I would very much appreciate opinions or experiences. We are in a warm climate and are just beginning cool nights with our warm days. Our new farm has good, mature, subtropical grasses growing, but we mowed in late September, so no seed heads. Two acre pasture with two horses that I would like to turn out longer than a couple of hours a day. Do you think it’s a high risk scenario, or just ease them up to full turnout by the end of the week? I put a call in for our vet’s opinion as well, but she’s so busy that it might take awhile to get back to me. Thanks.
I have ponies, minis, and easy keeper horses, we turn out on pasture in late fall with no issue. What you have to worry about is mild temps and wet weather which would spur the grass to grow at an accelerated rate. Your horses will be fine as long as there is no cushings, metabolic syndromes, IR issues, and the pasture is not lush and growing fast. The fact that the grass did seed out, and you mowed is a good help as well. I would avoid turning them out on the pasture on an empty stomach for the first few days. Give them some hay first, if you can, and then turn them out, that way they’re not gorging themselves.
Thanks for the advice. That makes a lot of sense. I do turn them out after breakfast, so that’s good. No issues, but one horse is an easy keeper Mustang, so I’ll wait to confirm with the vet and just keep them at a few hours a day until then. Our last farm had low quality pasture but much more land. No risk of founder, even in the spring. Our old vet actually had a good laugh when I asked him about grass founder years ago, so it’s been awhile since I had to worry about it.
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All else equal, sugar is lowest from around 3-10am. That varies depending on how sunny the previous day was, and how relatively warm/cool the night was. But that’s your starting point.
Turnout after a “full” belly is good.
I’m not clear on whether this is new-to-them pasture, or how acclimated they are to grass in general. If this pasture is new to them, and more lush than their old situation, or they are new to grass, then things need to start slowly.
2 acres with 2 horses won’t last long if they’re on it more than a few hours a day, so keep an eye on how eaten down the grass gets, over what percentage of the pasture.
Thank you, JB. This pasture was just for cows previously. We split the pasture in half in August. The horses have been using it only since it was mowed in September.
Full time would be nice for short term. Daytime turnout would be ideal for work hours.
You could put muzzles on them and leave them out longer.
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I hadn’t thought about a muzzle. Thank you!
I wonder if my non-horsey neighbors will think my horse is dangerous, lol! Those Mustangs…
Add fly masks and they are sure to call Animal Control on you!
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Lol!
