Re: RC: Re: Feed question: Grass

[Farafix@aol.com]

My horses get no more than 1/3 (small) coffee can of grain from April thru 
the end of Sept (& that's just to get the electrolytes & CAGS in them), and 
the rest of their nutrition is from pasture.  I ride 500-700 miles a yr per 
horse (for the last 5 yrs or so) and they are NOT thin.  I took Tempo to an 
Arab festival as the demo endurance horse recently and one fellow couldn't 
get over how much weight he had on him --- he thought all endurance horses 
were real thin.  This was one week after doing a 50 mile ride at a decent 
pace.
My horses have excellent appetities; I was told by a lab that tests grass in 
my area that it often tests as high as 21% protein.  
One caution however, in the summer I have to keep my 26 yr old on restricted 
pasture or he will founder.  He's fine in the winter on grain, hay, and dead 
pasture.  I would suggest that you introduce the horse gradually to the 
pasture, as Susan suggested, and watch it closely for any sign of ouchiness.  
When Fix is getting too much grass, I can feel a pulse on the outside of his 
fetlock.  When he's not on the verge of founder (like in the winter), I can't 
find a pulse in his fetlock.
I'm in Md, with fescue & bluegrass pasture.

Nancy
Md (land of lush pasture)


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