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Discussion on Good pasture...hay needed?
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Member:
Melis
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Posted on Thursday, Nov 13, 2003 - 7:11 pm:
Hi, I have my three horses on 6 acres of mostly bemuda grass 24/7 in northern FL. I do feed 1/2 scoop of senior pellets twice a day. In the evening I give them a few flakes of hay. Now that it is getting colder, should I increase their hay or is the grass pasture enough? They are good health and not worked much.
thanks
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Member:
Imogen
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Posted on Friday, Nov 14, 2003 - 1:54 am:
Lots of horses here that are not in work winter on grass alone. The main problem which I presume is not the same in Florida is that the ground gets wet and poached by the horse's feet. This is why often they are restricted to one part of the grazing and supplemented with hay so at the end of the winter they can go onto nice, undamaged pasture earlier rather than later.
And bear in mind wild horses cope on grass alone - it is what they are designed for - though sadly most of those have problems with worms...
Do you rotate the grazing to ensure that they are making best use of it? All I know about Florida is it's very hot so I'm wondering how long (if at all) in the winter do you have no grass growth? We have no grass growth for between 2 and 3 months a year when the nights are long and cold.
All the best
Imogen
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Moderator:
DrO
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Posted on Friday, Nov 14, 2003 - 7:40 am:
Hello Melissa, the decision is based on being able to evaluate your pasture and your horses condition and factoring in past history experiences with your horses at this time of year. For an explanation on evaluating these factors see the article on Overview of Nutrition.
Assuming good pasture and good horse condition, did your horses loose weight this time last year? Are there any changed factors that might change last years results?
DrO
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