[Miss Thunder]

I was thinking... in the middle of winter, when the horses get no grass... wouldn't it be nice to give them some as a treat?

You know how some people have like a "fake lawn", with the little squares of grass? Would it hurt a horse to buy a patch for them and let them eat it? Or is this a different kind of grass and would hurt them? I mean like maybe a smaaalll little one every few months (we have snow for like 7 months out of the year).

I'm just wondering if the grass quality is healthy for a horse?

[::Miss Kitty::]

I guess if they didn't use any chemicals on it. You could grow a "grass stall" lol. I always wondered if that kinda thing would work!

[cassidy]

when it gets cold an they stay in i no what you mean about wanting them to have grass (when mine are on box rest i pick them grass)

i would say just try an pick some grass for them!

[Miss Thunder]

Well we get 5ft of snow in the winter, so there's no chance of me picking grass. LOL!

I was just thinking of how nice that would be LOL, a grass stall! Well in my other barn (now father's garage), Oreo would drop his grain (teething baby! LOL) and it would fall by his bucket. Then his water bucket was there too, and he's a messy drinker. All of a sudden, I was cleaning his stall one day and GRASS was growing in his stall! Odd, because under the boards was CEMENT. So he was literally growing grass in his stall! LOL!

[::Miss Kitty::]

That happened in our indoor arena! I guess some hay seeds ended up in the left side entrance and one day I looked and grass was growing! I wonder if it would work...Put some dirt in a stall and throw some pasture grass seed and water it for a while...BAM, grass all year long! (Well knowing my pigs it would be gone in a day!!)

[MissBandit]

That grass is fertalized and may be treated w/ herbicides. I would not do it.

[Dawn]

Yep, it's going to be treated with something.

[Sandra-A1]

While I would not feed my horse/s those lawn squares...there are people who do grow their own grass for horses year around.
I remember reading an article about Hydroponic Grass for horses in a magazine years ago...some company was selling the machines.
Zoo already do it to feed grass to their hooved animals and some Racehorse trainers do it too....here is a unit sort of like the one a saw years ago....
Greenfield Hydroponics

[Blistering Winds]

Probably the grass in your stall is oats. I've always had a patch here and there growing in my stalls.

You can grow both cool season grasses and warm season grasses in teh same place.

I still have grass growing right now where I am at. All my Wheat, Blue Grasses, etc are growing and flourishing in this cool weather. We haven't had a complete hard freeze yet. In the summers, I have the Bermuda, and other grasses ment to grow in the heat and survive without a lot of water.

My lawn is green almost year round.

But even then, there is a point that the grass stops growing, and just plain hay is fine for my horse until the last freeze.

Last thing you want to do is upset them and their tummy's. Many horses will not eat their hay, when they know there is fresh grass somewhere. And the sudden FLUSH of a rich nutrient source such as green grass can upset the GI tract.

Personally, I feel my horse will be ok on his hay until the grass starts to grow again.

[emsNkeeper]

Our neighbor's in Maine (parents have house there) grow grass for their horses in a green house like thing... it's not as hot as most green houses, but a bit warmer, maybe in the 40s. They have roundpen pannels set up around the edges to keep them out of trouble. First time I saw them grazing in there I thought they accidently got in and ran to their door panicking (thought there might be exotic plants). They let their horses graze for an hour each day in the winter... as long as the grass stays healthy. It's pretty neat. I tried getting my parents to do that if we would ever move up there permiently, but apperently it's a bit expensive.