posted 1 year ago
Horses do best on second to third go on pasture. Chickens/ducks go after them to spread manure. Horses that are easy keepers do very well on hay supplement like teff/coastal that is very low calorie but a continuous feed. Unfortunately, there is no way to full out stop a horse from eating the good stuff.
Grazing muzzles in my experience are only effective if your grass gets long enough to pass through the guard. Horses require something on their tummies at all times, like others have posted. What we do is exclude our horses from rotational grazing altogether, and have a constant supply of hay in the winter, and full pasture access in the summer. Their grain is mostly flax, sunflower seeds, beet pulp(lowest sugar content we could find) and teff pellets for bulk. Oats, sweet feed, alfalfa pellets, and other concentrates are only necessary for heavily worked horses (5+ days a week working multiple hours a day)
Best of luck and I hope you find an easy keeper. Horses are not easy, but very rewarding.