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Author
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Topic: horse in mowed grass paddock
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iluvhorses2
Junior Member
Member # 1139
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posted December 14, 2003 03:21 PM
the mare next door is over-due and is in a paddock with cut grass... wont she get colic??? ![[Red Horse]](graemlins/redhorse.gif)
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iluvhorses
Posts: 6 | From: australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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animal_madness
Member
Member # 1116
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posted December 14, 2003 04:00 PM
She should be fine! Have you got any idea how often she is checked on?
Posts: 47 | From: England | Registered: Dec 2003
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Lou3
Member
Member # 926
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posted December 14, 2003 04:05 PM
the title of this scared me - are there actual grass cuttings in the field with this mare? If so then YES she is at high risk of getting colic and i would suggest taking whatever action you can to get her away from those grass cuttings. You didnt say if there was anything you could do but if there is - try.
Lou
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gypsey gold doesnt gleam or clink, but stomps its feet and nickers in the night.
Posts: 1551 | From: UK | Registered: Oct 2003
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animal_madness
Member
Member # 1116
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posted December 14, 2003 04:13 PM
I would think if they have a pregnant mare, the field was cut and cleaned before she was put out to graze!
Posts: 47 | From: England | Registered: Dec 2003
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animal_madness
Member
Member # 1116
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posted December 14, 2003 04:13 PM
... or should I say, I would hope!
Posts: 47 | From: England | Registered: Dec 2003
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animal_madness
Member
Member # 1116
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posted December 14, 2003 04:26 PM
Quick question for iluvblossom! Ok, 2 quick questions! How recent was the grass cut and how overdue is the mare?
A lot of people tend to think 345 days into gestation means the mare is overdue but really, anything up to 370 days is ok.
I'm not expecting you to know how overdue the mare is but I thought I'd ask. If you do have concerns for the Mares well being, find your local Animal Health Trust or equivilent! Even if you report it to an Equine clinic, they will pas the complaint to the aprpriate people.
Posts: 47 | From: England | Registered: Dec 2003
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted December 14, 2003 11:01 PM
What kind of grass is in the paddock? That would be my first concerned.
I have free-fed my horses on cut grass many times with no worries of colic. What do you think hay is? If they aren't use to fresh pasture grass, then yes, it can colic them. But if they have gotten fresh cut hay before, it's no different than turning them out on a green pasture.
Now, if this is FESCUE, CALL THE VET NOW. Fescue grass is very dangerous for a pregnant mare.
How over-due is she?
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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animal_madness
Member
Member # 1116
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posted December 15, 2003 12:55 AM
Grass clippings tend to cause colic in Horses! It is seen on a regular basis where I am, I don't know about the States. But, I really shouldn't think that someone has put a Horse at such high risk, especially when pregnant.
Topping paddock grass is always a healthier option.
Posts: 47 | From: England | Registered: Dec 2003
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CANDYGIRL
Member
Member # 719
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posted December 15, 2003 05:05 AM
With regard to feeding grass cuttings
Candy, Babby and Whiskey had the worst cases of colic I have ever seen through grass cuttings, my vet was calling twice a day, I saw the new year in at some borrowed stables in the freezing cold with no lights, with their lead reins tied to my arm in case they tried to get down and roll, then if I did fall asleep they would wake me. The vet was giving them internals and empting them by hand every day, horrific. The houses that the horses backed onto thought they were doing them a favour by mowing their gardens and tipping the cuttings into the horses.
The difference between hay and grass cuttings is to do with the amount of fermentation and gasses mowed grass cutting cause in the gut(Animal Madness will be able to tell you exacltly about this). I am not reading from any book, just going on what happened to mine.
Hay is cut and allowed to DRY out, grass cuttings arn't, and even if they are a few days old, you see what they are like if left in a heap, or in the mower bag, they are sweaty and start to ferment. They are 2 totally different things, hay is longer, and turned to allow it to dry. I never feed hay that has just been cut, it is also very high in Sugars(frucans) just as much as Spring and Autumn flush grass. Hay should be allowed to stand and dry out.
I posted letters through all the houses that backed onto the fields asking them to not do this and explained why.
