How to transition horse feed from stable to meadow

When horses can eat unlimited grass in the spring, they are at risk for diseases such as colic or laminitis. Horses are also more likely to gain a lot of weight in a quick period of time. Therefore, grazing slowly is very important to avoid various problems. How can you help your horse transition from stable to meadow through their feed?

Problems due to spring grass

During the winter months, the horse’s gastrointestinal system becomes adjusted to dry roughage. Dried roughage contains much less moisture than fresh grass. The dry matter content (fiber content) of roughage is about 80%, while that of grass is only about 14%. Thus, with grass, a horse mainly eats water. Eating grass can therefore cause the manure to become thinner but the horse may also develop colic. The bacteria in the blind and colon become upset by a sudden ration change, but colic can also occur because the horse’s stomach cannot process large amounts of greedily eaten grass. This happens mainly when horses are put out in the field for too long without building up pasture.

Fructan is mostly the problem

In the spring, fructan levels in grass are highest. This is often the culprit of laminitis. In addition, fructan content varies by grass type. The commonly used English ryegrass contains more fructan than most other grasses. Fructan is produced by the grass and functions as fuel so that new leaves can develop.

The amount of fructan in grass depends not only on the type of plant but also on the season, weather type and fertilization. Fructan protects the plant from frost. Fructan production continues day and night when the temperature is below 5 degrees. Even when the sun shines, fructan is produced in the plant.

Fructan is not processed by the plant until it is warm enough. Above 5 degrees, fructan processing is minimal. Only at 15 degrees a reasonable amount of fructan is processed and the proportion of fructan in the grass drops rapidly. After a cold night, it is highly advisable not to offer pasture in the morning. This gives the grass the opportunity to process most of the stored fructan.

Fertilizing horse pasture

Horse pasture fertilization has a major impact on the quality of the grass. Fertilizing not only stimulates grass growth but also results in a stronger sward and replenishes minerals. A well-maintained horse pasture provided with light fertilization is less likely to experience extreme fructan spikes. Grass grows only through four factors: light, water, nutrition and heat. When heat is insufficient, fructan is first stored as reserves in the plant. Only when the temperature rises are these reserves utilized. This is also the case with insufficient nutrition. Proper fertilization is therefore essential.

Building up the grazing

To avoid discomfort caused by spring grass, it is wise to gradually build up grazing in the spring. We offer some tips on how to build up grazing:

1. With the first sunny day, don’t immediately put your horses out to pasture for an entire day, but start with quick periods. Start with one to two hours a day. How long the transition takes varies from horse to horse, and the feed should change accordingly.
2. A large meadow can be divided into several plots, so that each plot is grazed bare and you also prevent the horse from eating its fill.
3. Apply strip grazing if necessary. Give the horse a few yards of new pasture with fresh grass added every day and also close off a section so the grass can recover.
4. To prevent the horse from getting diarrhea, it is wise to transition the feed by giving hay before the horses go out to pasture.The effect of supplementing hay is to slow fermentation and thus make the manure thicker. The hay also causes the horse to be a little less hungry and thus the grass intake afterwards is a little slower.
5. Do not graze the grass too quick and give the turf enough time to recover. The very quick grass gets an extra fructan boost due to the startle reaction to recover quickly, so the horse gets even more fructan after ingesting this grass.
6. In addition to offering hay, the concentrate feed in the morning can also be (partially) replaced by Hartog Lucerne mix. Lucerne mix contains a lot of structure and slows the intestinal passage of the grass. Lucerne mix also contains an extremely low sugar and starch content and enough minerals to replace a concentrate feed.