JUNE 2017 THE RIDER /39


Equine Wellness: Health and Nutrition with Jean Klosowicz, Superior Equine Health and Nutrition Inc.


Pasture Grazing: Yays and Nays While touring North-


western Ontario recently from the Algoma to the Rainy River District, I couldn’t help to spot horse pasturing practices at it’s best and at it’s worst. You might be wondering how


could it be at it’s worst while still being spring and pasture grasses growing strongly? Well that’s what I thought but taking a closer look I realized the pastures were opened up for grazing well to early - by early I mean before the leaves had a chance to emerge and grow 6-8” in length (regard- less of the time of year). Pasture grasses are the


best nutritionally when they reach this length because most of the vitamins and mineral that benefit the


horse are contained in the leaves. If the horses are not removed from the pasture at the 3-5” length then over- grazing starts to occur. This puts enormous stress on the grasses,


leaving stubby


stems to forage from. The nutritional value in “stems” is significantly less, not to mention that most of the sugars and fructans are sometimes contained in this part of the plant, leading to insulin spikes and possibly laminitis in the horse. In this photo, the leaves are fully emerged and ready for grazing.


Expect-


ing horses to maintain good nutrition condition


and on


overgrazed, leaf- less pastures as a sole source of food is unrealis- tic, but some- times the case with horse own- ers. If the pas- ture is small, rather than over-


Ontario HBPA Announces Launch Of Talkin’ Horses As Web Series


May 26, 2017 - The Ontario Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association is pleased to announce the launch of an excit- ing new initiative developed to promote the growth of horse racing in this province. The HBPA Board of Directors has decided to produce an online series aimed at attracting new owners to the Thoroughbred industry and new fans to the track. The series, Talkin’ Horses, will pick up from the HBPA’s award-winning television show of the same name which ran for three years on CTV Television. With the continued growth of social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, and the popularity of watching programming online and on-de- mand, the decision to offer the series digi- tally was made strategically to reach a millennial demographic. The show, which will have 10 episodes through the summer and fall, will


be an energetic, fast-moving look at how to get into affordable racehorse ownership, handicapping a horse race and picking a winner - plus features on the people and horses in the sport and detailed previews of all the big races. The HBPA has contracted television and radio host Jason Portuondo and racing writer Jennifer Morrison, each from the television iteration of Talkin’ Horses, to produce the 2017 online series. It will be directed by the award-win-


ning Alex Narvaez of Narvaez Productions, producer and editor of The Strombo Ses- sions with George Stroumboulopoulos and creator of short films, television series and promotional movies for the Toronto Inter- national Film Festival. For updates stay tuned on Twitter and


the HBPA (www.hbpa.on.ca) or Talkin Horses (www.talkinhorses.com) websites.


practices. Some horses may be re- stricted from any type of grazing, while others may do just fine with grazing muzzles, limiting amounts of time on pastures, or managing grazing times to early morning, late evening and night grazing when sugars are at their lowest point.


grazing the whole area, it would be better to subdivide it and have a sacri- fice area as well. This method of pas- ture management would give the grasses a rest, providing a better qual- ity pasture for an extended time. The horse could then benefit by having a steady supply of good fresh pasture all season long. And when it needs to go into the sacrifice area for pastures to attain the 6-8” growth, the horse can be supplemented with hay, feed and/or nutritional supplements to form a bal- anced diet. Horses that are high performance


and lactating mares can greatly benefit from pasture grazing if done correctly. In this photo of a lactating mare with foal on pasture, the spring grasses are overgrazed and no supplemental hay was seen. This pasture alone cannot supply the high caloric demand nor the nutrients she needs to grow a healthy foal and produce enough milk. Lactating mares in particular require lush high quality pas- tures during the first six months, as shown in the first photo. In Canada we have


what is called cool-sea- son grasses that grow the most in the spring and fall. During the summer


they slow


down in growth. That is when I often see overgrazed pastures. Horse owners cannot expect the same results of “lush growth” during the course of the sum- mer as this is the resting


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stage for pasture grasses. Continued overgrazing will result in a significant reduction of plants and an increased opportunity for weeds to invade lead- ing to poor quality pastures. Once weeds invade, it is difficult and costly to eradicate them. Some weeds may even be poisonous to horses and foals. So it makes sense to consider ro-


tational grazing while minding the length of grass blade to determine if the grass is ready for grazing or not. If your pastures are already over- grazed this spring because you were too zealous, consider giving them a rest now and let them return to green- ing up before the heat of the summer arrives. It will be good for your pas- tures, your horse and your pocket book in the long run! Finally, if your horse has any risk


at all for laminitis, metabolic condi- tions or simply overweight where grazing may affect health, speak to your veterinarian about best grazing


Cheers!


Jean Klosowicz Equine Nutrition Consultant and Edu- cator Superior Equine Health and Nutrition Inc. Bruce Mines, ON www.superiorequinenutrition.com www.feedmyhorse.ca f. @SuperiorEquine


[All values are expressed on a Dry Matter Basis (DM); ppm (mg/kg) refers to concentration in the total diet; NRC refers to NRC’s Nutrient Re- quirements of Horses, 6th ed.]


All articles posted are for general in- formation purposes only and are not intended to replace the advice of a vet- erinarian, or provide a diagnosis for your horse.


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