I finally choked down my life long fear of laminitis and began turning the horses out in the hayfield to rustle some of their own grub. It's been making me crazy that so much feed grew after haying last summer and I've been afraid/unable to utilize it. I've been using my old sheep fencing to create half-acre strips. I gradually worked them up to four hours a day, which I figure is good for about a third of their daily intake. They are so joyful! And I am amazed at how perfectly they can cream the grass. Takes them four days to trim a half acre to perfection. I can stand at the barn and call them in and they come thundering back to the barn in anticipation of a morsel of oats. The previous paddocks are greening up nicely. Forty days of well supplemented feed is sure a nice thing. And it's just a beautiful thing to see them out there. Ground is soft but no significant damage from the unshod hooves. After the hayfield, there's lots of other cleanup work for them around the farm!

Barb

I had to check the date on your post since up here in Maine we won't see ground for another 3 months at least! We keep ponies so laminitis is always a consideration for us. You may already be thinking about this but I am always considering how much sun the grass has gotten when thinking about when and how long to graze. cloudy days and mornings are best since the sugars will be lowest. If I need to graze in the afternoon on sunny days I will make it a short time period and try to put them on a mature stand of grass, not on vegetative growth. Don't forget to drag the fields before the spring flush
Billy

Good move, Barb!

You have also lessened your carbon footprint some. Thanks for the cleaner air! :-)

Billy, there's actually quite a bit more going on than morning/afternoon grazing decisions, i.e. if your ground is low in boron, the sugar isn't going to move in the plants. That's why I've taken the "leap" to grazing. I think I have as many safeguards in place as possible. The small amount of manure will probably be washed in by spring, and once they've creamed the whole field, probably by the end of the month, that will be about it for grazing, as I don't know that the growth will recover enough to start over (until February). We will be liming soon, too. What I like is I think the growth/vigor of the old stand will be reduced enough (plus a few skid marks here and there) to benefit some overseeding in spring. T Payne, I was thinking more in terms of cleaner barn! LOL! But you're welcome anyway!

Barb