Adjustments to the Grazing

“Looking back I now realise Whero has shown signs of being grass affected for many years. Last spring my lovely stationbred (15 hh, 16 years) became extremely anxious and spooky. I was fortunate to have as friends Nina Hagan (Auckland and Northern Rep for Calm Healthy Horses) and her daughter Sherilyn. We went over his food and looked at his paddocks.

I was feeding him Horse and Pony Pellets and Oaten Chaff, salt, half a scoop of AlleviateC SOS and a third of a scoop of Graze Ezy. I had totally underestimated his weight and we decided to give him two small feeds morning and night with each feed containing one scoop of AlleviateC SOS (scoop being 50 gms), half scoop of Graze Ezy and one scoop of salt. In the height of the season I gave him two scoops of AlleviateC SOS and also introduced one scoop (5gms) of Alleviate Gold.

It became apparent that I needed to pen him more to keep him away from grass so we made a dry lot adjacent to his stable which included two trees for shade, room for him to move around and good visibility across the paddocks.
Whero’s dear friend and paddock mate had passed away at the grand age of 35 years so his grazing regime had changed. I also have let his paddocks grow so he is not eating short, stressed green grass down to the roots.

With these measures Whero has returned to a kind, relaxed, healthy horse and he is a pleasure to be around and ride. It has been a journey and process for us both and we would not have reached this position without the amazing natural products of Calm Healthy Horses and the knowledge of Nina.

We had a setback in autumn but by increasing the hours penned and upping his SOS and Gold SOS he was back to normal within a few days. When their metabolism (the chemical reactions in the body’s cells that change food into energy) is back to normal you only need to apply a maintenance dose.

Trust your instincts as you know your horse best, and seek help if required. I now have a better understanding of the symptoms of grass affected horses and I am better equipped to quickly get on top of them.
I have no set rules/times for penning and just pen to meet his requirements. He still spends a lot of time out on his longer grassed paddocks and I have learnt to manage our fertile paddocks a lot better.

We are once again out and about and enjoying ourselves. Calm Healthy Horses products are amazing and they really work, and Whero is only on these products, never needs anything else.