Feeding a fattie

[kaz]

Hi

I think your best bet would be if you could "borrow" some sheep or cattle to eat it down then put the horses on the bit that they have eaten down. That is what will happen with william. Over the winter our bit is too wet to turn out on so he has a large hardstanding area that he gets turned out on during the day. The sheep and lambs have just been put out last week and once my dad says it is dry enough william will be able to go out during the day but not untill the sheep have eaten most of the grass. This works well because they dont feel hard done to being kept in or having a muzzle on but are on restricted grazzing

[harleydales]

That's what I would do too, my horses follow the sheep round, and when I have the horses behind electric tape, it's high enough for the sheep to get under and keep the horses bit tidy too. Works for me.
Sheeep are serious chompers, and don't take long to get the grass down.

[greydales]

I had this quandary before I moved mine out of the winter field, especially as my grass is about as lush as you can get. Last year I just turned them all out onto long, lush grass and didn't even section it off!! They got quite huge especially Dan and Toby.

This year as I've got the tractor and implements I've been dithering about the pros and cons of topping, height of grass and fructans etc etc but in the end topped the summer field, waited until it had grown a bit then turned them out onto a sectioned off bit. As far as weight is concerned this has worked really well and I can see even Dan has not yet got his huge summer belly! Obviously there will always be the laminitis risk but at the mo I worry more about them being too fat.

They have now eaten the grass right down in their bit of field and I have to make a decision as to whether or not to turn them out into another bit with quite long grass (it's been too darn wet to top!).

I think if I didn't have the tractor I would get some sheep in.

Isn't it a total nightmare with these natives lol

[bevbob]

Oh to have those choices Heather lol, I would prefer Bobs to always be in a field that has been grazed down but still a reasonable amount of space.
I hate the muzzles as they rub Bobs so much and with being at work all day I cant get down to alternate the time on and off.

[kaz]

Some young cattle should work well, William and Sherry were out with two cows and there calves last year and they all got on fine.

[DalesLady]

Our horses share with sheep all winter, then follow cows around in summer - it has worked for us the last 3 years. Mine are all part stabled too though and still Diana can get fat.

[dalesponyrider]

I keep D on a sectioned off bit as I haven't got the option of using other livestock. I did worry when I read about fructan levels on stressed grass but it has worked with D. A the moment it is not very stressed but the section is small enought for her to have eaten it down quite a bit. It is also very full of weeds!

[zeldalithgow]

Heather, I've got 10 sheep and 8 lambs in the whole field at the mo, have had between 5 and 9 sheep on it all winter. The ponies are in a much larger section than they had last year, their bit is quite well munched it's also got a fair bit of clover in it (which I'm not happy about) but now come the strange bit the ponies are much slimmer than last year, at least they are just now, it might be because stopped giving them hay at the begining of April

[carolinec]

I've had our front field (1 acre) topped by a local farmer. Removed all the cut grass and then given our 3 about half the field.
Little Bill has had a bout of laminitus recently and although I'm told that his feet aren't showing any signs, I'm being very careful. The grass has been cut very short so I'm feeding them "safe & sound" in small quantities too. I'll open up the rest of the field gradually as I'm literally raking the cut grass away and it's blooming hard work! LOL

[harveydales]

It is a huge worry isn't it? I've got all 3 of mine in a 1 acre very bare and poached paddock and am putting out hay for them - I can't believe I'm doing this but I feel this way Quest (who has had laminitis before) is at less risk of laminitis than if I let them strip graze onto the lusher grass. I let my skinny Winnie onto a lusher paddock for the day but he joins the others for the night. I know all the risks of stressed grass but I really don't think there is enough grass, stressed or unstressed, to cause him problems. They all have a small feed of high fibre cubes and topspec anti-lam and I'm pleased to say even Harvey has slimmed down a tad!

I don't want to use muzzles either because Quest is a head shaker and constantly itches his nose through the summer so it could be very risky to leave him muzzled. Who said keeping good doers is easy!

[dalesvic]

It is difficult when they're out all the time isn't it. I can't bring Sammy in to anywhere, and she is in a 2 acre field with 3 sheep and the shets are out during the day. The field was very bare when I moved them in with a bit of dead grass they could eat. Well in literally 2 weeks since the grass has started growing she has visibly put on weight. The grass is still very short so I've had to halve the field whilst I'm away and can't ride her to try and minimse her weight gain. So I guess now it's about 1-.5 acres with a slope.

I know the risks of short grass too but I feel this is the best alternative as it encourages them to move around more as if it was long I'm sure they would move a couple of metres scoffing their faces til they popped. Also Bonny has had laminitis and so I don't want her to get too much grass inside her.

However I don;t like the effect it has on the field as it isn't good for the sward. Luckily we have a lot of space so the field that was eaten down last summer won't have ponies on this summer and has sheep on now- it is greening up nicely and I'm hoping it will recover ok.

If I had the chance to bring Sammy off the grass- even just hard standing or a school, then I would let them out onto longer grass and just limit their grazing time. However as I don't have that option I just opt for grazing down the field. I think the idea of following the calves would be a good idea. Also good for your fields as they should eat the toilet areas down and will fertilise the areas where the ponies don't poo!

When sammy is in work I might move the fence and strip graze them up the rest of the field. Perhaps you could section off an area and get it eaten down then just give them a bit more like that.

I think if I was you I would also go for the option of putting them on hard standing and bringing them in at night/during the day. I know Sarah K does this and her ponies aren't fat in the slightest yet she has very good grass. Then at least they would get to go and stretch their legs and graze, but can't do it all the time. However it means more work for you I guess.

Sorry for the ramble but it is something I worry about too! Hope you get it sorted out

[merlinalison]

Its a nightmare this year isn't it. I like your bamboo analogy too - Merlin is fatter every day too - I've never seen him this fat. His two field companions are also enormous - I've never seen a crest like the one on Finn at the moment. The owner of the other two agreed with me that they had too much so I've shut them all into the small paddock at the top, and am planning to make them a long corridor to the other small paddock with leccy fencing so that they have to keep walking to get anything. However, other owner came rushing out today to tell me how unhappy they all were shut in...apparently every time she sees them they suck their sides in, hang their heads and look miserable....whenever I go up they're too busy eating to do more than look up and get straight back down to business....obviously they reckon she's more of a soft touch than I am (Though I suppose thats indisputable - she's the one who stands over her garden wall feeding them all -including Merlin apparently - carrots and apples every night at bedtime) Can see I'm going to have to be firm - she can let her two out if she wants but Merlin is staying on a restricted area until I can feel some part of his skeleton again. Think he's now got fat pads over the fat pads that were preventing me feeling his ribs before