Spring grass: dangers and tips

As soon as the days get longer and the sun shines more often, the grass begins to grow and many horses are allowed back out to pasture. Grass is a tremendously healthy addition to the ration, but beware: dangers lurk in spring grass. It is therefore hugely important that you know how to properly prepare your horse for the grazing season. In this blog, HorseFlex tells you more about the risks and dangers of spring grass and gives useful tips for a smooth transition from stable to pasture.

Grass growth in the spring
Grass begins to grow when the temperature rises and the sun shines more frequently and brightly. Through photosynthesis, grass under the influence of sunlight makes fructan, a form of sugar that grass needs to grow. Once spring arrives, this happens in abundance: the warmer, sunny days cause the blades of grass to produce plenty of fructan. At night, however, the temperature still drops dramatically, so the sugars are not fully consumed and instead are stored in the grass. In the morning, the process starts all over again, so the sugar continues to accumulate in the grass, resulting in grass with an enormously high fructan (sugar) content.

Structure of grazing
To mitigate the risks of spring grazing, it is essential that you take the time to build up grazing slowly. This means you can't just put your horse out to pasture for hours as soon as the sun starts to shine. Instead, it is important to keep an eye on fructan levels (online via a fructan index) and determine in advance how you are going to build up grazing. For example, start with half an hour, and build this up by adding 15 minutes or half an hour every few days. Meanwhile, keep a close eye on your horse and the fructan index. Is it sunny during the day while freezing at night? Then alarm bells should go off. This is because these weather conditions cause an absolute spike in sugars in grass. On days with night frost, it is therefore better not to put your horses out to pasture just yet.

Tips for a good transition from stable to pasture
To make the transition from stable to pasture as smooth as possible, we've listed 5 helpful tips:

Tip 1: Build up slowly
Take the time to build up the grazing slowly. Because not every horse is equally sensitive to sugars, it is important to consider the situation for each horse. One horse may soon be able to graze safely for long periods of time, while some horses that are sensitive to sugars may never be able to go out to pasture for several hours at a time. Does your horse belonghigh-risk group? If so, consult with a veterinarian on how to best arrange grazing.

Tip 2: Strip grazing
Is it not possible to build up grazing slowly? Maybe strip grazing is an option. By only allowing your horse access to a limited part of the pasture, you automatically limit its grass intake.

Fence posts and electricity conductors allow you to easily fence off part of your meadow.

Tip 3: Hay before grazing
The first hours your horse is in the pasture he eats the fastest. Therefore, give your horse some extra hay first so that he doesn't go out to pasture hungry. Grazing muzzels can also help prevent your horse from overeating.

Tip 4: Choose the right time
The amount of sugar in grass is not only different each day: the time of day is also of great influence. Generally, fructan levels are lowest early in the morning and later in the evening. Therefore, these are the best times to graze your horse. Is it freezing at night? Then fructan levels are actually highest in the early morning. In that case, it is better to let your horse graze later in the day.

Tip 5: Support from within
To give your horse extra support during the transition from stable to pasture, you can opt for a supportive supplement. Glucose Support is a 100% natural herb-based blend that helps to balance your horse's glucose levels. It supports the body in the absorption of glucose (sugar) and supports proper pancreatic and intestinal function. Thus, it provides optimal support for your horse when sugar levels in grass are high.

All of HorseFlex's other supplements can be found here.