This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Has anyone on the list fed out bluegrass straw? I'm wondering where to > get it, and if I can feed it just like hay?
Don't know about the straw, but around here, we can get "ryegrass pellets", which I assume are a by-product of the grass seed industry in the Willamette Valley. (My guess is that they're made from grass straw and seed cleaner leavings---chaff, weed seeds, etc.) My equines will eat them, but aren't exactly thrilled by them. I make a point of buying slightly over-mature "pasture" grass hay, which has a lot of straw---more chewing satisfaction for the same calories. > On a similar note, I ran across some early clinical trial results that > suggest that horses that are insulin resistant may be lacking in > magnesium. [...] Has anyone used magnesium > for their tubbo ponies? It's too early to tell if it's working for my > mare , I just know that she thinks it's *not* yummy at all. > > Eileen and Jane, who's off all grass :(, in eastern WA About 18 months ago, my vet sort of went down the row of my plump equines (2 Fjord geldings and a standard donkey), chanting "less food, more exercise, and get some magnesium into them". I had heard good things about Quiessence (magnesium and chromium), from Fox Den Equine, so gave it a try. It's expensive, but they eat every crumb of it. My equines have slimmed down noticably, but I can't say for sure what part the magnesium played, as I also cut back on their pasture time. This had the side effect of increasing their exercise, as they spent that "missing" hour pacing the corral fencelines, complaining about Room Service. ;-) The fattest one also has to wear a grazing muzzle for his pasture time. And, I removed Equine Senior from their diets; it was only a cup or so, meant to "motivate" consumption of supplements, but I now use alfalfa pellets, instead---less sugar in their diets. It should be noted that many of the cattlemen in this area supplement magnesium to their stock. In many parts of western Oregon (and undoubtedly Washington), millenia of heavy rainfall has leached many of the minerals out of the soil. The grasses here also tend to accumulate sugar in cool weather---a good strategy for being ready to grow when things warm up, but not good for insulin resistant equines. Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 15 mi SW of Roseburg, Oregon
