The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Pets & Working Animals => Horses, ponies, donkeys & mules => Topic started by: WarescotFarm on June 27, 2012, 04:27:25 pm
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Urgh trying to manage my grass is driving me NUTS! They eat the first half of the field to death and leave the other bit alone.
I am now keeping them in more to try and let the front section of grass recover / regrow a bit.
While they have hay I keep driving past all these beautiful hedgerows and wonder if there is anything I can forage for them.
I have been giving them a handful of hawthorn tender shoots, is there anything else?
I should say this is for a mini falabella and pygmy goat
Thanks x
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A slight deviation, but I'm interested in what horses do and dont, can and cant eat too ....my neighbour was testing his cutters on a strip of his hay field... he hand gathered the fresh cut grass and offered to horsey neighbour who refused, saying it would give her horses colic - is this true or is she nuts?!!!
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Grass cuttings is because they decompose so quickly and a horse and gauge themselves on it. It takes them time to nibble the ends of grass whereas a pile of grass clippings can be downed very quickly and gives them tummy ache hence the colic.
A real risk is a horse eating itself to death - daft sods!
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A slight deviation, but I'm interested in what horses do and dont, can and cant eat too ....my neighbour was testing his cutters on a strip of his hay field... he hand gathered the fresh cut grass and offered to horsey neighbour who refused, saying it would give her horses colic - is this true or is she nuts?!!!
its true it could do, they are not nuts! and colic is a nightmare and can be fatal so most horseowners wouldnt touch grass clippings
Hawthorn, willow. my big chap loves beech.
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Grass cuttings are bad for horses but if you strim long grass down so that you have long stuff that is ok
We do this for our goats and the horses and donks always get some
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Grass cuttings are bad for horses but if you strim long grass down so that you have long stuff that is ok
We do this for our goats and the horses and donks always get some
yes, if (a big if) it is fed promptly after it is cut. Strimmers cut more cleanly too, I wouldnt feed anything that had been bruised and crushed by a mower.
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I always cut and feed straight away anyway. Been doing it for 35 years and never had a problem. As its just a falabella. And pygmy you could just pick some long grass etc as you need it
Just watch out for mares tail etc in it
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My boys got a big handful of sticky willie yesterday. They love it.
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ooh steady on Rosemary :-J ;D
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Mine like dried nettles. If you leave them for a few days they don't sting their mouths.
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My boys got a big handful of sticky willie yesterday. They love it.
Is 'sticky willy' cleavers/goosegrass? They call it Cackey Monkey (Spelt Caci Mwnci in welsh) round here!!
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Mine like dried nettles. If you leave them for a few days they don't sting their mouths.
Yes to dried nettles , ours love them and they are good for them , willow they go mad for, grass cuttings are dangerous as they ferment ,
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All great ideas thank you!
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My boys got a big handful of sticky willie yesterday. They love it.
Is 'sticky willy' cleavers/goosegrass? They call it Cackey Monkey (Spelt Caci Mwnci in welsh) round here!!
yes its the same thing as cleavers/goosegrass, not sure about Cackey Monkey love it!!
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Cut nettles - high iron content
Cleavers/stickie willie - cleanses blood and aids circulation - ideal for those disposed to laminitis
Hawthorn - tips ideally but mine will chew delicately around thorns on larger pieces and leave the twigs stripped - another good for lami prone/at risk fatties
Rosebay willowherb - very common prolific weed, but only prior to flowering and don't confuse with foxgloves (digitalis) if you don't know one tall purple plant from another :o
Hand picked/scythed long grass but nothing cut with a mower and for me personally no strimmed stuff either - often hard to tell what's caught up in the latter and the former is a killer
Any brassica leaves
Rosehips and twigs
Willow (aspirin)
Mine eat dried thistles if I scythe field edges and leave them a day lying in the field they go - but then I have Highland ponies ;)
Young dandelions leaves (diuretic but also good for digestion)
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We breed Falabellas in SW Wales so would love to hear about your Falabella. Our horses love rooting through stinging nettles. The horses don't go near them when they're growing but in the wet weather (and we get a lot of that in Wales) it's nice pulling the nettles out by the roots. As soon as they are picked we notice the horses rooting through them and they really enjoy.
Maureen
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My Fells love nettles - they once spent the day on a nettle patch, by the afternoon their lips had swollen and they were smacking them as they clearly stung! ::) (They seem to have learned to pace themselves now...) The mare loves thistles too, she eats the flowers (good girl! stop 'em seeding!) and will also delicately bite off the low-growing rosettes early in the season. So far, the Fells are the best way I've found of de-thistling a pasture (over a period of years.) Funnily enough, she avoids thistles in hay, while he gobbles every scrap up. ::)
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My lovely Holly :horse: is a chocolate dun which I bought from looking glass stud. She is bessie mates with our pygmy goat :goat: they are adorable together.
I have just today taken them both to a field for 2 weeks to give our lawn a rest, missing them already.
Do you have a website Vinny D or lots of pics?
We breed Falabellas in SW Wales so would love to hear about your Falabella. Our horses love rooting through stinging nettles. The horses don't go near them when they're growing but in the wet weather (and we get a lot of that in Wales) it's nice pulling the nettles out by the roots. As soon as they are picked we notice the horses rooting through them and they really enjoy.
Maureen
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Most 'weeds' in the UK can be fed to horses but should be treat like herbs as all can be dangerous if over fed or used as a grass replacement, the only one that I dont think causes problems in relatively large quanities are nettles.
Many of them are heavy detox on the liver and kidneys, things like hawthorn can be dangerous if the horse has anything wrong with its heart as it is a strong cardiac medicine but depending on what is wrong with the heart can cure or make worse.
Best thing to do is to offer small amounts of a few different ones and let them choose which one their bodies need this is what 'zoo pharma' folk get paid to come to your stables to do.
I wrote an article on nettles for horses a while back, they are great for OAP's, those with joint problems and also if you want to bring the dappling out in a coat
Fruit branches i know are okay for rabbits if not given to much, not sure how similar horses and rabbits are other than that neither can be sick :-\
Its is really great to read that you keep horses and goats together, im thinking of doing the same in the future but have not met anyone yet who does this.
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Its is really great to read that you keep horses and goats together, im thinking of doing the same in the future but have not met anyone yet who does this.
I would HIGHLY recommend having goats and horses together. We had no end of problems when Bella was stolen for 10 days. They are amazingly close and now they are back together they are content again. I have never seen an animal relationship like theirs it is wonderful.
Good luck!
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We have goats, sheep and horses together. The goats and horses have bonded really well with the only problem being the goats chew their manes when the horses lie down and their tails the rest of the time so now they look like they have been hogged.