Beware of the warm temperatures

Valentino and Arabella focus on eating grass in the big pasture.

The west coast of B.C. has been enjoying a rather warm Cozy Fall. The leaves are mostly fallen and yet Mr. Frost hasn't yet shown his icy face to entice us to wrap up in winter woollies.

One of my horses Coliced the other day. She's fine now, but looking back,  I think it was the grass that was the villain. I had decided being Fall I could leave the gang out on  the 'grass growing pasture', longer then I usually leave them. They should  be fine  I thought- I thought wrong.

For the most part, my herd of horses roam a diet field and over the spring and summer they've enjoyed their time in the mornings out in the big pasture. I'm alert to the amount of sugar in the grasses in early spring and summer, and  in the fall we know to be careful of the grasses after a frost, but what about these warm fall days with lots of rain and the occasional warm sunny day thrown in?

Some horses tolerate more sugars than others. It's for the sensitive ones we need to be very diligent in deciding whether to put them on grass or leave them in the diet field. I made a mistake and left the horses out too long, and one of my horses paid the price. I guess it comes down to simple science; warm temperatures accompanied by rain and sunshine equals sugar filled grass. It doesn't matter what the season .

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