Horse question!!!!!Best answer gets 10pts!!?

Question

I've heard that if the horse stays in a LARGE yard with grass will it get colic or founder of something like that is this true?

Answer 1

no.

Horses are natural grazers and grass is all they eat in the wild.

however, if you are going to ride your horse straight after, it can get colic because on a tummy full of food, the guts twist up causing colic

as said it does depend on what horse you mean but if you just leave it out there, it wont get colic but may need supplimenting.

Answer 2

If the horse is not accustomed to being on grass all the time, it is possible that it could colic. If the grass is rich and the horse is not used to it, it could also cause founder. Too much protein in a horse's system that is not used to it is a recipe for disaster. However, if you introduce your horse to the new situation slowly, it should be a harmless transition for him.

Answer 3

No, it isn't true.  Horses stay in pastures all of the time....it is the best place for them.  If a horse is suddenly put out to pasture when it isn't used to the grass, it may colic or founder or both....especially in the spring. In that case it's best to gradually increase the time spent grazing.  Some horses with metabolic disease have to have grazing restricted or the will develop laminitis as well.

Answer 4

not completely true. A horse can live on grass (as a snack), but does need proper nutrition such as hay and grain. A horse that only gets fed grass will not get enough to eat.

The only way a horse will colic when in a yard with grass is if they are not used to eating grass all day long. Their bodies need to get used to digesting this food for the time they are out in the pasture. A horse needs to gradually be let out in a field and work their way to eating grass everyday. Hope this answers your Q.

Answer 5

depends on the horse.. a horse that is slightly overweight that eats the grass when there is dew on it stands the risk of foundering but not collicing unless its not used to eating the grass..

Answer 6

Too much lush grass will make any horse founder.

It will only colic if

a) the grass is bad

b) it makes a fast transition from hay to grass

c)  it eats to the point of colic... if you put the horse in the grass and still feed it hay, it will get REALLY fat and may colic

Answer 7

I have owned many horses and pastured most of them...never had such a problem!

Answer 8

Frannie, i like the comparison!

And the posablity is deffinatley there

Answer 9

Of course i am a horse expert.

Answer 10

If you just suddenly take a horse that isn't used to all that grass, then yes. There are many factors going into it all- and even if you did this there is a chance the horse might not colic- then again if you just gave your horse one extra flake of hay some day then they might colic. Horses are extremely delicate animals in that sense.

However, if the horse is used to it, then they should be fine. My barn has a huge field with lots of horses and grass, and they are all fine.

Answer 11

no it is if the horse is turned out of a pasture with lots of fresh, tender (early spring) grass it can cause colic if they had been on a dry lot or poorer quality pasture. This grass has a much higher protein/energy content and a much lower fiber content then older mature grass which stimulates the GI tract to recieve more blood supply lowering the blood pressure in the appendages somehow (the direct mechanism is still unknown) causing the sensitive lamina to become inflamed leading to founder/laminitis. This can happen even if it is a horse going from no or little pasture to a quality pasture. To cure most of this it is reccommended to reduce the size of the pasture in order to limit the amount of forage they can eat. It really is not the size of the pasture its the amount of forage there is on it and the quality of that forage compared to what the horse is used to.

Answer 12

The right answer is - it depends.

It depends on the horse's previous habits and what it's been fed.  If it's been turned out on lush pasture, it's not likely it'll get colic.  If it's been stabled all the time or in a dry lot that's caused it to have to eat hay only, then yes, turnout in a lush pasture for long times may likely cause colic.

You must think of it this way - a horse's digestive system has built "habits" in the form of bacteria geared to break down it's normal food.  If you change that food quickly or drastically, colic is likely.

So - it is NOT true to make a general statement like "large areas of grass pasture will cause colic"

Further - in the spring when the grass is growing fast, the grass contains much more of what changes into sugar - richer grass than during the summer months when growth is steady or slowed.  In the fall, when it's getting ready to winter over, it does the same thing, becomes stronger in preparation for winter coming.  These grasses can cause colic in sensitive horses in spring and fall.

Actually, the larger the area for them to exercise, the better.

If one is going to turn a horse out to pasture in a large lush area, they must accustom the horse to it by leaving it maybe for an hour the first time, 2 hours the next, 4 hours the next, etc until they are safely converted to it.

Hope this helps!

Answer 13

horses do very well on grass most horses can digest rich grass and not have a problem but a few like my horse cant have rich spring/summer grass and has to stay in a mud lot for spring/summer mounths but out of 20 horses there's only one at my barn that cant so its very rare and my horse can eat grass just not that much of it. i hope this helps.

Answer 14

It depends how much grass and the quality of grass - if it is really rich and think grass then yes they can founder - but if it is pasture that has been trampled down, cut, or dried out then you shouldn't have a problem.

Also horses that have foundered in the past have a greater chance of a relapse than those who haven't. If your horse was also raised on pasture grazing then he also shouldn't have a problem as his body will be used to the intake.

Answer 15

if the horse is not accustomed to eating grass all day it could. You have to start it out slow (start with under an hour) and gradually work its way up. If the horse is not overweight and used to the rich grass it is  ok. sometimes ponys such as minis will have problems though. most horses generally require at least an acre.

Answer 16

some horse will get sick other can eat grass all day and be fine. but if the horse has not been of grass for a long time no you should not just turn him out all day alittle at a time.

Answer 17

It Depends What kind Of horse it is.

i have to ask my cousin for that she's a vet.

Answer 18

If the grass has just been cut, it can get colic?

Answer 19

I love the "will wonka" comparison. That totally puts it in perspective for me. :)

It doesn't have to be a large yard. It can be any yard. And any grass, it depends on what the horse is used to and if it is a drastic change for them. Go back to willy wonka, if I were in a chocolate factory I would scarf as much as I could. That, in short, is what a horse unused to grass would do. This would scoot them along to foundering or colicing because, like the above poster said, they cannot ralf up all that sugary goodness, so it has to affect them in some other way.

Hope this helps!

Answer 20

Could be... If you take a horse out of a barn that was only eating hay and put it in a pasture full of sweet grass and clover, they can definitely colic and/or founder. Would you get sick if you were pulled from a house eating only basic staples like vegetables and dry chicken and thrown into Willy Wonka's Factory? Horses can't throw up like us humans.