Have a new horse and I know NOTHING about feeding horses so if my questions seem less than intelligent, that is why!
Got my mare in early May and into boarding stable. She was a healthy 10-year-old QH mare and vet checked weighed her at 945 pounds. Realized two months in that she was not being fed enough and losing weight. (I trusted these folks and she seemed fine from what I could see at first.) There wasn't much grass at this place so no grazing going on. Was in a stall part-time and small field part-time. Was fed local hay and a bit of alfalfa pellets but not sure how much...and "cheap" horse vitamins. (Didn't realize that part either till later.)
So..got her in a new more knowledgeable barn now and she has been there a week. They taped her and she appears to now weigh 850 pounds now. She is in quarantine for a few weeks in large paddock during the day to acclimate her and then she will be turned out to graze in huge pasture with other mares. Current barn manager is feeding her 20 pounds of hay and good vitamins and is focused on helping her gain weight.
So...my question is about grazing out at pasture. Once she gets to finally do this every day, will this help her gain weight more quickly and easily? I guess I'm confused about this because I always hear about the dangers of too much grazing, etc, and how it can cause problems. Or is it about gradual acclimation?
I live in pacific NW where we get rain several months a year but unlike many places here, she will get turn-out year-round thankfully.
Thank you all....
Got my mare in early May and into boarding stable. She was a healthy 10-year-old QH mare and vet checked weighed her at 945 pounds. Realized two months in that she was not being fed enough and losing weight. (I trusted these folks and she seemed fine from what I could see at first.) There wasn't much grass at this place so no grazing going on. Was in a stall part-time and small field part-time. Was fed local hay and a bit of alfalfa pellets but not sure how much...and "cheap" horse vitamins. (Didn't realize that part either till later.)
So..got her in a new more knowledgeable barn now and she has been there a week. They taped her and she appears to now weigh 850 pounds now. She is in quarantine for a few weeks in large paddock during the day to acclimate her and then she will be turned out to graze in huge pasture with other mares. Current barn manager is feeding her 20 pounds of hay and good vitamins and is focused on helping her gain weight.
So...my question is about grazing out at pasture. Once she gets to finally do this every day, will this help her gain weight more quickly and easily? I guess I'm confused about this because I always hear about the dangers of too much grazing, etc, and how it can cause problems. Or is it about gradual acclimation?
I live in pacific NW where we get rain several months a year but unlike many places here, she will get turn-out year-round thankfully.
Thank you all....