For those who asked about grass sickness....

eventerbabe

Well-Known Member
Dec 16, 2004
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Instead of hijacking Jojoba's thread i thought i'd make a new one :)

Ok, i'll summarise what my vet advised me to do about grass sickness. Bear in mind this mainly referred to moving kezzie from his previous home to my yard. Vet advised limited turnout, preferrably later in the day or early morning for the first month or so. We turn out at nights in the summer and stable during the day. I think peak 'grass sickness' time is midday/early afternoon so i like mine off the grass then. I was advised to give a feed, even if it's a token thing. It may be an old wives tale but i was told years ago (when toby was in the "at risk" age group) to give them something to keep their digestion working. We avoid any kind of disturbance to the grass, such as a pooh vacuum to clean the field! everything is done by hand as mechanical disturbance is linked to EGS. Overgrazing is also not good so i was told to keep mine moving around the field and never let them eat down their paddock too much.

Unfortunately young welsh cobs seem to be most susceptible, but bons was 17 when she got EGS so older age is no guarentee of immunity :(
 
thank you for posting that EB :)

Im very cautious as well, as a freind of mine lost 2 of hers not far from us :( They feed hay every day as well (horses out 24/7) right through the year. They also give water in smaller buckets so its fresh everyday - something Im thinking abou as I currently have a huge barrel that gets topped up if it needs it, and cleaned out every couple of weeks.
 
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