Spring is finally here! The white blanket of snow has been replaced with green grass. Your horses have noticed too as they start to deposit large amounts of shedded winter hair on every corner and wall around the barn. The temptation is very strong to turn your horses out to pasture and let them consume as much grass as they want.
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As hard as it is to restrict a horse from doing just that when they are first put into a pasture, for the health of your horse, it must be done. If your horse has been eating hay and Hubbard Life® horse feed over the winter letting them eat all the new grass they want will usually result in a call to the vet instead.
Early, fast growing grass found in pastures is very soft and sweet compared to the hay they have been fed all winter. All that fresh, green grass tends to be higher in sugar and starch type carbohydrates and lower in fiber, which is the same as if you poured corn in their feeder. Too much sugar/starch carbohydrates all at once can create colic issues in the hind gut and founder in the feet. |
Another challenge is that as horses become older they tend to become insulin resistant – think human type-2 diabetes, which means it’s harder for them to utilize the sugar and starch from eating too much high quality spring grass diets. The sugar and starch cause the glucose levels in the blood to increase and insulin would normally help the glucose get into the cells and be utilized. But with insulin resistance, the insulin receptors do not work well and it takes more and more insulin to get the glucose into the cell. After a while if the insulin has not forced the glucose into a cell, the body will get rid of the excess glucose via the kidneys. That’s why people and animals that develop diabetes may go to the bathroom frequently and start to lose weight.
Here are some tips to help your horses adjust to spring pastures and avoid health challenges:
• Start slowly on green grass to allow time for the micro-organisms
to adjust in the gut. Build up over time to full time grazing.
• Watch out for animals, especially older ones, losing weight. If they
do not have teeth issues, they may becoming insulin resistant.
• Insulin resistant horses are better managed by restricting pasture
access and being fed low carb diets like Hubbard® Life Cool Command®.
• Regardless of time of year always look at the horse’s body condition
and adjust feed and forage accordingly to maintain a moderate body
condition (body condition score of five).
Stop in at your local Hubbard Feeds dealer and ask about our line of Hubbard Life Equine products.
Here are some tips to help your horses adjust to spring pastures and avoid health challenges:
• Start slowly on green grass to allow time for the micro-organisms
to adjust in the gut. Build up over time to full time grazing.
• Watch out for animals, especially older ones, losing weight. If they
do not have teeth issues, they may becoming insulin resistant.
• Insulin resistant horses are better managed by restricting pasture
access and being fed low carb diets like Hubbard® Life Cool Command®.
• Regardless of time of year always look at the horse’s body condition
and adjust feed and forage accordingly to maintain a moderate body
condition (body condition score of five).
Stop in at your local Hubbard Feeds dealer and ask about our line of Hubbard Life Equine products.
