloric restriction and improved health,” explained Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., a nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research. “Overweight horses are at a higher risk for insulin dysregulation and metabolic syndrome, both of which can lead to laminitis.”

In addition, many horse owners use restricted grazing preemptively to keep horses and ponies from becoming overweight.

What's the best approach to restrict pasture intake?

Horse owners have found several ways to successfully restrict pasture intake. The method used is often dependent on access to facilities and turnout areas, owner schedule, and what works best for the individual horse, according to Crandell. A trial-and-error approach must often be taken. Effective methods include:

Strip grazing, which uses temporary fencing to section off areas of a larger field, allowing horses to graze fresh pasture in a controlled, strategic manner and moving the fences as pasture is eaten down.
Feed limited hay (weighed at about 1.5 to 2 percent of body weight) provided in a way that slows consumption (e.g., small-hole haynets). For horses at risk for laminitis, hay should be tested for nonstructural carbohydrate content (below 12 percent is recommended).
Use of drylots that allow limited or no access to pasture, but appropriate hay or other preserved forage is allocated, the quality of which is dictated by age, workload, and metabolic status of horses.
Well-fitted grazing muzzles curb consumption by allowing horses to eat through holes or slits.

With all these options available, how do I know which method is the best?

Results of a recent survey in England may help you decide.^* Nearly 470 respondents had experience using one or more of the aforementioned restricted grazing methods. The most important considerations reported by respondents were practicality and welfare.

Fencing for strip grazing is more expensive and labor intensive than grazing muzzles, and these costs may therefore limit the method employed. Further, most boarding facilities have management restrictions. Owners are typically not allowed to alter a paddock, have only limited opportunities for turning out their horse (especially during inclement weather), and do not have the space or resources for drylots.

[Story Continues Below]

In terms of welfare, grazing muzzles had a low “welfare rating” by owners participating in the study, yet muzzles were frequently used. The researchers suggested that this disparity likely arose because muzzles are inexpensive and not particularly labor intensive.

While grazing muzzles got a bad rap in terms of welfare, respondents may not have fully understood the benefits of muzzling. For example, horses evolved as trickle feeders, grazing almost continuously for 16-18 hours a day. When their grazing time is restricted, horses are at risk of gastric ulceration, alterations in the equine intestinal microbiome, and behavioral changes, such as the development of stereotypies.

According to Crandell, “Muzzles do not necessarily limit a horse's time spent grazing or exercising; they do, however, restrict the amount of grass that can be consumed. Muzzles also allow horses to have contact with their peers, which means this approach supports both the physical and psychological needs of the horse.”

Horses fed all-forage diets benefit from a ration balancer or a high-quality vitamin and mineral supplement, as these products provide important nutrients that are often in short supply in fresh and preserved forages.

Crandell also recommends addressing the potential stress associated with restricted grazing. “Horses with restricted grazing may benefit from a research-proven digestive supplement, such as Triacton.” Triacton provides total digestive tract support, including ingredients that buffer both the stomach and hindgut for gastrointestinal protection during times of stress.

^*Cameron, A., P. Harris, A. Longland, S. Horseman, and J. Hockenhull. 2021. UK horse carers' experiences of restricting grazing when aiming to prevent health issues in their horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 104:103685.

Reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research. Visit ker.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to Equinews to receive these articles directly.

Source of original post

Ask the Expert: Fall Grazing

Owners and caretakers of metabolically challenges horses are often aware of the health hazards ingesting lots of fresh, spring grass can bring on their charges, but grazing horses on lush pastures in the fall is fraught with its own set of perils.

Frost damaged pastures can have higher concentrations of nonstructural carbohydrates, leading to an increase in the potential for founder and colic, especially in horses diagnosed with or prone to obesity, laminitis, Cushings disease and Equine Metabolic Syndrome. To help prevent these health issues, at-risk horse owners should wait up to a week before turning horses back onto a pasture after a killing frost. Subsequent frosts are not a concern as the pasture plants were killed during the ﬁrst frost.

