Question

I am taking my two horses to a friend’s house for a weeklong vacation. They both eat between 7 and 9 pounds of senior feed per day, split into two meals with free-choice hay. One had a bout of laminitis five years ago, and I believe she is insulin resistant. They have access to pasture, but it is mostly dry due to overgrazing by a previous tenant. At my friend’s house, they can have free-choice access to eight acres of mixed-grass pasture. What can I do to allow them the most time out on the pasture without worrying about colic or laminitis due to the sudden change in living situation? Would it be better to limit time out or to use grazing muzzles? Even with a grazing muzzle, will it be okay to leave them out for 24 hours?

Answer

Horses can adapt to new situations amazingly well, and chances are your horses won’t have any problem with the new pasture. You may find the horses will be more active when they arrive, distracted by all the new sounds and smells, and may not spend as much time grazing until they have been there awhile.

Take some of their regular hay with you and put some out in the pasture on arrival. Don’t put too much since there is a possibility they won’t eat it if the grass in the pasture is much more palatable. If they do eat the hay, keep replenishing it for the first few days. This will give their digestive tracts some time to acclimate to the new forage. Leaving them with 24-hour, free-choice access will decrease your chance of colic since they will be able to move around.

I wouldn’t worry about trying to muzzle the horses. If these horses are getting that much senior feed, then I don’t think they are in much danger of getting a carbohydrate overload and thus laminitis from the new pasture, because they are already getting appreciable amounts of starch and sugar on a daily basis. What you may want to do is to forego or dramatically cut back on the amount of senior feed you are feeding for the first few days, as they will be getting more calories from the forage.