This message is from: "Rose or Murph" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Hi Patty,
I have a wonderful mare that has bouts of the very same thing you described. Normal poops, then every 7-10 days loose piles, still somewhat formed pies, intermixed with normal piles. You must thinking, okay well how do I know. I have been on poo watch for a long time as I remove all manure once per day from the field. (I am a clean freak, but also am counting frequency, number of loose piles, compared to the amount of hay that was fed. I have narrowed the loose stools all down to her diet. I am weighing every morsel she gets. Timothy seems to be the least offensive to her digestive tract. I have also found that very green hay, no matter what kind, gives her loose stools, to complete runny piles so, with a lot of experimenting and adjusting of quantity. I only give a small amount of green second cutting timothy no more than 4 or 5 lbs per meal,(I try to keep it at no more than 10% of her body weight), mixed with an equal amount of good clean local hay, here it is a low protein, yellow type hay, not much nutrients, but good fiber content. I have found that even a pound too much of the good green hay, brings on loose stools. Weighing the rich hays tend to keep weight in check as well. Hope this helps. Rosemary in rainy WA. The FjordHorse List archives can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/rcepw
