Transitioning Horses to pasture grass: A stress-free grazing season with the Happie Horse app
It’s finally that time of year again: grazing season is just around the corner! Your horses can hardly wait to eat lush grass again. But before you let them out to graze without a care in the world, you should definitely think about Transitioning Horses to pasture grass. Why? Because these two phases are crucial for the health of your horses and the maintenance of your pasture.
Table of contents
Start grazing: How to get your horses off to a slow and safe start to the grazing season
Imagine suddenly having to enjoy a sumptuous 5-course meal after a long period of eating only dry bread. Your stomach would probably rebel! Your horses will feel the same way if they are suddenly allowed to eat unlimited pasture grass after the winter break.
Why is Transitioning Horses to pasture grass so important?
During winter feeding, your horse’s digestive tract has become accustomed to easily digestible hay and straw. Fresh pasture grass contains significantly more easily digestible carbohydrates, especially fructan. This sugar can unbalance the sensitive intestines and lead to various problems:
- Diarrhea: The change to the new diet can lead to a disturbed intestinal flora and diarrhea.
- Colic: An excess of easily digestible carbohydrates can lead to fermentation processes in the intestine and trigger colic.
- Laminitis: Particularly dangerous for horses with a sensitive metabolism, as excessive fructan intake can trigger laminitis.
Step by step to pasture happiness: how to graze your horses properly:
- Patience is required: start with short grazing times of 15-20 minutes and increase these slowly over a period of at least 2-3 weeks.
- The right time of day: Early in the morning or late in the evening is best for grassing, as the fructan content in the grass is lower then.
- Hay as a secure basis: You should continue to offer your horses hay during the grassing phase to ensure their basic feed supply.
Pay attention to how you plan your grazing times. With the Happie Horse app, you can check the fructan risk in your region at any time and adjust the grazing times optimally.
Stop grazing: How to prepare your pasture and your horses for winter
Stop grazing at the end of the grazing season is also an important step to ensure the health of your horses and the maintenance of your pasture.
That’s why stop grazing is important:
In the fall, grasses store more fructan in order to sprout vigorously again in the spring. However, a high fructan content in fall grass can be risky for your horses.
Gradual reduction: Slowly reduce the grazing times until the horses are only on the pasture for a few hours. This is particularly important as there is an increased risk of metabolic problems in the fall.
Hay as an alternative:Offer your horses additional hay to ensure their basic feed supply and cover their roughage requirements.
Happie Horse App: Your smart companion for Transitioning Horses to pasture grass
The Happie Horse app not only supports you in your daily pasture planning, but also offers you valuable functions for optimal grazing and grazing off.
This is how the Happie Horse app helps you:
- Fructan risk always in view:
Based on your location and current weather data, the app calculates the fructan risk in your region. This allows you to optimally adjust the grazing times to the fructan content and protect your horses. - Individual grazing plans:
Create individual profiles for your horses and store important information such as breed, age, weight and metabolic diseases. The app helps you to adapt the grazing times to the needs of your horses. - Practical reminder function:
Get a push notification to remind you when it’s time to extend or shorten the grazing times.
Daily grazing time
Note and observe your horse's daily grazing time, and display the past grazing time in a table.
Fructan risk
Check the daily fructan risk at your horse's location and keep an eye on your horse's health. See current fructan risk factors.
Get push notifications
Receive notifications about specific fructan risks based on your selection
Location
You can use the location function to display your current location and the weather, and set different locations for different horses.
Weather forecast
Monitor the weather at your horse 's current location. Choose between a 12-hour and a 4-day forecast.
Past grazing times
Get an overview of past grazing times and fructan risks. Perfect for the grazing or grazing period.
Additional tools in the Happie Horse app
- Feeding protocol: Keep track of the feeding and adapt it to the fructan content of the feed.
- Health data: Track important health parameters such as your horse’s pulse and temperature.
- Calendar function: Schedule important vet and farrier appointments to ensure your horse’s health status.
Conclusion: A relaxed grazing season with the Happie Horse app
The grazing season is a wonderful time for you and your horses. With the right preparation and the support of the Happie Horse app, it will be a complete success again this year – for happy horses and relaxed horse owners!
Get the Happie Horse app now and start the grazing season stress-free!