I also wouldn't advocate having fields topped unless you have a collection bag to dispose of the short fresh cuttings if they are Lami prone. The way I feel is that if you get your droppings up at least twice a weak you will not have long sour patches, and even if you do horses will eat these for winter forage.
[ December 15, 2003, 06:03 AM: Message edited by: CANDYGIRL ]
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NO FOOT NO HORSE
Proud owner of Hollybush Picollo
Posts: 2620 | From: England | Registered: Sep 2003
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iluvhorses2
Junior Member
Member # 1139
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posted December 15, 2003 05:45 PM
2 all u ppl who replied...thanx!does it help that the grass is dried out?? also the mare is about a week or 2 over-due... ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
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iluvhorses
Posts: 6 | From: australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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iluvhorses2
Junior Member
Member # 1139
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posted December 15, 2003 05:56 PM
quote:
Originally posted by animal_madness:
Grass clippings tend to cause colic in Horses! It is seen on a regular basis where I am, I don't know about the States. But, I really shouldn't think that someone has put a Horse at such high risk, especially when pregnant.
Topping paddock grass is always a healthier option.
the grass clippings are dried out... and the mare is over due by a week or 2...
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iluvhorses
Posts: 6 | From: australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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Dawn
Member
Member # 14
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posted December 15, 2003 06:00 PM
She's fine if she's only a couple of weeks over. Were the clippings dried when she was first put out? Even if not, if she didn't colic, she's fine. However, it is never a good idea to let horses have access to fresh grass clippings.
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Heard in the midst of a handwriting exam ~ "And to think, we could've been bio-chem majors."
Posts: 6885 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2002
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iluvhorses2
Junior Member
Member # 1139
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posted December 15, 2003 06:05 PM
yep she didnt get colic when sh was first put out... ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
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iluvhorses
Posts: 6 | From: australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted December 17, 2003 10:55 AM
OK...the explanation about piled up grass cuttings, I can see that. But if you do a straight mow, and let the horse on it, I've never seen or had issues from it. Though if they tend to gorge themselves on it, I might see that (eating too much too fast).
But according to Candy on the fermentation, wouldn't that cause Laminitis and not Colic?
As for the mare, are you sure on the date she was bred? A few weeks longer I would start to worry more for the "tearing" issues than anything else. Bigger the foal, more tearing you will have in that area. If she was pasture bred, you could be months off on her due date.
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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Dawn
Member
Member # 14
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posted December 17, 2003 11:01 AM
At the time I knew that grass cuttings were bad for horses, but I have fed them to horses before. We would mow part of my cousin's yard, drive the very fresh clippings down the road, and let her aunt's horses eat them. It was either that or watch them starve to death. Now keep in mind that they were eating them within 8-10 min of them being cut. However, you would be suprised of how fast they will start to go bad. I would never have fed them to a horse under different circumstances. Fermenting doesn't produce extra sugar (leading to laminitis and founder), it produces gasses and alcohols which will cause colic. The only case of colic I've ever seen was exactly like Jane described. The neighbors were throwing their clippings over the fence to this horse. Turns out the horse was supposed to be on a bald paddock. It had many many issues. But anyway, it was horrible. The horse ended up being put down because of it.
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Heard in the midst of a handwriting exam ~ "And to think, we could've been bio-chem majors."
Posts: 6885 | From: Tennessee | Registered: Nov 2002
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Blistering Winds
Member
Member # 843
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posted December 17, 2003 11:03 AM
Yikes....
Ok...I remember learning something like that a few years ago. "Brain Dead" now that school's out....lol
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Horses should not be treated as people. They should be respected for who they are and what they are capable of doing!
Born Free Now Expensive
Posts: 4337 | From: Texas | Registered: Oct 2003
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CANDYGIRL
Member
Member # 719
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posted December 17, 2003 11:31 AM
Grass cuttings have the potential to cause both colic and laminitis.But are more likely to cause colic as a primary, and laminitis as a secondary. Colic can cause laminitis due to the changes in the gut. The changes in the gut are what triggers laminitis, but colic would be the main issue. A vet that has to treat a Laminitic pony for colic would be concerned also about laminitis being triggered. FACT, I have seen this happen
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NO FOOT NO HORSE
Proud owner of Hollybush Picollo
Posts: 2620 | From: England | Registered: Sep 2003
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