Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Unfortunately, one of the other dangers of feeding grass clippings is the consistency/texture.  The first horse I ever lost, in my late teens, was a lovely TB mare, 6 months in foal--who died of an impacted cecum following the feeding of otherwise perfectly fresh grass clippings.  My vet at the time knew that I was planning on going to veterinary school, and did a very thorough and educational post mortem for me to watch--and I have never forgotten that cecum packed chock full of grass clippings (which after 60 hours of futile treatment, were indeed fermenting despite the fact that they had been fresh when fed, and did not represent a feed change, since the mare was on green pasture at the time. 

 

Can't speak to properly-dried ones, but would still be suspicious due to the texture and the possibility that something that soft and short might still be inadequately chewed.

 

Heidi

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: [RC]   OT, feeding grass clippings
From: "Susan E. Garlinghouse, DVM" <suendavid@xxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, August 06, 2007 1:29 pm
To: "'Amber Roberts'" <Amber@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,  <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

Since hay is just dried grass clipping, feeding grass clippings can be Okay or Not Okay depending on how it’s handled after cutting.  If you can spread it out, the weather is hot and dry and it dries out, then it’s perfectly safe to feed (following the usual rules about not making sudden feed changes, etc).  If the grass piles up so that the moisture underneath can’t dissipate, then it can easily mold and cause gastrointestinal havoc.  I actually don’t mind true fermentation, as the by-products of forage fermentation are okay under certain circumstances, but it’s unlikely that what you’re getting is a safe fermentation as opposed to a mold factory.  If you stick your hand into the center of a pile and it feels hot, I wouldn’t feed it myself.

 

Also, of course, be careful about turning a horse used to hay loose on fresh grass, especially since they can really hoover in large amounts of pre-cut grass pretty rapidly.  Another train wreck waiting to happen if they’re not used to it.

 

JMO.

Susan Garlinghouse, DVM

 

From: ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ridecamp-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Amber Roberts
Sent: Saturday, August 04, 2007 11:11 AM
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [RC] OT, feeding grass clippings

 

Last year, we were never able to make even one hay crop due to our drought.  This year, we are practically flooded out and haven't been able to get anyone to cut and bale our fields.  So we are just having to mow the fields to keep fresh growth available for the horses to graze.  However, this year the mowing has left huge piles of cut grass here and there which we'll probably harrow in.  Currently, I'm concerned about the horses getting into those grass mounds before we get them spread out.  Some years ago, I read somewhere that we should not feed freshly clipped grass to horses and I can't remember why.  Any thoughts on this?  Thanks.

 

Amber

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net.
 Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp
 Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp

 Ride Long and Ride Safe!!

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=