Sugar sugar everywhere and its all in the grass

Much of the grazing in the UK has been 'improved' for the benefit of the dairy industry. The leys have been selected to be high in sugar. This is not good news for horses and it is particularly bad news for horses that are insulin resistant.

The girls do suffer a bit from insulin resistance, although neither have ever had full blown laminitis. There is a huge amount of high sugar grass and plantain on the new large circuit, so my plan is to graze the horses on it overnight to about 10am. They will be on the old 'nursery' circuit with hay until late evening.

I will monitor them for signs of too much sugar and if necessary restrict their intake of grass even further.

I do give them two additional meals a day so that I can give them some supplements. At the moment they have Alfa A Oil, Epsom Salts (for the magnesium) and a general supplement. They also have a salt lick in the field.

I plan to move them onto free choice supplements as soon as I can find a supplier.