Conflicted about the barn

My horse was never on grass until she moved to the UK. Always did fine. Doesn't really matter so long as they get plenty of hay. Lots of places, i.e. the entire Western US, don't even have the luxury of good green grass unless they can afford a huge water bill and have the environmental awareness of your average golf course manager.

To us, grass may seem like a luxury, but to horses, it's a necessity. A natural horse is a healthy horse, and horses naturally eat grass. It's certainly not the ideal set-up. I wouldn't want to keep her there permanently. Just my opinion.

Nutrients in grass are not consistent. Moisture, fertilizer, etc.

Hay should be more even keel for their digestive tract.

Would I like more pasture - oh yes. But until I hit the jackpot, we need to be happy with what we have!

It seems to be a common issue at a lot of barns. Most facilities now our days are focused on making the big bucks on lessons and show horses and horse owners more so than outdoor horse care. In my books, all horses need to have time out to pasture, something that's nto handy for most barns.
Pastures are a money waster because its space that could be used as paddocks(therefor more money per horse), and not all horses can go int he same pasture which means you have to accomadate that(again paddocks beign better as it's one horse per spot).

Most barns are over crowded and some are not well cared for. It's a real shame because most horses now our days are viewed more as showing machines more so than an animal that needs to be cared for properly.

When I first moved my horse to the training facility where he is now I felt terrible that he had like NO grass in his paddock and he is out 24/7. They gets tons of great hay, he is nice and plump, I hand graze him every other day for 30 minutes. It is just sad to see him pretty much standing in the same place and not grazing like I know he would like. Too many horses, not enough grass. It does bother me, which is why I make a point to hand graze him at least every other day. Makes me feel better. Not my first choice for a permanent setup.

I hear you. Just doesn't seem right without grass to graze on. It's so sad to see them just stand there.

Here in southern California, I am just happy to find a pasture on a flat surface! :( It's ridiculous how UN horse savvy people who build and manage barns are it seems like... :-/ They need grass, but there are many things that they need before grass that we have to settle for- you know?