From: Lisa
Dear Jessica, I live in New England and have 16 acres of pasture. From the time the grass turns green till snow falls or the grass is brown I pasture feed my horses. Some get grain if they are worked or need it for weight purposes but I have some very easy keepers that don't need grain and my vet says could founder if put on grain. My question is,"is it okay not to feed hay until the grass in the pasture is brown or snow covered?". It is now November and it still hasn't snowed. Believe it or not the grass is still green. I have some weanlings that are separate from my older horses that I do feed grain and hay to. They are young and growing and I feel they need it. I have 2 horses over the age of 20 that get senior feed for grain and are out on pasture 24/7. I do not have a skinny horses on my farm. If anything some of them tend to be overweight. I like to think of them being fat and happy. My 16 acres of pasture is just that, pasture. I have run in sheds and my property is tree lined but there are no trees in the middle of the pasture. I figure out in the wild, horses eat grass and they dig for it in the snow. Once the grass is brown or snow covered they get plenty of hay given to them.
My horses are out 24/7 unless it is a thunder storm or sleeting rain and blizzardous or below zero. They each have there own stall they spend the night in under those conditions. I do not blanket my horses either. I carefully watch their weight and have never had a horse that has been too thin. Occasionally my vet says one or 2 are on the chubby side. So once again is the pasture grass okay from October till snow falls or it turns brown? Thank you for your equine service. Reading your e-mails is like my weekly equine devotions. Gods word fills my heart and you fill my head. Thanks again, Lisa
Without an analysis of your pasture grass to compare to an analysis of your hay, it's impossible to make a precise comparison between the two, but I don't think that's necessary anyway. You're already supplementing your weanlings' feed with hay and grain according to your vet's advice, so they should be fine. Your older horses are getting senior feed, so for them, the grass (or hay) is more important in terms of fiber and "chewing time" - as long as there is plenty of grass and the weather isn't terribly cold, you may be able to feed them a flake or two at night or even, perhaps, no hay at all until the grass is low and the temperature has dropped considerably.
Talk to your vet, who seems to be keeping a close eye on your horses. And keep your own eye on the condition of the pastures AND the horses. When the grass begins to get thin and short, be sure that your horses aren't getting thin too. By the time the pasture is providing no more than exercise and an occasional nibble of dried grass, you'll want to be feeding hay.
There's a wonderful old saying, "The eye of the master makes the horse fat", which means that the key to good horse management and the secret to keeping horses in good condition is very simple: an observant owner who notices changes in the horses and changes in the pasture, and makes corresponding changes in the way the horses are fed. It sounds to me as though you are already using your eye to good advantage.
Jessica
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