Horses Eating Mesquite

I received a comment from Anonymous regarding a previous post on knowing the plant life in your area and effects on horses eating it. "We live near Phoenix, Arizona and have three mesquite trees in our horse pasture. Our horses LOVE the mesquite pods. They taste sweet. (FH note: see picture left). Some horses have become impacted from mesquite pods, but our horses have been fine eating the pods that drop from our trees in addition to their regular diet of bermuda grass and bermuda hay."

Thanks for your comment. If it wasn't for Mesquite beans a lot of cattle in West Texas would go hungry in this current drought we're in. Can't say as I remember any of my horses eating Mesquite beans, which are plentiful where I live. My horses have ate dried Desert Marigold plants, Chamisa (which is another cow staple), dried Yucca bulbs all without ill effects, however they eat very little of it at any given time....and it's not a feed I routinely let them have.

Several of my horses got out of the corral the other night and ate a row of corn that was about two feet tall and all that was left the next day was nubbins. I also noticed a number Cucumber plants conspicuously missing. I watched the horses pretty close for the next day or two and noticed no bad effects.

I think the key for horses eating any new feed intentional or not, especially in any quantity, is the gradual introduction of it. As you know changes in feed can cause a horse to colic and this goes for processed and natural grain, new cuts of alfalfa or grass as well.

Glad you are feeding Bermuda grass. I know what a pain it is to get sometimes, but I think horses are better off with a grass diet or a mixed grass diet. Again, thanks for the comment. Safe Journey.

Transitioning a Horse from Dry Feed to Pasture

Received the following comment on a post concerning Horse Nutrition – Determining the Horses Energy Need,....Anonymous asked: "I'm moving my horse from Arizona to Tennessee. Do you have any suggestions on what I should be planning for?"

I assume you are asking about getting your horse ready for a transition from dry, baled hay to pasture grass. If so, you have the right idea, planning a transition from dry hay to pasture. Horses just cannot go from eating dry, baled hay one day to lush pasture grass the next safely without a transition.

This transition from dry hay to pasture needs to be a gradual change otherwise the change maybe so drastic as their delicate gut is stressed and colic can result.

We recently shipped a horse to Hawaii and in preparation for the 2 day trailer ride to California, then the 8 day trip via a ship to Hawaii, we found out what the horse will be fed enroute and started 4 weeks out gradually replacing increasingly larger amount of the horse's feed with alfalfa-hay pellets getting her used to the change in very small increments.

You may not be able to feed your horse lush pasture grass before you ship him off or trailer him up to Tennessee, so you'll probably have to do the feed transition once you are in Tennessee. Simply only let him eat very small amounts, then increase the time he is turned out to pasture, to give him the best chance of transitioning from dry feed to lush grass. Watch his manure when he is stalled so you can see any changes that occur as well as the amount of manure.

Depending upon the type of grass in the pasture, you may want to, or may have to supplement with natural grains, processed grains or dry alfalfa so the horse's nutritional needs are met.

I suggest talking to your horse vet about this as well as anybody you know in Tennessee who also brought their horse from a similar environment. Hope this helps and safe journey for you and your horse.

Horse Health and Safety - What We Owe Horses, Again

I'm the last somebody who is going to deny anybody the chance of Horse ownership and the benefits to the mind and soul that come with it,...but what also comes with horse ownership is the responsibility not only to give the horse a fair life, but a safe life. It doesn't mater your economic standing - you can still provide a safe environment for your horse.

This post is kind of a rant, but I can't not write something about people literally keeping their horses as yard pets without any regard to safety for the horse.

The following pictures show properties in a little rural community, where houses and trailer homes tend to crop up together, all who have one or two horses on the small property and various items and material that pose a danger to the horses who are loose on the property.

The property above has a trampoline, stacked up pipe, loose corrugated metal roofing, an unidentified pile of junk partially covered by a blue tarp, and, other objects all laying around the yard. I don't know what they are feeding their horses as there is no stacked not covered hay. The horse's are pretty lean, but not to the point where I'm calling Animal Control,....yet. The two or three bicycles laying down in the yard are horse accidents waiting to happen.

This property (above) also has stacks of stuff like cinder blocks, wood, etc., plus has an open porch with metal furniture. The dangers of a horse being chased by dogs or otherwise spooked into such objects are just too great to ignore.

What you are looking at in this place (above) is two horse stalls constructed with corral panels and corrugated siding. Each about 10 by 10 feet. What you don't see is re-barb and baling wire on the inside, wooden pallets making up part of the stall fence, sharp edges of corrugated tin, about 18 inches deep manure, nasty water bins and the two under fed horses and their flared out, duck hooves that haven't received a trim in probably over 9 months.

Can you imagine a horse, with the vascularity of the head, slicing his face on the corrugated tin?

We talked to this family several times until no action was being taken and Animal Control had to step in. I can't fathom the human who would treat any animal this way, let alone a horse.

If any of us can help someone have a safer place for horses then we done something good. Safe Journey - keep your horses safe!