The Grass is Always Greener Outside the Stall Door

By Darlene M. Cox

The snow has all but gone as spring has arrived with its seasonal showing of budding trees, blooming flowers, and lush pasture grasses. Your horses are eager to leave their stalls and dine on the vegetative growth and you are anxious to cut down your mounting feed bill. However, if you don’t want to trade that feed bill for possible major veterinarian expenses, be prudent about the amount of time you allow your horses to graze on the nutrient and mineral rich springtime foliage. Opening their stall doors and allowing them unlimited access to springtime pastures will increase possible occurrences of colic, laminitis, and founder. Stalled horses will act as hoofed vacuum cleaners if they are left out on spring pasture. They will overeat themselves into oblivion; stuffing themselves with the rich, young grass and will experience weight gain and diarrhea.

Horses that are kept on pasture year round will adjust to the new grasses as they grow; however, if your horses have been kept stalled or penned with limited pasture access and fed a predominately hay/grain ration throughout the winter, it is recommended that you gradually introduce their pasture exposure.

An important thing to remember is that anytime you change the metabolic intake in your horse’s diet you run the chance of upsetting the delicate balance of his health. Moderation is always the key.

Before you re-introduce your horses to pasture, make sure your pasture is ready. I always wait for the grass length to be a good 4 inches or so. Keep in mind that when a horse grazes, they will crop the grass really short to the ground. You don’t want to strip your pasture of grass even before the growing season gets started.

I have utilized the following two-week introductory spring pasture grazing plan for my horses:

• Days 1 and 2 – Allow 30 minutes of grazing time.
• Days 3 and 4 – Allow 45 minutes of grazing time.
• Days 5, 6, and 7 – Allow 60 minutes of grazing time.
• Days 8 and 9 – Allow 1:15 of grazing time.
• Days 11 and 12 – Allow 1:30 grazing time.
• Days 13 and 14 – Allow 2 hours of grazing time.
• Day 15 and beyond – Allow normal unlimited access to pasture.

If you have a horse that is prone to colic or founder/laminitis, you may want to shorten these grazing increments. If you notice onset of diarrhea in your horse, revert back to the previous day’s grazing plan. For overly eager horses that are most likely to go out to pasture and mow down any green plant standing, I would recommend feeding them a good portion of hay prior to turning him out. This will satiate some of his hunger and slow down his grazing.

In the many years I have implemented the above plan, I have never had to deal with any spring pasture-related illness or concern. If you wish to implement the above or a similar pasture introduction plan, I encourage you to speak with your vet.

Happy Trails!