inge wrote:
Donald Redux wrote:
Do you limit turn out in the field because it's too small for their number and would get run down to dust, or is there a dietary problem that you have to limit their grass intake?
no they have a huge field, way to much for both of them. But they get to fat
To prefent that they over eaten themselfs
You probably know about the dangers of too fat horses. My Insulin Resistant(Like Human Type II Diabetes) mare, mostly Andalusian, quarter Arabian -- who both seem to be prone to this, has the same problem. She was foundered before we got her apparently, had a case of laminitis, with the usual ringed appearance and splayed hooves, with a large outer horn separation from the sole with a wide whiteline. Lame on all four and extremely tender on her sole.
It too me the better part of a year to slim her to a safe weight. Constant problem. That's why I feed her four meals a day (her supplements are expensive and bulky but don't fatten her). And of course I can't let her graze freely as I can her little daughter, Bonnie.
inge wrote:
i give them each day some grass. So they think they get something new to eat. Tho they have still enough
Ah, another sneaky human, I see.
inge wrote:
yes poop scooping give some time to think
i dont hate it. And it give some more then only a clean field.
Less of worms, so i dont have to deworm that much. And less of those horrbile flies. The high season is now started.
each day i see more
Altea had been out for about half a year in a long time horse pasture, with another horse pasture beside that one when I brought her to another place where sheep had been housed, and where another horse had lived. Yet with my habit of constant cleaning of manure when I had a parasite scan of her droppings by the vet she was clean.
I haven't had to worm her yet, though we did a safety worm right after she gave birth, just in case they missed anything on the fecal scan.
As for flies...oh my goodness, what a horror some can be. We have the common horsefly (that looks like a housefly, and serves as one as well as plaguing horses) pretty much under control. We are using the predator flies on a monthly program, and though it's odd to see this cloud of very tiny little flies over the manure, they do not bother horses or humans and just seek out the fly larvae and lay their own eggs inside to consume the larvae when the predator larvae hatches. Kind of a neat trick and very environmentally safe, I think.
Problem is we have the vicious saw toothed deer fly (literally, they saw a wound open to lick, lap up, the horses' -- or your -- blood) and the big black kind of fuzzy looking Horsefly. Those breed along the edges of ponds, lakes, and streams, and their larvae finish their development in the water, or the mud along the edges.
These are nasty things. And soon I'm going to build a trap for them. But in the meantime they do give our horses a lot of annoying exercise.
The deer fly can land so lightly neither the horse, nor human, can feel it until it's too late and they have drawn blood. I keep thinking I want one of those farmer's smocks (old European style) with baggy loose pleated body and puffy arms that will keep the blood sucker flies off me. We do face mask Altea, but poor little Bonnie won't hear of having anything wrapped around her head, so she has to rub the flies off, usually on her mom, occasionally on a tree or tree branches, or of course, on ME. Argh!
I carry a fly swatter much of the time, and both Bonnie and Altea have learned to be hit quite hard (Bonnie is especially good about this, if you can imagine) with it to kill the flies on them. Both will even take swatter hits to the face to get rid of the nasty things.
Hope your flies are not so bad there. But then there's poor Freckles and his buddies with Glen in S. Africa. I hear they have really really nasty flies there including the Tsetse(sp). Yuk!
Here's some of mine:
Gorgeous, isn't she? See that little saw, the lower jaw, sticking out there?
The above pic tends to be the view I get most as they land on the horses. This is a big big fly, often hear an inch long.
Here's what they do:
http://www.enature.com/fieldguides/detail.asp?recNum=IS0073"Family: Tabanidae, Horse and Deer Flies view all from this family
Description 3/4-1 1/8" (20-28 mm). Jet black. Thorax has fine whitish, yellowish, or black hair. Abdomen has bluish luster. Hind tibiae do not have spurs. Wings are brownish to black, unpatterned. Larva is white with black bands.
Warning This horse fly lands on its victim's neck, head, or back, quickly slices the skin with its bladelike mouthparts, and sucks out blood. Some animals become seriously weakened if they suffer repeated attacks and loss of blood.
Food Male drinks honeydew and nectar; female sucks blood from large mammals, especially cattle, horses, mules, and hogs. Larva preys on small aquatic insects.
Life Cycle Female attaches egg masses to plants overhanging fresh water. Larvae drop into water, feed, and then overwinter in mud for 2 winters, pupating in spring. Males have very short life-spans; females survive until fall.
Habitat Meadows and open grasslands, near marshy areas or slow streams.
Range Quebec south to Florida and Gulf states, west to New Mexico, north to Pacific Northwest."
This is most definitely one of those, "The Female is deadlier than the Male," instances.
Donald