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Originally Posted by manca He's only allowed to graze about 5 minutes in the morning, through day he is in the "starvation" paddock with soaked hay. I don't think sugar from as little grass as he gets could harm him, could it?
And I'll get a grazing muzzle as soon as someone will drive to the shop.
If his hay is soaked for hours, does it contain any proteins?
What else contains proteins and it's safe for him?
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Any amount of sugar can tip the scales the wrong way on a horse that has previously foundered......and its not just about the sugars....its about whether your horse is obsese or is the correct weight....whether he has any fat deposits that might make you think he might be IR.
If I had a pony that had foundered recently I would not be allowing any grass until I could figure out why the foundered occurred in the first place.
Grass contains high amounts of sugar the best time to graze is from 3 am to 9am. If you keep it watered and fertilized that will also help with the sugars......stress dry grass has more sugars the green lush grass.......its the amount they consume that is the problem.
Is there a metabolic problem ie IR or cushings, obesity????
I would certainly test my hay to ensure that what he was getting was low in sugar under 10% for a foundered horse....
Ponies require very little protein so I would not worry about the soaking plus I don't think protein is soaked out of the hay.....its more the vitamin and minerals.