[Story Continues Below]

Why do nonstructural carbohydrates increase during the fall? During the day, plants carry out the process of photosynthesis. In this process, they make carbohydrates as an energy source for the plant. A second process, respiration, is carried out when the plants use up the carbohydrates they produce during the night for energy. Plant respiration slows down when temperatures are near freezing. As a result, the plants hold their carbohydrates overnight. Freezing can stop respiration and lock the carbohydrates in the plant for over a week. Thus, plants tend to contain more carbohydrates in colder temperatures or after a frost. Often, horses will prefer forages after a frost due to the higher carbohydrates levels.

The Tenacity Of Buttercup

Kentucky pastures have exploded with the signature yellow buttercup flower. Buttercup is the common name for a group of species from the genus Ranunculus. Buttercups are sometimes classified as short-lived perennials, but often grow as winter annuals.

Four species of buttercups can be found in Kentucky: bulbous buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus), creeping buttercup (Ranunculus repens), tall buttercup (Ranunculus acris) and small flower buttercup (Ranunculus arbortivus). Each of these species have somewhat similar flower heads but differ in their leaf characteristics. New seeds are produced during the time petals are showy. Waiting until after flowers appear can be too late to implement control tactics. This is one reason buttercups can survive year to year.

Buttercups are more than an unsightly weed. They can also be toxic. Grazing or mowing will release a powerful vesicant, or blistering agent, which causes blistering of the skin, mouth and digestive system on contact. The blistering agent is detoxified rapidly by drying, and thus it is not generally a problem in hay.

Less is known about whether ensiling, or conversion into silage, has a similar detoxification effect. Death of horses due to buttercup is rare. A review of University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory records over the last 13 years found no cases of horse deaths attributable to buttercup ingestion. If other forage is available, grazing horses will usually avoid buttercup because the leaves, flowers and stems have a sharp, acrid taste.

Most buttercup plants emerge from seed during the fall or late winter months. Therefore, pasture management that maintains thick stands and promotes growth of more desirable plants during these months is one of the best methods to help compete against the emergence and growth of this plant. Mowing fields or clipping plants close to the ground in the early spring before buttercup plants can produce flowers may help reduce the amount of new seed produced, but mowing alone will not totally eliminate seed production.

Chemical Options

Herbicides registered for use on grass pastures will effectively control buttercup, including those that include 2,4-D. For optimum results, apply herbicide in the early spring (February-March) before flowers are observed and when buttercup plants are still small and actively growing. For best herbicide activity, wait until daytime air temperatures are greater than 50o F for two or three consecutive days. Consult the herbicide label for further information on grazing restrictions, precautions or other possible limitations.

Applying broadleaf herbicides like 2,4-D will damage clover. However, buttercup is able to germinate and grow because of insufficient ground cover of desirable forage species. In these cases, clover stands are likely not that thick or need rejuvenating.

Management Options

To prevent or inhibit buttercup germination in the fall, manage grass pastures to retain residual heights of three or four inches. Realistically speaking, pastures used for overwintering, or hay feeding will always be overgrazed and therefore will be prime spots for buttercup and other winter weed encroachment. Overseeding these pastures in early spring with forages that establish aggressively (like red clover or ryegrasses) will add some desirable forage species to the spring flush of growth even though they will not eliminate buttercup emerging at the same time. Follow up with an early spring mowing to clip the buttercup and release the desirable species.

Cover up bare ground. Fall applications of nitrogen will produce taller grass (shading the ground) and will stimulate existing grasses to thicken up or tiller out the following spring. Timely mowing in the spring followed by nitrogen application can reduce buttercup seed production and will stimulate spring forage growth that helps shade the lower growing buttercup.

No matter how you go about it, controlling buttercup is not a “once and done” project. Nor will one method work alone. Chemical control alone will leave bare ground unless there is a strategy to replant or fill in that area. However, you can manage pastures to reduce buttercup incidence and improve your pasture productivity at the same time.